Healthcare Nuttiness Reid Quotes Rodney King and Burris Does Twas the Night

It's getting nutty out there. First it's DNC's Tim Kaine vs. the always nutty RNC's Michael Steele:

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Harry Reid quotes Rodney King and Roland Burris' rendition of Twas the Night Before Christmas:

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Burris Now Admits Blagojevich Asked for Money

Deceitful on his part. Burris ought to be tossed.

Chicago Trib:U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, who repeatedly denied anyone tied to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich solicited him for cash in exchange for his seat, now acknowledges Blagojevich's brother asked him three times to help with fundraising.

In an affidavit Burris quietly filed nine days ago with the head of the House committee that recommended Blagojevich's impeachment, Illinois' new junior senator also said he spoke with three close associates of the governor about being appointed to the Senate. Prior, Burris only acknowledged having spoken to one such friend.

Burris said he refused the fundraising request for Blagojevich, who was removed from office after being charged Dec. 9 with corruption, including trying to sell the Senate seat Burris now holds.

The new affidavit--filed only after he was seated in Congress--is Burris' third account of what happened behind the scenes preceding Blagojevich's decision to pick him as President Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate.

Read the rest

Obama Urged Seating Burris?

If that's the case, once again, Obama shows he's a very wise man. Some fights aren't worth it. 

HP: The apparent decision to seat Roland Burris came after aides to President-elect Barack Obama contacted senior Senate Democrats and suggested that they reverse course and accept Gov. Rod Blagojevich's controversial appointment, according to a senior Dem congressional aide.

Just minutes after the decision to seat Burris was reported, Obama offered the veteran Illinois pol praise and promised a working relationship.

"That is a Senate matter," he said of the news. "But I know Roland Burris, obviously he is from my home state. He is a fine public servant, if he gets seated then I am going to work with Roland Burris like all other senators to make sure that the people if Illinois and the people across the country are served."

Burris press conference. He's a rather eccentric guy. I hope that means he's smart:

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Reid on Burris

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Democrats Ready to Seat Burris

This is a good move since the Blago appointment of Burris has become more of a spectacle than anything else. It's not a fight worth fighting. I'll bet he'll make the senate more interesting, too.

WASHINGTON - The Associated Press has learned Senate Democrats plan to accept Roland Burris for President-elect Barack Obama's vacant seat.

NBC news reports Burris is meeting with the Senate leadership now as Senate Democrats look for ways to defuse the standoff that has denied Burris a Senate seat.

Dianne Feinstein has been urging his seating:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate 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.

Obama Announces Nancy Killefer for Chief Performance Officer

Update: Killefer withdraws. 
In a press conference today, Obama announces Nancy Killefer as chief performance officer. She will essentially boost the financial performance of government programs and get rid of waste. See video below
Here is her bio from Our Public Service, where she's a board member:

Nancy Killefer is a senior director in the Washington, D.C. office of McKinsey & Company, Inc. She is a leader of McKinsey’s Public Sector Practice, specializing in developing strategies and improving organizational effectiveness for a wide range of government clients.
Nancy joined McKinsey in 1979 and during her career has focused on strategy, marketing, and organizational effectiveness and efficiency issues with an emphasis on consumer-based and retail industries.
From 1997 to 2000, Nancy served as Assistant Secretary for Management, CFO, and COO at the United States Department of the Treasury. In addition to overall management responsibilities for Treasury’s 14 bureaus and 160,000 people, she led a major modernization at the Internal Revenue Service, prepared Treasury’s systems for Y2K, and reshaped management processes, including installing an asset management program across the Treasury Department.
After returning to McKinsey in 2000, she joined the IRS Oversight Board, a public-private entity akin to a corporate board that oversees its IRS. She served there from 2000 to 2005 and was its Chairperson from 2002 to 2004.
Nancy received her M.B.A. from the Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She holds a B.A. with honors in economics from Vassar College. Prior to business school Nancy worked as an associate at Charles River Associates, a microeconomics consulting firm.

Here's an article Killefer wrote with a colleague for Business Week.
After the conference, Obama was asked about Roland Burris. The democrats may have had a change of heart and may welcome him to the senate. Obama didn't say anything new on Burris. Apparently, the democrats are still working on some sort of deal.
Here's the entire press conference, which was pretty short.

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Q&A portion. Chuck Todd sounds frustrated.

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Burris Gets Turned Away

I kind of feel sorry for Roland Burris. He probably should be seated but why would he want to be seated in this way? That makes me question his integrity.

It's raining.

Roland Burris Monument

How much more wackier can Illinois politicians get? Roland Burris has already built quite the resting place for HIMSELF. 

Maybe there's a logical explanation. 

Obama: Burris Good Blago Not

All of Illinois has to be embarrassed by now. See the wacky press conference here.

CNN: Senate Democratic leaders have said they will block the appointment and are urging the governor to step down after his arrest on corruption charges. It's a point that Obama agrees with.

"Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat," Obama said in a statement. "I agree with their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Gov. Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it."

FBI agents arrested Blagojevich on December 9 after federal prosecutors alleged, among other things, that he had tried to "sell" Obama's former Senate seat. Blagojevich denies any wrongdoing and has ignored calls to resign.

Burris defends himself. He raises questions in my mind -- why? Why would anyone want to jump into this craziness? Is Burris crazy too? Also, why did Blago choose Burris? What was Blago's motivation? What kind of discussions did they have? 

Blagojevich Appoints Roland Burris Video

Story from MSNBC. NYT's take. 

What a crazy press conference. Congress Bobby Rush rushed the podium to talk about how it was absolutely necessary that a black man be in the senate. It just came off as Weird. 
How nutty is Blago? He says he's enjoyed the limelight in the past couple of weeks, and he really does seem to be enjoying the limelight. Burris praises Obama. Who is Burris? More from ABC on Burris. Think Progress has a video that speculates Blago is crazy like a fox. He's thinking of his trial. 

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