Burris Update!
Hello All,
I just can’t even write about this one. Nice to see the Democrats standing up for their morals, oh wait! Stupid observation. Read the following please -
Senate leaders move toward seating Burris
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer Laurie Kellman, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago
WASHINGTON – In an abrupt reversal, Senate Democratic leaders are sitting down with Roland Burris in the Capitol amid new indications that he’s likely to be seated as the new senator from Illinois.
But there is no final deal yet, and Senate officials say Burris’ appointment still has to be certified by Illinois’ secretary of state.
Burris is meeting with Majority Leader Harry Reid and his lieutenant, Sen. Dick Durbin, in Reid’s spacious suite off the Senate floor. Officials were searching for a way to let him take over President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat a day after they turned him away for having incomplete paperwork.
Democrats had claimed the appointment was tainted by allegations that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich attempted to sell the seat.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris is closer to taking President-elect Barack Obama’s seat in the Senate, say knowledgeable officials in both parties, despite Democratic leaders’ vows to reject any appointee of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
After being rejected Tuesday when he tried to join the class of incoming freshmen senators, Burris is finding new support on Capitol Hill as Democratic leaders scramble for a way to defuse the standoff with growing racial, political and legal complications.
The likelihood that Burris, a Democrat, will eventually prevail and become the Senate’s only black member after Obama’s resignation from the seat, increased Tuesday evening when a key chairwoman got behind him, cracking what had been united public front by Senate Democrats against a Blagojevich appointee.
Burris was scheduled to meet with the Senate’s top two Democrats — Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and assistant leader Dick Durbin of Illinois — on Wednesday, a day after his paperwork was rejected at the opening of the 111th Congress.
Senate officials in both parties, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly for Senate members, said there is a growing expectation on Capitol Hill that the saga will end with Burris being seated.
Blagojevich shocked Democratic leaders by appointing Burris to finish the final two years of Obama’s six-year term in the Senate just three weeks after the governor was arrested on corruption charges in what federal prosecutors said was a scheme to sell or trade Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder,
Blagojevich denies the accusations and has yet to be indicted. There has been no indication that Burris was involved in the alleged scheme, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Democrats have repeatedly said the issue is Blagojevich, not Burris’ qualifications.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Rules Committee, told reporters Tuesday evening that Burris should be seated.
“If you don’t seat Mr. Burris, it has ramifications for gubernatorial appointments all over America,” the California Democrat said. “Mr. Burris is a senior, experienced politician. He has been attorney general, he has been controller, and he is very well-respected. I am hopeful that this will be settled.”
In a piece of political theater, Burris, 71, tried and failed Tuesday to take Obama’s seat.
He marched into the Capitol, declaring himself “the junior senator from the state of Illinois,” and asked Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson to accept a certification of his appointment signed by Blagojevich. Erickson refused, saying it lacked Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s signature and the state seal.
White has refused to sign the appointment letter that Blagojevich gave to Burris, saying he won’t sign onto any such decision by a governor under legal siege.
White said Wednesday says he’s being unfairly blamed by senators for not seating Burris, saying Burris could have been accepted there without his signature, calling that “mostly ceremonial.”
And in Chicago, Burris’ attorneys asked the Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday to expedite a hearing on their petition for a court order directing White to certify his appointment.
Burris also was considering a federal lawsuit to force Senate Democrats to seat him.
“Our credentials were rejected by the secretary of the Senate,” said Timothy W. Wright III, an attorney for Burris. “We were not allowed to be placed in the record book. We were not allowed to proceed to the floor for purposes of taking oath. All of which we think was improperly done and is against the law of this land.”
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Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman and Erica Werner contributed to this report.
Man, these people will never learn or change will they?
I bid adieu,
your Origami reporter,
L.Manly
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