Rod Blagojevich

Burr: I'll support Duckworth

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:12:21 -0400

Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina has agreed to allow the nomination of injured Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth go forward for a top post in the Veterans Affairs administration.

"I will support her," Burr told a a group of editors and reporters at The News and Observer on Wednesday.

Burr, the ranking Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, last week held up the nomination of Duckworth because he had questions about a confidential financial questionnaire she had filled out, Rob Christensen reports.

The move angered some veterans groups because Duckworth is a National Guard major who lost both of her legs when the helicopter she was piloting was attacked in Iraq.

More after the jump.

Goodall: Will trade seat for tix

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:20:00 -0500

Sen. Eddie Goodall will trade his seat in the legislature for basketball tickets.

The Matthews Republican has put his Senate seat up for trade on the popular auction site eBay, in return for tickets to next week's Carolina-Duke game.

"I'm not sure how it works, but I'm just going by what Gov. (Rod) Blagojevich as a guideline," he said, tongue planted in cheek. "He made me aware that these seats are valuable. I don't know whatever happened with that, but it got me thinking maybe my state seat is valuable too."

Goodall went to UNC-Chapel Hill for a year in 1965, transferring to UNC-Charlotte when he didn't make the basketball team. He said he hasn't been to a game against Duke since he slept on the sidewalk overnight that year for tickets.

There are still 2 days and five hours left on the eBay auction, but Goodall was getting worried. He answered a call by immediately asking a reporter if he had tickets to the game.

If he can't trade his Senate seat, the actual chair, two part-time staffers and a volunteer treasurer for tickets, risking fines and prison time, Goodall said he'd have to watch the game from his hotel room in Raleigh after session.

He added that he hoped people understood he was kidding about the whole thing.

"If politicians could laugh at themselves more, people would laugh at them less," he said.

Illinois governor cites N.C. case

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:04:25 -0500

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is citing former Gov. Mike Easley's logic.

The Illinois governor is using the outcome of a public records fight in North Carolina to argue that he should not have to release information on clemency cases, the State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill., reports.

A newspaper in his state is seeking the files, but an attorney for Blagojevich objected to making them public, citing a case decided by the N.C. Supreme Court that said clemency files are property of the governor's office.

In the 2007 case, the North Carolina justices decided that releasing the files would violate the separation-of-powers doctrine in the state constitution. The News & Observer had sued to gain access to the records of decisions on death row inmates and others.

Blagojevich's attorney argued that the Illinois constitution is similar to North Carolina's.

Hat Tip: Jeremy Adams

Perdue will not attend inauguration

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:14:04 -0500

Gov. Beverly Perdue does not plan to attend the inauguration.

Perdue will be in Washington, D.C., on Sunday for an EMILY's List luncheon, but she does not currently plan to stick around for Tuesday's swearing-in ceremony for President-elect Barack Obama.

Spokesman Tim Crowley said he did not know what Perdue would do instead that day.

"I haven't seen the calendar," he said.

The National Governors Association invited its members to attend the inauguration.

Some are; some are not. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington will attend, while embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is not.

RB on RB's appointment by RB

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:50:05 -0500

Republican Sen. Richard Burr says Democrat Roland Burris ought to be seated in the U.S. Senate.

The Illinois Supreme Court today ruled that the Illinois Secretary of State does not need to sign off on Burris’ appointment to replace Barack Obama in the Senate, Barb Barrett reports.

"Given today’s decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, Roland Burris should be seated as a United States Senator as expeditiously as possible," Burr said.

Burris was appointed by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested last month on suspicion of trying to sell his appointment to the highest bidder. When Burris showed up to the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday for swearing-in, he was rebuffed by officials who said his paperwork lacked the proper signatures.

Democrats had said they would not seat anyone appointed by the governor, but since Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has seemed more open to the idea.

The state Supreme Court's decision came on the same day that the Illinois state House of Representatives impeached Blagojevich. His case now goes to the state Senate.

The man who (could) matter (someday)

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:37:13 -0500

Here's a takeaway from Illinois: Lieutenant governors matter.

Sometimes.

As Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces corruption charges and possible impeachment, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn stands to become the chief executive of the Land of Lincoln.

To the east, former New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson now heads the Empire State. In Arizona, Secretary of State Jan Brewer may replace Gov. Janet Napolitano, who has been nominated for U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. (The state has no lieutenant governor.)

In Arkansas, Bill Clinton's election as president bumped up Lt. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, whose later conviction made Lt. Gov. Mike Huckabee governor.

In North Carolina, the lieutenant governor's office has little power. It has the smallest budget of any Council of State or Cabinet office, the smallest staff and the fewest responsibilities.

With the blessing of Gov. Mike Easley and Senate leader Marc Basnight, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue built up a decent portfolio on military and health issues, but none of those perks came with the office. Her only vote was to break a tie on the state lottery.

In recent years, the office has been seen as a placeholder for a future gubernatorial run, although until Perdue that hadn't been a very good strategy.

But history has a way of following its own path, and sometimes the No. 2 — soon-to-be Walter Dalton — becomes a very important person overnight.