Burris Getting Blasted for Contradictions
Sen. Roland Burris’ political life seems to get more precarious with every turn. Burris, currently the only African American in the U.S. Senate after being named to the seat once held by President Barack Obama, has come under fire for his conflicting stories about his relationship with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Contradicting earlier testimony regarding his ties to the governor, Burris has acknowledged that he tried to raise money for Blagojevich, who has been impeached and booted out of office amid charges that he sought to sell Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. He has also admitted, after the appointment, that he had contact with a number of the governor’s aides during the time he was being considered for the seat. But in yet another seemingly unsavory revelation, The Chicago Sun Times reports that Burris’ son was hired as a senior counsel for the Illinois Housing Development Authority by Blagojevich’s administration last September. Roland Burris II was facing a $34,163 tax lien and a foreclosure proceeding on his Chicago home at the time of the hiring, the newspaper reports. This news is just further fueling the outrage among those who are calling for the senator to step down. One of those vociferous opponents is Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “I told him that under the circumstances, I would resign. He said, ‘I’m not going to resign.’ I can’t force him,” Durbin said.

Obama’s Budget Battle Begins
This week, the president will send his top adviser to Capitol Hill to defend his budget and spending priorities as outlined last week. In his weekly radio address Saturday, he challenged his critics and called for the American people and Congress to understand the change he’s determine to bring about.

Duke Enthroned on U.S. Coin
A U.S. coin now dons the image of true African-American royalty. Edward “Duke” Ellington, who during his illustrious career as a jazz musician and composer penned more than 3,000 songs and won 13 Grammys, became the first Black person to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin. Among Ellington’s many classic tunes were such notables as “Satin Doll,” “Perdido” and “Don’t Get Around Much Any More.” His “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” which helped usher in the Swing Era of jazz, appears on the “tails” side of the new D.C. quarter. Ellington died in 1974 at the age of 75. George Washington is on the “heads” side, as is the norm with U.S. quarters. The coin was issued to celebrate Ellington’s birthplace, the District of Columbia. Also on the coin is the phrase “Justice for all.” The Mint rejected the first inscription choice of D.C. voters, which was “taxation without representation,” in protest of the district’s lack of voting representation in Congress.

Democratic Whip Asks Burris to Resign
Saying that he had warned Sen. Roland Burris to steer clear of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich amid news of a potential scandal, Sen. Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, said Tuesday the time has come for Burris to resign. Blagojevich – who has been charged with trying to sell the open Illinois Senate seat that was left vacant when Barack Obama headed to the White House – appointed Burris. The former Illinois comptroller and state attorney general has been lambasted in the media for repeatedly changing his story about circumstances surrounding his appointment. In his latest shocker, he has acknowledged attempting to raise money for the embattled governor.
 

Nororious Klansman Dies
An infamous North Carolina Klansman was buried last week. Virgil Griffin, best known for leading a Ku Klux Klan chapter that was involved in a deadly clash with members of the Communist Party two decades ago, died last Wednesday at Gaston Memorial Hospital. He was 64. Griffin, who during his 40 years in the hate group – he rose to become imperial wizard of the Cleveland Knights of the KKK – was cast into the public spotlight after five members of the Communist Party were killed and 10 injured in a clash with the Klan in Greensboro in 1979. Many civil rights advocates believe that justice was denied when Griffin and several of his fellow Klansmen were tried and cleared of state murder charges and federal civil rights conspiracy charges. In a civil trial, the Klan, the American Nazi Party and the Greensboro Police Department were found jointly liable for the wrongful deaths of the five people killed. The city paid $350,000. He would later tell a Truth and Reconciliation panel investigating the incident that Communist Workers Party members were killed and not Klansmen because “my people hunt for food. Maybe God guided the bullets, I don’t know.”

Sen. Burris Under Fire in Illinois
Illinois Republicans said Sunday that they want the senator who filled President Barack Obama’s seat in Congress investigated for perjury, saying he misled the public regarding then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Sen. Roland Burris had previously told a panel probing the governor’s alleged attempt to sell the Senate seat that he had never been asked by the governor to contribute to his campaign. On Sunday, in what his opponents say was deliberately misleading, Burris acknowledged being hit up by Rod Blagojevich’s brother for contributions. “I made clear to him I would not contribute [to the governor's campaign] because it would be inappropriate because I had expressed my interest in the Senate seat,” Burris, a Democrat, told reporters at a news conference. “I did not donate one single dollar.” But state Rep. Jim Durkin, who headed the Republican questioning of Burris at the impeachment hearing, said in a statement, “I’m very disappointed.” A spokesman for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Jim Manley, said that the Democratic senator is looking into the matter. “Clearly it would have been better if Sen. Burris had provided this information when he first testified,” Manley said. “Sen. Reid is reviewing the affidavit and will await any action by Illinois legislative leaders after they review the matter.” In an affidavit, Burris said the governor’s brother called him three times to “seek my assistance in fundraising for Gov. Blagojevich.”

Soon-to-be dethroned Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, in his latest shocker, acknowledged that he was eyeing daytime TV Queen Oprah Winfrey to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate. Speaking on ABC’s Good Morning America, Blagojevich said that a friend of his suggested that consider Winfrey to fill the spot vacated by Obama when he headed to the White House. “She seemed to be someone who had helped Barack Obama in a significant way become president,” Blagojevich said. “She was obviously someone with a much broader bully pulpit than other senators.” However, Blagojevich said, he doubted she would accept. “She probably wouldn’t take it, and then … if you offered it to her, how would you do it in a way it didn’t look like it was some gimmick and embarrass her?” At least the governor’s intuition about that was correct. Appearing on Gayle King’s radio show, Winfrey said, that while she also believes she could be a senator, “I’m not interested” in the position. “I’m pretty amused by the whole thing,” she said. “I guess you’re under consideration but no one tells you you’re under consideration …I would have to say: Where would I fit it in with my day job, my night job, my radio job, my magazine job?”

Obama: I want to talk about the Illinois scandal. President-elect Barack Obama may seem like he’s dodging questions about the ongoing investigation into the alleged misdeeds of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but he said Wednesday that “it’s a little bit frustrating” to not talk in detail about the investigation.  The feds contend that Blagojevich was working on a fat payday as he plotted his strategy to name Obama’s replacement in the U.S. Senate. The spoils of the victory were to be awarded to the wannabe senator who offered the best political or financial deal for Blagojevich and his family, according to investigators, who taped the governor as he allegedly talked about a deal. FBI agents arrested him last week, saying they had plenty of evidence for a strong case against him.

Rep. Jesse Jackson told the feds about Illinois’ governor. Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been a government informant, spilling the beans on Illinois’ embattled governor and other miscreant politicians for years, The New York Post reported Tuesday. The newspaper said that a Jackson spokesman, Kenneth Edmonds, acknowledged that Jackson had spoken to the feds about Gov. Rod Blagojevich and others. Blagojevich is now under investigation for allegedly trying to sell Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder. Chicago’s WLS-TV reported that Jackson Jr., the son of the famed civil rights leader of the same name, told investigators Blagojevich refused to make Jackson’s wife director of the state lottery because Jackson would not pledge $25,000 to the governor’s campaign fund. “Blagojevich went out of his way to say, ‘You know I was considering your wife for the lottery job and the $25,000 you didn’t give me? That’s why she’s not getting the job,’” a source told The Associated Press. Jackson doesn’t deny meeting with Blagojevich about his interest in Obama’s Senate seat one day before the governor was arrested on federal corruption charges.

Obama’s team investigates Illinois governor. President-elect Barack Obama is to release in the next couple of days a report on the internal probe into whether any of his aides had any conversations with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was charged earlier this week with trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. Read the rest here.

Obama calls for the Illinois governor to resign. As Illinois lawmakers scrambled to find a way to force a disgraced but defiant Gov. Rod Blagojevich out of office in light of his arrest on corruption charges, President-elect Barack Obama and other Democrats are calling for his resignation. Read more here.

Obama says he knew nothing of governor’s alleged corruption. Illinois governor is out on bond after an arrest on corruption charges. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was released on $4,500 bail after appearing in court Tuesday afternoon on federal corruption charges. Blagojevich is accused of attempting to sell the Illinois Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. His arrests were the result of what the governor said in wiretaps from phones at his home and campaign headquarters, investigators said. FBI officials say they were shocked and disgusted by what they heard Blagojevich say on the wiretaps, particularly considering that the governor knew he had been under investigation for hiring irregularities over the past three years. “It’s a bleeping valuable thing,” Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney in Illinois, said Blagojevich said on the wiretap. “You just don’t give it up for nothing.” In a 76-page affidavit, federal officials said the governor had been “working furiously” to get as much money as he could before the holidays for Obama’s old Senate seat. The governor is charged with conspiracy to commit mail, wire fraud and solicitation of bribery, authorities said.  He was also expecting a key federal appointment or other plum Capitol Hill job in the pay-to-play scheme. “This is a sad day for government,” Fitzgerald said at a news conference on Tuesday to announce the governor’s arrest. “Gov. Blagojevich has taken us to a new low. This conduct would make [Abraham] Lincoln roll over in his grave.” Lincoln was a congressman from Illinois before becoming president. Fitzgerald said that the governor had expressed displeasure with the Obama camp for refusing to play the game, and that there was no evidence of Obama or his associates talking with the governor about the Senate seat. “I had no contact with the governor or his office… . So I had no idea what was happening,” Obama said on Tuesday. The president-elect called it a “sad day for the state of Illinois.” Released on bond, Blagojevich is still the Illinois governor and, as such, can still appoint Obama’s replacement. Democrats fear that if that happens, Obama’s successor could be tainted by the scandal and are threatening not to seat the replacement if Blagojevich does make a pick.