[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/01/27/art.getty.blago.hand.jpg caption="The 647-page bill bars Illinois agencies from receiving any money unless the Legislature directs how it will be spent, or until Rod R. Blagojevich no longer holds the office of governor of the state of Illinois."](CNN) - The $825 billion stimulus bill the Obama administration is trying to push through Congress would prevent any money given to the state of Illinois from being handled by the state's impeached governor, Rod Blagojevich.
The 647-page bill bars Illinois agencies from receiving any money unless the Legislature directs how it will be spent, or until "Rod R. Blagojevich no longer holds the office of governor of the state of Illinois." It does allow local governments to receive money directly from Washington or through the state, if state agencies follow an established formula.
The provision was added by the House Appropriations Committee last week. Blagojevich's impeachment trial got under way Monday in the Illinois state Senate. He faces federal criminal charges accusing him of attempting to trade or sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama after his November election.
Blagojevich, whose administration was under scrutiny by federal prosecutors long before his December arrest, has denied any wrongdoing. He has skipped the first two days of his trial, instead making the rounds of television talk shows to proclaim his innocence.
–CNN's Emma Lacey-Bordeaux contributed to this report.
Good Job !! I approve.
Smart move.......
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Now THAT is funny
Cuckoo!
Boy, they sure want a scapegoat bad.
May the Hair-wad be with you. Please go away, the game is over.
Good!
May the hair-wad be with you, Please go away, the game is over!
You know Blago..He'll find a way to get his hands on the cash for his state and swear up and down it was a gift from the president. Ha ha ha ha.....Woooooo He makes me laugh.
Write out Pelosi, Reid, Dodd and Frank then we can talk !!
He Should be thrown out of the state completly!
he's disillusioned isn't he? has he not listened to the tapes with him on them yet?
and does he really think we believe him when he says he wanted to ask Oprah to be senator? common, it's a weak-sauce attempt at making people think he's a good guy.
Rod Blagojevich is a Democrat. The democrat party is a corrupt institution.
Kaz ~
We would we write them out? They're in control. Why would we need to talk to you? You have no power at all.
Shaking my head......One man sins is another city heart ache!! Lord have mercy.
Smart thinking.
Brilliant move.
The House has become very personally mean - no one in that body has any direct knowledge of the IL gov's deeds but cites him in law as though he is guilty of crimes. Is he? They don't know, and neither do any of the rest of us.
I can only imagine the kickbacks he would recieve.
I don't think I like Rod, it looks like he did bad things...
But, when different entities of the government are able to Blackmail other entities....this is not democracy.
How about some true reform. How about some grease in the judicial branch...all the way back to traffic court. But, 'NO' stipulations on how government runs because of an individual in a certain office.
Gosh B. Rod! You've already been written off. Don't worry though. Someone will offer you some big bucks for a book deal.
What a mess it will be if they actually find this guy innocent in the IL Senate!! So did Larry King and the View find him innocent or guilty, I lost track!! Guess I will have to watch the Early Show to catch up with celeb-Blago.
Is there any other precedent for this kind of bill, excluding a politician by name??
Wow!
The guy hasn't even been convicted, let alone found guilty and they pull this school yard crap.
I feel bad for the residents of Illinois.
Somehow I doubt that last minute insert is constitutionally legal since Blagojevich has not been found guilty of anything.
If Blagojevich is found innocent (fat chance I know, but work with me here), how would the exclusion be legal?
THANK GOD, I wouldn't allow this guy control of a penny. This guy would sell his mother to the highest bidder if he could. Just when I think this fool could NOT make things any worse, he does. All these talk show performances are nothing but a JOKE and he's the circus clown.
NOT something that is helping his case at all. It just proves his GUILT more.
Kabooooommmmmm!!!
What a slam. This is what happens Rod to megalomaniacs.