Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested this morning on a variety of charges, including that he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat now vacated by President-Elect Obama. As the governor of Illinois, Blagojevich has the power to name the replacement in the senate.
How much does a U.S. Senate seat cost these days? According to a Wall Street Journal article, Gov. Blagojevich was looking for a job for his wife in the range of $150,000 per year, and that a unnamed person apparently approached the Governor with an offer of $500,000 in exchange for giving another unnamed person, called “candidate 5″, the seat.
Was his asking price enough?
President-elect Obama spent over $800 million on the Presidential election, and Sen. McCain spent over $500 million. (Source: Wall Street Journal). It seems that a seat in the U.S. Senate should be worth more than 500k. Certainly it is not worth as much as becoming president, but I think many senatorial campaigns spend in the $10 million range. Was he offering a discount since it wasn’t a full term? I am not sure, but $500k or a $150k/year job does not seem like a whole lot for a job with that much power and influence-especially when candidates spend $5 to $10 million dollars or more to get elected.
Seriously though, this is pretty disturbing stuff. I am glad that it was stopped before it actually happened, but it does disturb me that some politicians see their office solely as a means to increase their own net worth and live a lavish lifestyle, to the detriment of taxpayers.
What are your thoughts on these allegations? Are you shocked, or have you come to expect these types of things? Do you think his asking price was too low?
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It happened and it was stopped… that is bothersome. But what is more bothersome are all my inklings that this isn’t the first time. Think of what else this guy has done. I mean, I don’t think you start off in dirty politics with this move, you know? You build up to this kind of thing.
So there have been plenty of other people in politics that have bribed or been bribed by this guy and they are still working, and unknown to us. The whole thing makes me sick.
@Ashley- I agree-apparently they have been investigating him for quite a while. It’s very disturbing that it was for something as significant as a U.S. senate seat.