(CNN) - Illinois Rep. Phil Hare, a Democrat, has had enough of the negative press coverage of his state, and says it's time Sen. Roland Burris resign his seat.
In an interview with CNN, the Democratic congressman flatly said he does not believe Burris' claims of doing nothing improper to gain the appointment of President Barack Obama's former Senate seat.
"I think Roland actively wanted this job," Hare said on CNN's American Morning. "I think he went out and tried to do everything he could to get the job but most importantly, he was under oath, and three times before this impeachment panel he was asked and he denied all three times that he had any contact, never raised any money.
"He may not have given the governor a single dime, but it wasn't because he didn't try," Hare also said.
Ultimately, Hare said, Burris has become a distraction when the state needs to focus on its economic woes.
"We should be focusing trying to keep people in their homes. We just passed a stimulus bill. We should be doing the work of the people here," he said. "Now we're tied up again with an ethics investigation, the state's attorney looking at possible perjury charges."
Hare's comments come two days after the Chicago Tribune also called on Burris to step down.
Burris has said he did nothing wrong to secure the Senate seat and given no indication he will resign.
From CNN Politics
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I have to echo this call. Burris should never have been allowed to take seat in the first place. We all knew he was lying.
He's right. Burris is an embarassment to the Dems and they should all tell him to get lost so Illinois can elect someone else.
He's right..time to bow out Burris.
It is so disappointing as I was just starting to really like Roland Burris, I still feel he did nothing wrong, just was talking to people he should not have and was a bit on the naive side. Every state has a bit of corruption, look at Louisiana and nobody is telling Senator Vetter to resign.
Blago sure knew how to make a smokescreen for his gettaway.Hes going to take as many with him as he can if he has to do TIME IN PRISON.
How can Burris really believe that he could have any credibility with the people of Illinois when he deviously acquired a senate seat. If he had any morals he would have declined the appointment from the then governor. If one needs to be continuously telling people that you have not done anything wrong then you probably have done something wrong! If he cared so much about "the people of Illinois" Then he would have not accepted the seat or resigned. Get him out of there ASAP. Illinois got big fish to fry.....
I'm willing to pay for a stone mason to go to Roland's awaiting crypt and engrave the following:
"Entombed in this place is perhaps the biggest laughing stock that this great State has ever known, Rob Blugojevich"
Of course Roland has spent about zero seconds thinking about what this entire fiasco is doing to the state, its residents and those, like me, who want to spend what little time we have "solving", rather than creating, problems.
Roland- Go away.
First Blog and now Burris. What is with this seat in Illinois?......you have to almost pick them up and literally throw them out kicking and screaming.
I agree – we need to clean out ALL SIDES that have questionable acts in their lives.
Get the old fool out of the public. He's only making a bad situation worse.
What else is new!? This is just Illinois politics at it's finest...the whole lot of them should be dumped...that or sent to the white house with the other Illinois convicts...
On another note – who spends a trillion dollars without actually debating the pros and cons?
I mean – who would buy a house without looking at the abstracts, the loan, the property values, the mortgage terms...no one would!
And yet the politicians that are running the country ram a trillion dollar bill through the congress and through the white house – basically saying – we have no way to pay for this – so we'll charge it to our grandkids...
NICE! Way to go democrats! Nice statesmanship! Not one member of congress actually read the entire bill...lovely...this country is on it's way down...time to start learning russian & arabic...
Isn't this racist?
He didn't lie. He just made "false and misleading statements".
Oh wait. That was another democratic lawyer.
Roland " Full disclosure, AFTER it's over " Burris.
Another embarrassment for the State of Illinois.
If Burris is found to be doing or has done anything wrong, then he must resign. Il can do better! And must clean up politics.
It does not matter even if you are as pure as the driven snow, or straight as an arrow you would be tainted by the man who appointed you.
Burris is bring shame on his name and the Democratic party, its time he resigned for the good of all. That way maybe the investigations about his accepting the appointment will stop and the ugly truth will stay hidden, but if he persist then all his dirty laundry will become public knowledge, its his choice.
I've said from the very beginning that Burris was a crook. He is an idiot and I am an African American who believes that no matter your skin color, wrong is wrong and I agree that he must go. We have enough corrupt people, black and white who is ripping off the American people.Being Black does not entitle him to a senate seat. I feel that he took advantage of a situation and he and Rush used the race card.
Roland Burris is a self-aggrandizing joke. I don't know why anyone was remotely surprised by these revelations- any serious or credible politician would have refused to accept an appointment from Blogo, who was radioactive at that point. Burris campaigned for it. The incredible audacity he exhibited in marching to Washington and demanding his seat, and the brazen attempt to exploit racial politics during the press conference/circus announcing his appointment should have tipped people off to his empty and overwhelming ambition. And now, even as public opinion (including African-American leaders in Chicago) are turning against him, he stubbornly refuses to give up his prize. Hopefully being branded a national disgrace was worth being Senator for a couple of months.
Did Burris break any laws???
Hey this is coming from a black liberal democrat. Who was happy when OJ beat that murder charge the first go around.
Burris is a bigger clown than Bozo. He needs to go.
It's really a joke for Dems to pretend honesty and integrity matter!
Harry Reid's 1st instincts were correct.
Burris is no different from Blagoevich. They both maintain that they have done nothing wrong. What else can they say? If nothing else, Burris saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. He needs to go! Enough said. He did not tell the truth!
Hey this is coming from a black liberal democrat. Who was happy when OJ beat that murder charge the first go around.
Burris is a bigger clown than Bozo. He needs to go.
Burris is a moron on an ego trip. They should etch on his masoulem – ego, unethical and just plain stupid
no duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Burris says he didn nothing wrong, but won't answer any direct questions.
Harry Do Nothing Reid says he supports Burris's decision to cooperate. So what. That isn't saying anything
Hey, if Burris "forgot" to mention three conversations, he is either arrogant or ignorant and either way must go.
GIVE THE VOTE TO THE VOTERS!!!!