Governor Quinn Calls On Burris To Resign

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has called on Senator Roland Burris to resign and for his seat to be filled by a special election.

"I think Roland Burris should step aside and resign," Quinn said at a news conference late Friday morning. "The best thing for Illinois-- the people he loves--is to step aside."

Quinn said the latest questions about Burris' contacts with impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich have placed "a cloud over [Burris'] head."

"I think it was mistaken to accept the appointment under the cloud [under which] it was received. ... I think the ongoing controversy, all the different affidavits correcting this and that, underline the importance of stepping aside."

Quinn said he supports a House bill that calls for a new Senator to be elected within 115 days of a vacancy. In the interim, Quinn said he should be able to appoint a temporary replacement who would not seek reelection or in any way campaign for another term.

Quinn urged Burris, whom he called "honorable" and a good friend, to step down as quickly as possible for the good of the state and the country.

"This should not be a matter that takes weeks. ... The common good is really what we need to focus on in Illinois today. The office does not belong to the officeholder."

Quinn said he wished the Senate had never allowed Burris' appointment and reiterated his earlier claims that Burris should never have accepted the appointment because of the taint surrounding former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Comments

[Rhonda Davis]

Burris needs to go before he hurts the chances of another Democrat winning the seat. Obama told him not to do it and he did it anyway. He deserves what's about to happen.

[Luvial]

What? Are you saying Obama told Harry Reid not to admit Burris into the Senate and Reid did anyways? So Harry Reid overruled the President of the United States? If so then we need a new President. All you Obamabots care about is your Democratic Party and nothing for the laws or the middle class. You are a bunch of elitist crooks.

[justwaitandsee]

Take a deep breath and hold it, okay let it go, take a deep breath and hold it and let it go. You feel better now

[larry278]

Pres Obama told Majority Leader Reid that he, then PE Obama, wanted Roland Burris seated in the US Senate post haste. That was before 1/20/09. Reid dithered but Sen Burris took his,seat, Pres Obama's forner seat, in the US Senate after BHO had taken the oath [both times thanks to Mr Chief Justice's bungling giving BHO his oath the 1st time, on 1/20/09]..
The matter of Sen Burriis is an obscene farce.
Gov Quinn, Sen Reid, et al woud do better to defer to Pres Obama's decisions about the fate of Sen Burris. Pres Obama is the leader of the Democratic Party & POTUS. A lot of respect for Pres Obama's wishes is necessary if the Dem's wish to resolve the matter of Sen Burris quickly. This dithering loudly & in public must be seen as calculated insults to Pres Obama. Reid, Quinn, Obama is the boss, Got that, FHUT the SUCK UP, NOW. The buck stops at Obama's desk. Do exactly as Obama says at once.
The Rhamster will tell you what to do, when to do it & make sure that you get it right THIS TIME. You 2 have already displeased Pres Obama by making a very simple matter into an embarrasing farce with your clumsy dithering, delays & 2d guessing. DO EXACTLY AS PRES OBAMA SAYS, AT ONCE.
Quinn, Reid, your names are at the top of BHO's fecal roster, in large gold letters.

[power1]

This fiasco is all the Dem's fault. They balked at a special election because they were afraid they might lose the seat. As an Illinoisian, I think we are getting what we deserve as we elected Blago not once but twice.

[justwaitandsee]

Yawnnnnnnn­nnnnnnnnnn­nnnnnnnnnn­nn

[bygollymissmolly]

No, they did what the IL constitution says they should do which is for the Governor to appoint the person. Since Blago had the right to appoint Burris, the only thing the Democrats could have done would have been to refuse to seat him which they did until they caved.

[ashcom]

Yep. --- But if I were the governor of a state, I'd be mighty angry at the senate usurping a state's right.

[bosse]

Burris was appointed by a Governor legally. He wil be one of many candidates in 2010 and people can elcect who ever they like then. Sick crazy doctors treat patients and sick priets have said masses, both valid. So stop harassing this Snatr and see how he performs. Sen Durbin has accepted him, as also the whoe Senate calm down Gov. Quinn, Tr to build p the party, and kick out scoundres, get better peoe for next election.

[ashcom]

Yep.

[bipolarbear]

Did you vote for Topeka? You know why she lost right? She lost to Blago 'cause she had the taint of having been in George Ryan's cabinet. You do remember the '04 election, don't you? We had a choice between Blago (who we KNEW was corrupt) and Topeka, who we SUSPECTED to be corrupt.
I stood in the booth and did the "einy meeny mino mo" thing. I think the pen landed on Topeka, but I'm not sure really.

[carlgt1]

he ws an embarassing pick from the start, and the continued scandals & his exit will remain embarassing.

you just knew it was going to be bad when the Repubs rallied around to seat him (yet they are doing their darnedest to keep Al Franken out still)!

[justwaitandsee]

They Republicans are use to supporting unqualified people.

[endex05]

Roland,
Call me ASAP. I can hook you up with a smart lawyer (mine). You didn't have your mausoleum inscribed with indelible carving, did you?
Rod

[GeorgeP922]

Insta Poll.

Do you think Burris will resign in

a)24 hours (weekend dump)
b)72 hours (week long embaressment to DNC and IL)
c)In handcuffs (ie he fights it till they drag him away)

I wonder if I can bet on this on the irish betting site.

[postman606]

None of the above. Been watching Burris for 30 years, he is one of the most egotistical politicians I have ever met. He will limp along, only be replaced in an election of some kind. Forget perjury, it's a tough charge to prove, I doubt if he even gets charged.

[BeasleysMom]

But it makes a great divesion for gops who don't want anyone to notice their obstructionism and lack of any ideas to help America.

[bygollymissmolly]

I think that if he doesn't go willingly the Senate Democrats will vote to kick him out.

And I disagree with the below comment about perjury being hard to prove. It's pretty black and white in this case. Burris gave a written affidavit that ended up in being proven to not be true. That's perjury plain and simple.

[justwaitandsee]

If this case was sent to a grand jury then Burris would be indicted it’s that simple. It doesn’t take an expert to know exactly what he was doing.

Everyone should look at the fact that the FBI has subpoena the Governor’s Wife which is not a good sign for Burris because they are not obviously going to have her testify against her husband are they.

Someone from the FBI has probably given the Obama Administration a head-up.

Think About it Folks.

[maddie0001]

It's black and white alright.

Burris wanted the job and asked for it. That's a crime?

Nobody's been kicked out of the Senate since the civil war.
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Expulsion_Censure.htm

[GeorgeP922]

Can we use this opportunity to censure Bobby Rush now?

Its time for revenge, both these jerks humiliated Barack Obama and the DNC to the highest order.

If we can't clean our house, how are we supposed to clean out the repubs?

[justwaitandsee]

Exactly.

But I think Bobby Rush has censured himself

[GeorgeP922]

I have seen some disloyal Democrats from many states, but never have I seen people like Blago, Burris and Blago spit in the face of Barack Obama, and the rest of the party to such an extreme degree.

The fetish they have with power is unreal, did they hear that politics is a social service, meant to be a selfless act?

The grand irony in all of this is that Blago was a life long republican, if we want to point fingers it should be the Dem party of Illinois who obviously needs to revise their litmus test of which politicians they allow into their primaries.

[riverhouse]

He should never have been seated and now needs to be shown the wisdom of resigning. It's a long time until the primary, which he will surely lose, as he should. He needs to go now.

[goodog]

By acting fast, Patrick Fitzgerald stopped a crime in its tracks... or so we thought.

Despite Reid and Durbin protesting, Democrats knowingly sat a man who pre-paid for his appointment from a governor known to be selling it.

And don't say that no one knew. Durbin and Reid knew, but they were hounded by the usual suspects into giving Burris a pass despite obvious holes and inconsistencies in his testimony.

Because Fitzgerald gave us the heads-up, we knew what to look for, and we saw that Burris's lobbying firm had secured Blagojevich's wife a cushy, cash-backed position on some fawh-fawh-fawh foundation.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/07/burris.blagojevich.gop/index.html

"The governor's wife, Patti, was hired in September to an $80,000-a-year job with the Chicago Christian Industrial League, where Burris' lobbying partner is a board member."

Over-looking that WAS criminal, and that's what the Democrats need to confront: turning their back on a crime While... It... Was... Happening!

[maddie0001]

Are these folks guilty of something too?

Board of Directors
CCIL is governed by a 17-member board of directors representing Chicago's business, professional and religious communities. More than 50 employees implement and manage CCIL's programs and services.

* William A. Good, President
National Roofing Contractors Association

* Dr. Paul F. Camenisch, Vice President
Retired - DePaul University

* B.R. Sefton, Treasurer
Retired - Ameritech

* Kathryn Hamilton Fink, Secretary
Attorney at Law

* Annette Calderwood
Presbyterian Foundation

* Lorraine B. Clark
Deerfield Products Corporation

* Andrew Clauson
Lake Street Landscape Supply

* William Fitzgerald
EZ Stocks, Inc.

* James L. Foorman
The Guggenheim Group, LLC

* Michael Frigo
Mayslake Village

* Marilyn Graber
Graber Toolworks

* John Hill, Jr
Urban Media Group

* Conrad Hunter
iPCS Wireless, Inc.

* Fred G. Lebed
Burris & Lebed Consulting, LLC

* Kathryn Nattier McFarland
Abbott

* JoAnn Thompson
Alderman, 16th Ward

* William E. Warman
Provence Development Group

[ashcom]

A sitting Governor appointed him. The sitting Governor was impeached. Burris is the senator until the next election. That works. Illinois doesn't need to be stuck with only one senator.

A special election costs both time and a lot of money. There is a process in place. It has been followed.

If this silliness continues, I call on the governor of Illinois to resign because the governor wants to cost the taxpayers unnecessary money. So who is next in line? Does Illinois have a recall process?

Elected officials often support each other monetarily, and often politic for others. What is the big deal?
How many people voted for and/or contributed to Blago, anyway? Perhaps the governor should lead the charge in revoking Illinois citizenship to the whole bunch.

sincerely, you all,

ash

[carnelld]

Quinn was not elected Governor.

[bygollymissmolly]

So. You righties aren't the least bit concerned about who was elected and who wasn't unless you are on the losing side.

[Star2000dancer]

LOL! Nicely put.

[justwaitandsee]

Your arguement is silly.

Here is the senario:

Roland Burris will resign and the New Governor will appoint someone else, the sente will accept this person right away and so there for Illinois will not be without two Senators. There will be "NO"Special Election. The Governor was speaking about any future appointments not curret ones.

This is no rocket science folks. Stop trying to keep this Serial Loser in office with empty arguments

[americanboi]

So what you are advocating is that for the second time in less than three months, the will of the people of Illinois will be denied and another politician will "appoint" a new Senator?

Sounds counterintuitive if you ask me.

What the democrats are doing is ensuring that this will become an available seat because as of now, any person will seem tainted by this.

[ashcom]

Have you read the article you are commenting on?

The lead is:

"Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has called on Senator Roland Burris to resign and for his seat to be filled by a special election."

[scorpioleidy]

This Illinoisan agrees with you - well said!

[justwaitandsee]

There are more people in Illinois besides Bobby Rush you should know that. You might want to do a recount and then come back with a better arguement.

[arspar183]

to coin a phrase from Heston;
burress says u'll have to pry this senate seate from my cold bloody arse

[foresight]

"Can't we all just get along."

[DawnK]

I think that the people of IL should be able to line up and pull Rod Blago's hair and kick Roland Burris in the knee. These two will go down in history for sure as tweedle dee and tweedle dumb.

[Star2000dancer]

Thank you for the stimuloue Mr.Burris. We need you in the senate badly.
The people, not the politicians.

[justwaitandsee]

You must be one of his children

[JakeMontero]

Each time Burris talks he say something different. It's disgraceful.

[milo h minderbinder]

And to think that when the senate was trying to keep Burris out, people were screaming "RACIST".

Nah, it couldn't have been because the guy was appointed by a criminal under suspicious circumstances.

[McChimp]

Point well taken, but keeping him from being seated was PURE politics, as is calling for him to resign.

Instead of continuing this drama where Dems e at their own, and Repubs watch and enjoy, let Burris stay Senator and vote him out... there are plenty of Democrats that could defeat Burris in a primary.

Just vote him out people, quit creating unnecessary drama!

[ashcom]

YEP!!

[goodog]

Justice isn't drama.

Rewarding pay-for-play by ignoring it is drama.

DTMFA!

[justwaitandsee]

You are so right. To waste engery of this man was exactly that a waste.

ROLAND BURRIS IS A SERIAL LOSER and that will never change.

[tyger]

I doubt very seriously after the show the repubs put on if any one would vote a repub into the seat. Meantime the dems need to line up the evidence and oust Burris! I sure hope he is prosecuted for the perjury. Let him stick that on his tombstone.

[Realityism]

Is he even accused of anything?

[justwaitandsee]

of being short 5"6 mini me

[milo h minderbinder]

Purgery and fundraising for Blagojevich while he was under consideration for the seat, which could be considered a bribe.

[americanboi]

No he hasn't been accused of anything but not being upfront with the impeachment panel regarding his contact with Blagojevich or his reps.

If you read any of the available information, none of it concludes that Burris perjured himself. His name is not mentioned in the original indictment, the initial gang of five, and the first time we ever heard anything about him is when the announcement was made by Blago.

The fundraising claim is empty because even though he never raised a dime for Blago, there is no law that prevents people from fundraising on behalf of a party member even if that person is being considered for a seat.

I'm not shocked that the people screaming the loudest about this are completely absentminded on what the facts of this story is.

[mjb5406]

Excuse me? He promised from day 1 to be totally open and transparent, and now his story changes every time he opens his mouth. He even needs to be the marionette of his attorney, Timothy J. Wright III, to keep things straight.

[kgb999]

But ... but .... but ... BUSH WAS WORSER! So just let the poor democrat alone!

Like impeachment - there doesn't have to be a criminal conviction to ask him to resign (or remove him). In theory, our representatives can be held to a higher standard than the base minimum to avoid criminal conviction. It's interesting to me when people argue otherwise.

[riverhouse]

Perjury for starts.