Burris Refused Seat in US Senate

[Are_grits_groceries]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama's appointed successor was turned away when he appeared at the U.S. Capitol to take his seat.

Roland Burris announced the decision to deny him the seat as he stood before a large throng of reporters and cameras in the rain outside the Capitol building.

A Democratic official says the secretary of the Senate has turned former Illinois attorney general Roland Burris away from taking the seat vacated by President-e lect Barack Obama.

Burris left the Capitol offices of the secretary, Nancy Erickson, after a meeting of about 20 minutes.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/01/06/washington/AP-Senate-Burris.html?hp

[bobd0]

1. Did I vote for Obama or McCain?

Because it's getting pretty hard to determine whether the Democrats won or lost.

[Robbien]

4. Well the really big super duper idea to save the economy is . . . Tax Cuts

that should give you your answer.

[fla nocount]

13. Exonerate the telecoms, bail-out Wall Street without oversight...

more tax cuts. That refreshing breeze is the CHANGE in the air.

[kiranon]

2. Believe this is a mistake and Burris should be seated.

[LeFleur1]

3. Me Too.

Blogo... hasn't been charged or convicted of anything.

There appears to be nothing shady about Burris. Why do the two parties do this kind of scaggy thing?. They only follow the rules when it suits them and is advantageous to their party...which they sometimes misjudge. The Governor of Illinois has the right to appoint a Senator for the empty seat.
Burris has been a good man by all accounts. It looks like a stupid power struggle.

[Wizard777]

5. The Senate is violating the Fifth Amendment.

They are depriving the Governor of the liberty to make the appointment without due process of law.

[damntexdem]

25. The Dems DO need to put up an anti-Blago demonstration.

But they should quick about it and find an excuse to cave and seat Burris.

[letmebefrank]

6. Idiots

as an illinoisan - To me this is disgusting. This is a 2-year appointment - let the man serve so that we can get back to the business of rebuilding this fucking country. I am pretty disappointed in Harry Reid or whoever is responsible.

[saigon68]

16. Yes Harry is doing his usual "folding up" on this one

[rosesaylavee]

26. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[kpete]

7. Burris, Rejected by Senate, 'Weighs Options'

Source: ABC


Burris, Rejected by Senate, 'Weighs Options'
Burris Shows Up at the Capitol Asking to Be Sworn In
By Z. BYRON WOLF and JONATHAN KARL
Jan. 6, 2009


Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris was turned away from the Senate this morning after being told he does not have permission to be seated as the junior senator from Illinois.

"I am not seeking to have any type of confrontation," Burris said during a press conference that was held across the street from the Capitol building in the freezing rain. Burris' attorneys said they are considering their legal options, and said Burris would stay in Washington while they sorted things out.

Burris is set to meet tomorrow with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Whip and Illinois' senior senator, Dick Durbin.

The 71-year-old Burris was appointed by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich after he was accused of trying to sell the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6585203&page=1

[Doctor_J]

8. Between this, Fitz's dragging out of the investigation, and the thievery in

progress in MN, the final Senate make-up will likely be 57-42, with IL having only one Senator.

I am beginning to think that Harry's not a weak leader, he's actually working with the GOP to sink Obama's agenda.

[apnu]

11. No he's not working with the GOP, he is just that spineless.

Seriously, if we ever need someone to kick the snot out of the Democratic Party, Harry Reid is the man to go to. If you want someone to oppose the GOP, look elsewhere. Oh and skip Pelosi too, she's a viper to Dems but a kitten to Republicans.

My point is, when the going gets tough with the GOP, the Democratic leadership gets packing.

[fla nocount]

14. The GOP is a tired old nag.

Corporate American has a fresh steed to ride.

[apnu]

18. Well that's true considering the sudden flood of lobby dollars flying into Dem pockets

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[MilesColtrane]

9. Glad he was turned away.

Even if Burris is squeaky clean he's shown that his monumental ego is more important than the Democratic party.

Fuck him.

[CoopersMom]

10. What "thievery" in MN?

Are you suggesting that Franken has "stolen" the election?

As for Burris, he's 71 years old and doesn't have any deep pockets to run in a couple of years. Does IL really need just a placeholder selected by a crook as a F...K YOU appointment because the crook didn't paid for the sea?

[radfringe]

12. compromise...it's coming...can you smell it?

Technically Blago is still governor, and technically he has the power to appoint anyone he wants to fill the Senate vacancy. So, technically, Burris is a legitimate appointee.

So far, there's nothing in the news which links Burris to any wrong doing, he's not under investigation or indictment. Yes, Blago clouds hang over Burris, but is that enough to refuse to seat him?

Unless there's some late breaking developments which directly connect Burris to Blago's situation - I think some back pedaling and compromise is in the wind.

I think Burris will eventually be seated, he'll be considered a place-holder until 2010 and expected to quietly retire. BUT, my gut tells me Burris won't quietly retire and he'll run for the Senate in 2010 and we'll see a Lieberman-Lamont ala Conneticut 2006 situation.

[Bette Noir]

15. It's the fault of the Illinois legislature.

They should have stripped Blagojovich of his duties pending the completion of the investigation.

But Burris should have refused the appointment, anyway.

[Abq_Sarah]

17. Why is Reid

Wasting his time on this? Burris was lawfully appointed by the Governor of Illinois and unless the Senate can come up with some evidence that Burris somehow violated the law, he has nothing to say about it. Instead of screwing around trying to deny the citizens of Illinois full representation in the Senate, Reid needs to get to work on the new legislative agenda.

[fla nocount]

21. Maybe Reid is doing BO or Rahm a favor by not seating Burris.

Blago picked a good man for the seat by all accounts and he is still the Governor. Everybody in Illinois politics knows everybody else, lets not forget that.

[Abq_Sarah]

22. I would hope

That Reid had a better reason than that. If the Senate refuses to seat duly elected or appointed members based on whether or not they believe that member will help or hurt the President, we're in deep shit.

[fla nocount]

23. We've been in deep shit for 3 decades.

Learn to float and blend in. Reid and the junior senator from Illinois were colleagues until the very recent past. Add the influence of Rahm "the Bulldog" (also from Illinois) and there's really no telling what's going on. Dick Durbin, majority whip, (did you know that he was from Illinois) might also be playing a hand...we have no way of knowing.

[LibertyLover]

19. It's also a procedural question regarding his nomination --

the Illinois Secretary of State needs to sign off on the papers certifying Burris' appointment and that official has refused to do so. So Blago's signature was the only one on the paperwork. The Senate could not seat Burris even if it wanted to- the paperwork isn't correct. I'm not sure where I stand on Burris' appointment. I don't know enough about the man to have any opinion, even though I went to school in Chicago.

[Xolodno]

20. This sets a very dangerous precedent....

Its just one Senator today but...tomorrow lets say is a Republican controlled Senate and they refuse to "seat" all Democrats? The field of problems of the future are seeded and planted today.

[marshall]

24. Never a dull moment in DC

I can't wait for the movie to come out.

[BlueStater]

27. Good. Fuck him. And fuck Rod. n/t

[GinaMaria]

28. So Illinois has half the representation in the senate

as most states? This isn't working for the people of Illinois. They need to put their heads together and come up with a solution that everyone can live with and move forward. We are being cheated.

Another poster suggested not paying taxes since we have no representation.... Since we have Durbin, maybe 50% tax cut (federal and state) should be in force for Illinois until everyone gets their act together.

the new admin hasn't even started yet and the drama and chaos is a distraction. We have serious stuff to deal with.