PrintFebruary 26, 2009
Will no one rid us of this embarassment? (update: A dissent)
The saga of Roland Burris keeps getting weirder. The Chicago Sun Times has revealed that his son, Roland Burris II, got a job courtesy of former disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich - a job that helped Burris the younger get out from under a tax bill and mortgage delinquency:
The son of embattled Sen. Roland Burris is a federal tax deadbeat who landed a $75,000-a-year state job under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich five months ago, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.Blagojevich's administration hired Roland W. Burris II as a senior counsel for the state's housing authority Sept. 10 -- about six weeks after the Internal Revenue Service slapped a $34,163 tax lien on Burris II and three weeks after a mortgage company filed a foreclosure suit on his South Side house.spokeswoman for the Illinois Housing Development Authority indicated Wednesday there was nothing improper about Burris II's employment by the agency, whose mission includes overseeing mortgage programs for low-income home buyers and anti-foreclosure initiatives.Burris II's hiring, however, raises more questions about Sen. Burris' interactions with Blagojevich and his inner circle at a time when the governor was soliciting Sen. Burris for campaign contributions and Burris was angling to have Blagojevich appoint him to the Senate seat once held by President Obama.Blagojevich appointed Burris to that seat in late December after Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell the vacancy to the highest bidder.
The idea that this man is still in the Senate -- even after the state's senior senator and Harry Reid's right hand man Dick Durbin called on Burris to resign -- is a sad commentary about Burris's lack of understanding that the perception of all these shenannigans including the lies, the changing stories, and now the former governor doing a huge favor to his son, should disqualify him from serving as a Senator any longer.
The fact that it hasn't says more about Burris personally than it does about his party or politics in his state.
Response from Thomas Lifson
Rick,
I have the oposite take. I am really glad Burris is showing us the degree of rot in the Illinois government, explosing systemic problems which are much more important than the colorful Burris family.
I want this embarrassment to go on and on, until a thorough journalistic and law enforcement investigation unearths the full extent of the stsem you guys in Illinois have. Sorry if it is embarrassing for you Illini, but let's not avert our eyes any further.
The fact is, there may well be other deadbeats working programs to deal with mortgage foreclosures in Illinois and elsewhere. And we are about to inject tons of money into new programs to help those with foreclosure problems. Shouldn't we shine a spotlight on the question of who gets to hand out free government money to mortgage deadbeats?
Response from Thomas Lifson
Rick,
I have the oposite take. I am really glad Burris is showing us the degree of rot in the Illinois government, explosing systemic problems which are much more important than the colorful Burris family.
I want this embarrassment to go on and on, until a thorough journalistic and law enforcement investigation unearths the full extent of the stsem you guys in Illinois have. Sorry if it is embarrassing for you Illini, but let's not avert our eyes any further.
The fact is, there may well be other deadbeats working programs to deal with mortgage foreclosures in Illinois and elsewhere. And we are about to inject tons of money into new programs to help those with foreclosure problems. Shouldn't we shine a spotlight on the question of who gets to hand out free government money to mortgage deadbeats?
