Sure, Rod Blagojevich- appointed Roland Burris no longer represents Illinois in the U.S. Senate. But he didn’t leave his spot with his pockets empty — or so that’s how it could happen if U.S. Senator Harry Reid’s (D-NV) ominbus budget…

As it stands now the Democrats stand to lose at least a half dozen senate seats in November and could even lose their wobbly nine-seat majority if the wobbly independent Joe Lieberman wobbles more to the right.

Losing Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts seat—granted because of a miserable candidate—showed that everything is up for grabs in this anti-incumbent, anti-politician, anti-everything year. The bluest states could turn blood-red—New York with an ill-chosen appointee to replace Hillary Clinton, Delaware with no Biden of any generation to shore up the faithful and, yes, Illinois with a …

Dear fellow Illinoisan,
As Congress debates contentious issues such as health care reform, climate change, and our continued economic recovery, it is more important than ever to keep in touch so that I can faithfully serve your needs in Washington.
To that end, I will be providing details of my legislative efforts in periodic e-newsletters, such as this one. I will also be launching a new website, where you will find information about specific legislation, services my office can provide, and the issues you care about most. In a few weeks, you’ll …

Dear Senator Durbin,
I didn’t expect your Democratic Senate colleague, Roland Burris, to understand why voting against the federal defunding of ACORN was contemptible. That’s because he is a demonstrable twit. But you, sir, from your exalted position as your party’s second highest official in the Senate, should have been able to locate and read the evidence coming from within the halls of Congress. Instead, you ignored the hard facts and voted with a few other blind partisans to keep our taxpayers’ millions flowing into that sinkhole called the
Association of Community …

From News Junkie
Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) was one of seven Democrats to oppose the measure. He represents the state that houses ACORN‘s headquarters.
“I know the right-wing and politics in America have been on a rampage against ACORN since the last election because of voter registration, particularly of minorities, but I think it’s unfair to let two or three incidents condemning an organization which has decades of service to this country,” Durbin said.
From Fox News
BURRIS: Because I want to support ACORN. I supported ACORN. It’s that simple.

ABC News: Illinois Sen. Roland Burris announced last month that he would not run to retain his Senate seat next year, but in his first television interview since making that decision, Burris told ABC News he could change his mind.
“You never say never,” Burris told ABC News in a “Subway Series” interview for the ABC News program “Top Line.” The “Subway Series,” which debuts on Monday, features interviews with senators and other political leaders on board the Capitol Hill subway.
“What I’m still hearing,” Burris said, is “people from all over …

“Illinois politician” continues its run as a late-night punchline.
In just the past couple of weeks since returning from France, we’ve been treated to the following:
–Senator Roland Burris’s nose grows longer with his circumlocutions around a newly revealed wiretap wherein he seems to be negotiating about how little he might have to pay to play senator du jour.
–Speaker of the House Mike Madigan and his senate henchman John Cullerton, kill off any significant “pay to play” reforms, let alone any suggestions of transparency or fiscal responsibility.
–Corruption rears its head in higher-education, …

Roland Burris still occupies temporary office space in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, in a suite far from the floor of the United States Senate, so when the buzzer signalling an imminent vote interrupted his lunch the other day, he put down his plastic soupspoon, left his sandwich untouched, and hustled out into the marble hallway. “I’m not missing any votes,” he said. “They’ll get on me for that, too.”
More at the New Yorker

Quinn’s Intended Tax Hike?
There is little doubt that (a) Gov. Pat Quinn will massage the media with dire tales of Illinois red ink…seemingly changing for the worse by the day…that he will be pictured as being “forced”-utterly “forced”-to recommend an income tax hike. While the media’s symphony strings quiver in the background trembling with the notion of the poor who will be turned out in the snow, it is obvious he’s going to ask for it. But now the rumor has started…not by the pro-Quinn media certainly…that (b) he will …

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.
More at the Sun-Times