Monday, September 29, 2008

Indict or impeach?

For those of you who may follow state politics, I just wonder if the politics in Illinois has just gone from bad to worse. I hear a lot of chatter about how the Governor performs and just as easily there's some chatter on his ethics.

How can this governor recover if the Tribune writes an editorial talking about not only his indictment but a possible impeachment?
After what has happened in the last few days, it's more likely that Gov. Rod Blagojevich will be indicted or impeached or both.

• The Tribune reported on Sunday that convicted political fixer Tony Rezko has talked to federal prosecutors and may cooperate in their investigation of the governor's administration. At closing arguments in Rezko's trial, a federal prosecutor told jurors that his crimes involved "the highest levels of power in Illinois." Rezko has refused to help investigators—until, apparently, now.

• The Illinois appellate court on Friday issued a ruling that could provide reason for the legislature to remove Blagojevich. He decided to spend tens of millions of dollars to expand a state health care insurance program even though the legislature wouldn't approve it. The court told Blagojevich to stop the program—and said his administration can't even identify how many people have enrolled in it.

Federal prosecutors will pursue their investigation of the Blagojevich administration's notorious pay-to-play politics. Having the cooperation of Rezko, once one of Blagojevich's closest confidants, would greatly help to determine if the governor was involved in criminal wrongdoing. All the rest of us—lawmakers, political leaders, citizens—can do is wait for the prosecutors to complete their investigation.

But Blagojevich's attempt to go around lawmakers and spend money they didn't approve for a vast health care program may be just as insidious as his pay-to-play politics. His effort to expand health care through the program known as FamilyCare was soundly rejected by the Illinois legislature. But he did it anyway, spending millions of dollars to broaden eligibility for state-funded health care to people with higher family incomes.
Worth a read if you follow the link to the full article.

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