CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge said Friday he may make public large portions of a sealed document outlining the government's corruption case against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, although some of the most sensitive parts could be deleted in the version available to the public.
"It's conceivable that very little if anything will be redacted (deleted)," U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel told attorneys as they prepared for the June 3 start of the trial.
The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and The Associated Press asked Zagel to unseal the document which the government says contains previously undisclosed facts about the case. Defense attorneys have objected to making the document public, saying it will put forth a one-sided account of the case.
Blagojevich is charged with scheming to sell or trade President Obama's former U.S. Senate seat and using his powers as governor to pressure campaign contributors illegally for money. His brother, businessman Robert Blagojevich, is accused of helping him as chairman of the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund. Both have pleaded not guilty and deny any wrongdoing.
Federal prosecutors filed the so-called Santiago proffer under seal on Monday, saying they were acting out of "an abundance of caution" lest the court decide that previously undisclosed information contained in the document could prejudice prospective jurors. But they made no effort at Friday's hearing to keep it under seal.
Addressing the issue of how much new information is in the proffer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar told Zagel it "puts meat on the bones" but reveals no "episodic conduct" that has not thus far been reported.
Defense attorneys said making all or parts of the document public now could jeopardize the integrity of the jury pool, as the trial is due to start in less than two months.
"We all agree we don't want the case tried in the media," Blagojevich attorney Sheldon Sorosky told Zagel. After the hearing, Sorosky said he expected that the document, or at least large parts of it, would be made public.
Zagel said he doubted that jurors would remember whatever was reported about the document. He gave defense attorneys until 10 a.m. Monday to file any proposed deletions under seal, and said the government would get 24 hours to reply. He indicated that he might rule on Wednesday.
Attorney Natalie Spears, who represented the news outlets, reminded Zagel that making Santiago proffers public has been the usual practice in federal court in Chicago. She noted that the proffer was made public in the racketeering and fraud trial of former Gov. George Ryan. She also reminded Zagel that a version of the proffer, with key deletions, was made public in the Operation Family Secrets trial, the biggest Chicago mob trial in decades. Zagel himself presided over that trial.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/10/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"Blagojevich is charged with scheming to sell or trade President Obama's former U.S. Senate seat "
With all due respect, its not Obamas seat. Its not the Democrats seat. Its the Chicago democratic machine aldermen Blotto Otto George Ryan pay-to-play Rezco organized crime Daley faction corrupt police ward-heelers Race hustler socialist anarchist Union thugs peoples seat.
TOPEKA -- After several days of hearings on various tax proposals, the Senate tax committee on Thursday spurned all of them, rejecting plans to increase levies on cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, soda pop and other sweetened drinks.
Also shot down was the governor's call for a 1 cent increase in the general sales tax.
It now most likely falls on the Senate Ways & Means Committee to get a tax bill approved for debate by the full Senate where leaders have said about $300 million in new revenues are needed to avoid harmful cuts to schools, social services and public safety programs.
The Ways & Means Committee has been considering Senate Bill 476, which would generate about $168 million, mostly through eliminating the state tax exemption on sales of residential utilities such as heating fuels and electricity.
Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, said he didn't plan to vote for any of the tax increases, but pleaded with fellow tax committee members to vote out at least one proposal "without favorable recommendation" to allow for the "inevitable" tax debate he said would happen on the Senate floor before the session ends. Hokay, I would like to propose a tax conversation under cover of the KS State Gov bucking the trend, inspired by this topic from yesterday:
@OldPatriot: So you think half the taxpayers are like you?
I'll bet that when you mark your ballot, you have your wallet in mind, like any good Democrat. I think Franklin said something like, "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will be the end of the Republic." It's up to our legislators to resist such tendencies. Yeah, right.
@swksvolFF: SS and Medicare are not "Fed Income Tax".
Obviously a person can only generalize the motives of other taxpayers. It should be pointed out that most people just collect their paycheck and the withholdings are just glanced at, especially in the era of electronic fund transfers where a person just makes sure that the check was in the virtual mail. My position: unless someone owns and runs a business and/or writes the paychecks the impact of payroll taxes is not completely appreciated. For example, do you know how much money your business pays into unemployment taxes?
Now to start things out: I call out that social security and medicare is a percentage withheld automatically from each and every paycheck is indeed a federal tax on income.
Second, I propose that paying taxes is part of an agreement to work with a government of any sort. I have no problem adding my amount to a necessary government. I do however have issues with hearing that there is no money for schools or police when government entities have the money to make loans for imax theatres or lcd game boards at publicly assisted universities. Crap like that is inspiring me to become a Tea Party person, I'm getting it, and if not now when?
Apologies to mods for format or intention errors, but this anklosaur pup is...unhappy.
Mrs. Bobby works as a real estate agent. At marginal rates, (on top of my modest income as a civil engineer) how much does she pay in federal income, state income, and self-employment* (FICA) tax? (Including the SE tax 'credit'.)
47.96%.
She was distressed, but not surprised. Then there's real estate and sales tax, and a plethora of others.
Taxed Enough Already, I'd say.
*I love it. Self-employment tax.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/10/2010 8:05 Comments ||
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#2
Apologies to mods for format or intention errors, but this anklosaur pup is...unhappy.
What you should be apologizing for is placing your remarks within the body of the article, in your moderator colors, rather than in a comment like any other reader.
#3
Yeah, why I don't post much, will do it next time - didn't feel right posting a comment on my own posting either and was trying to start a conversation.
I'm still in a foul mood about it, don't like being told that 15% off the top of each paycheck for programs where even the teachers in liberaltown would say "You ain't gonna see any of that money" isn't a tax on income, don't like that the business has to pay a tax to employ someone, don't like any of it.
#4
@OldPatriot: So you think half the taxpayers are like you? I'll bet that when you mark your ballot, you have your wallet in mind, like any good Democrat.
I wanted to comment on this yesterday, but I didn't see it until after midnight, EDT.
First of all, whoever KBK is, he hasn't been hanging around here very long, or he doesn't read much. I have NEVER been a Democrat. I have always been an Independent, and proud of it. I HAVE voted for a Democrat - once for a state senator, and once for a congresscritter. Both of them were the most qualified candidate up for election at that time.
Secondly, I am totally disabled today because of things I did during my AIR FORCE CAREER, which spanned 26 years and a couple of wars. Got shot AT a lot, but never suffered a wound. I get my Air Force retirement (which is taxed), Social Security (which it taxed), and a VA disability (which isn't taxed). Between the standard deduction, individual deduction (for 3), disability/over 65 deduction, my taxable income is usually zero. I don't get EIC, or anything else other than the individual deduction, for our 5-year-old. BTW, my itemized deductions are nearly half again what the standard deduction is, but I don't file, because there's no need to.
I don't think half the taxpayers are like me. I do know, however, there are quite a few retired vets here, and a number of them have disabilities that put them either in the same category I'm in, or very near it. Lumping everyone who doesn't pay taxes into the same group as welfare cheats, fraudsters, and other leeches is just stupid.
Just to finish clearing the air, I believe that everyone who is a resident of this nation and receives a dime in income from any source should pay taxes. My proposal is on my website, if anyone's interested. You might also note it's dated more than a year ago.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/10/2010 18:22 Comments ||
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#5
was trying to start a conversation.
"You smell bad and your mother dresses you funny" is hardly what I'd call a conversation-starter.
#6
Old Patriot is being modest. If I understand correctly, his disability is the direct result of his service on our behalf. Lumping him in with the welfare queens must surely have been the result of a lack of familiarity with that service.
#7
With concurrent receipt, service related disability can amount to nearly nothing. A 20% disability under concurrent receipt means for example, the VA takes $200. per month out of your existing retirement pension and sends it back to you tax free. Your monthly gain could be as little as $15. to $25. per month.
After selling out, Rep. Bart Stupak is walking out. The Michigan Democrat who tried to pass himself off as pro-life announced Friday that he no longer seeks re-election. It's understandable that Mr. Stupak is unwilling to face voters in his working-class Upper Peninsula district after casting a decisive vote in favor of a nationalized health care plan that would allow, with the stroke of the president's pen, millions of abortions at public expense.
Many other Democrats have called it quits. Mr. Stupak is the 12th of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's disciples to announce retirement. In the upper chamber, Sens. Ted Kaufman of Delaware, Byron L. Dorgan of South Dakota, Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and Evan Bayh of Indiana have decided to deny voters the opportunity to cast judgment in November.
This is hardly surprising, considering a majority of independent voters opposed the health care bill in a recent Gallup survey, suggesting the Democrats are losing a key voting bloc. What's unusual about Mr. Stupak's move is that after 18 years in Congress, he would consider moving back to a district where the unemployment rate is a full third higher than the national average. According to Mr. Stupak's financial disclosures, the retiring congressman faces mortgage liabilities that far exceed his cash holdings, and he can only count upon an $18,118 disability pension from the state of Michigan.
President Obama, however, has proved generous to other toadies in need. Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah Democrat, endorsed the health care bill, and the president nominated Mr. Matheson's brother Scott for a lifetime job on the federal bench. Rep. Joe Sestak, Pennsylvania Democrat, admitted that the White House offered him a "high-ranking" federal job - widely believed to be the post of Navy secretary - in return for his dropping out of a contested Senate primary race. It would be unfair to speculate whether Mr. Stupak expects a helping hand from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
It's more relevant to reflect on the career of a man marked by a singular failure to stand on principle when it counted most. This is an important lesson to those who care about the pro-life cause. The support of purportedly pro-life Democrats is meaningless because each and every one of them casts the most anti-life vote possible at the beginning of each Congress: for Mrs. Pelosi as speaker in the House or for Harry Reid as majority leader in the Senate. Those votes betray a noble cause.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2010 11:21 ||
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#1
It would be unfair to speculate whether Mr. Stupak expects a helping hand from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Unfair? Not at all. Based on the horse trading that went on in the health care bill and the precedents mentioned in the article, the only speculation is how much and when.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The longest-serving member of the US Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens announced on Friday that he will be retiring from his post in mid-summer.
In a letter addressed to "My dear Mr. President," Justice Stevens, who is a leader of the court's liberal wing, informed US President Barack Obama about his plans to retire at the end of the current term in late June or early July.
"Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the court's next term, I shall retire from active service," the US Court justice wrote in his letter.
The venerable 90 year-old's decision is expected to set off a battle in Congress over who the Obama administration will appoint as his replacement.
Reacting to the retirement, the US president described Stevens as "brilliant, non-ideological, pragmatic," adding that "he leaves his position at the top of his game," and that "his leadership will be sorely missed."
President Obama pledged to move quickly on naming a nominee, saying that "While we cannot replace Justice Stevens's experience or wisdom, I will seek someone in the coming weeks with similar qualities."
Meanwhile, Democrats close to the White House have named three individuals at the top of the US president's list -- Diane P. Wood, former colleague of President Obama at the University of Chicago and an appeals court judge in Chicago; Elena Kagan, a former dean of the Harvard Law School who is the United States solicitor general; and Merrick Garland, an appeals court judge in Washington.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2010 00:00 ||
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Warning: Marinated-in-Marxism Democrats and supporters are hot on the trail of Tea Party patriots.
They have launched a Crash the Tea Party (CTTP) website: crashtheteaparty.org on the eve of the April 15 anniversary of the Tea Party.
"WHO WE ARE, Crash The Tea Party style, is a lesson in Marxism 101: "A nationwide network of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are sick and tired of that loose affiliation of racists, homophobes, and morons; who constitute the fake grass-roots movement which calls itself "The Tea Party."
"WHAT WE WANT: To dismantle and demolish the Tea Party by any non-violent means necessary.
"HOW WE WILL SUCCEED: By infiltrating the Tea Party itself! In an effort to propagate their pre-existing propensity for paranoia and suspicion...We have already sat quietly in their meetings, and observed their rallies."
But the game-plan is Crash the Tea Party's most ominous part: "We will act on behalf of the Tea Party in ways which exaggerate their least appealing qualities (misspelled protest signs, wild claims in TV interviews, etc.) to further distance them from mainstream America and damage the public's opinion of them. We will also use the inside information that we have gained in order to disrupt and derail their plans." (Emphasis CFP's).
Crash the Tea Party was registered April 3, 2010.
If some our internet savvy Rantburgers would check out the site, to see if it's a scam or the real thing, that would be helpful.
#1
They have already announced that they are going to disrupt the Chicago Rally. Don't you just love the 'Progressive Peace Movement'
Sudden shortage of Brown Shirts at Chicago Retailers predicted
#2
"The telephone number listed for Crash the Tea Party is 215-752-1992. The number has call block service.
CFP dialed the number and reached a recorded female voice saying You have reached Carol and Nat, We are not available. Leave a message and have a nice day.
#4
It's one thing to talk tough on a board in the middle of the night. It's a whole 'nother story when you have to roll out of bed before noon, the check from the parental unit still hasn't been deposited in your account, and you're hung over. That can be a real buzz kill for these "revolutionary" types.
Just bring your own camera. In case one or two of these Organizing for America types actually shows up you can post the real story on YouTube.
#7
I think the basic problem here is, rhetorically speaking, a lot easier for a cop to pretend to be a drug smoking, radical hippie, than it is for a drug smoking, radical hippie to pretend he is a cop.
In this case, Tea Party crowds are full of personally happy, friendly people, who love their nation and want their government to behave responsibly, as was intended.
Leftists, however, are filled to the brim with hate and anger. They lead unhappy lives, and think that by hurting others, it will somehow make their pain go away. The vast majority know that their ideas are unpopular, and so they have to pretend to be something they are not - moderate and balanced.
A person like that sticks out like a sore thumb. All they can think of doing is either trying to provoke people at the Tea Parties to hate and anger, or to make it appear as if they are that way, for photographs.
Just yesterday, I saw a photograph of a small girl child who had been told to go into a Tea Party group and unroll an insulting sign, so one of her parents could take a picture of it, at a distance.
This is the level to what they would stoop - potentially endangering a child for a cheap political point. In another nation, that is the kind of parent that would use their child as a suicide bomber.
#8
This is the level to what they would stoop - potentially endangering a child for a cheap political point. In another nation, that is the kind of parent that would use their child as a suicide bomber.
It contradicts their expressed mindset, but they know deep down they are perfectly safe in the hands of conservatives or they wouldn't do it. Cognitive dissonance.
#10
at least Americans care more about their nation these days, as opposed to caring more about Brittany.
Political fighting is what it's all about. Way to go Americans! left and right.
#11
It contradicts their expressed mindset, but they know deep down they are perfectly safe in the hands of conservatives or they wouldn't do it. Cognitive dissonance.
And THAT, is what must change. We must make them feel unsafe. They need big giant spoonfuls of their own crap shoved down their throats.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/10/2010 18:09 Comments ||
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#12
And that is exactly what they, and the MSM want us to do - to act like them. Because the Lamestream media, which ignored outright calls for Bush'es murder and execution would give a threat (real or imagined - see Black Congressional Caucus) 24/7 reporting until November. No matter how small - so don't even wish Obumble or any democrat even a stubbed toe.
Just look how they reacted to the crosshairs in the Palin ad.
What I think we need to do is point them out and call them what they are - plants, SEIU Thugs, etc...
#13
The leftest rhetoric is escalating. The latest staged "N Word" hulabaloo at the Capital is an early warning sign. I hate to say it, but I believe we may see violence directed at the Tea Party people before the November election. Barry wants these Tea Parties and appearances by Palin SHUT DOWN!
#14
What I think we need to do is point them out and call them what they are - plants, SEIU Thugs, etc...
Posted by CrazyFool
Point them out to whom? The Media is going to say what they want to say whether it is the truth or not. The Media will fabricate if they have to. These thugs have to assemble someplace, and they have to have someplace to withdraw to after one of their little operations.
Keep the dirty work out of sight, maybe see to it that a few get 'debriefed' by our side. These folks mean business...what is they say? By any means necessary? Come on, you cannot expect to win by playing by the rules they set for you.
Time to scuff a few of them...and maybe send the Media a little message, up close and personal. They can be persuaded to shut up, or do their jobs properly. You just have to communicate in a way they understand. Capiche?
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/10/2010 20:22 Comments ||
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#15
I am sure that the left will screw up royaly if they try something. I reckon it's time to call up some rolling thunder. I will be putting a call into the Patriot Guard.
#16
Gah, this shit must end. They're going to make it so that scraggly-ass doofuses like yours truly won't be able to attend a public rally without becoming the target of well-intentioned if misdirected suspicion.
I may have to shave.
Damnit.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/10/2010 22:10 Comments ||
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#17
I may have to shave.
I imagine so long as you are polite and well-behaved, you'll be ok, Mitch... although I don't think anyone will demand you say "darn it" instead. ;-)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Warning: Marinated-in-Marxism Democrats and supporters are hot on the trail of Tea Party patriots.
