This item from Politico has been attracting some attention on the cable news today. But rather than listening to the anchors and talking heads summarize its content, please go and read the whole thing yourself. The upshot of it is that President-elect Barack Obama has “stopped short of pledging to release e-mails or other records” relevant to any contacts between his staff and the office of Rod Blagojevich– and that he may never have to release them because of a gap in government records disclosure laws (something that seems mildly concerning, to say the least).

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Yesterday, Republican Tom Kovach won his race to replace Democrat Diana McWilliams in the Delaware House. Congratulations, Rep.-elect Kovach! Not only does your win mark a step forward for Republicans in the rather blue home state of Vice President-elect Joe Biden, but it also marks the fifth win in a row for Republicans since Nov. 4th.

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The Employee Free Choice Act is a piece of legislation bound to be discussed a great deal as we head into the next administration and Congress, not least because it would controversially have the effect of effectively eliminating workers’ rights to a secret ballot vote on unionization (i.e., drawing into question how “free” the choice in question may be, and also how democratic this legislation that is a top priority of congressional Democrats and Democratic President-elect Barack Obama in fact is).

Conveniently, an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal by Richard Epstein underlines a little-discussed reason why that should be particularly the case, namely that the Employee Free Choice Act appears to be, er, unconstitutional (at least on his reading).

There are a number of reasons why Mr. Epstein asserts this to be the case, but rather than badly summarizing them, I’d simply urge you to go read the whole piece that he’s written. It’s worth it, especially if you’re curious about the legislation that AFSCME President (i.e., union boss) Gerald McEntee said would be the unions’ “payback” for supporting Obama and Democratic candidates.

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Yesterday, the Illinois Senate adjourned without stripping disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich of his powers enabling him to appoint President-elect Barack Obama’s successor in the US Senate. This meant the Illinois Senate effectively saying that there would be no vote on who that successor should be for the people of Illinois.

The evident disinterest of Illinois Democrats (who, incidentally, control Illinois’ legislature) in holding a special election, as evidenced by that action and others, was criticized today by, among others, the Chicago Tribune in an editorial titled “Trust the people? Nah.” Meanwhile, it’s pretty clear (and becoming more and more clear all the time) that Illinois citizens do in fact want the opportunity to vote on who Obama’s successor should be.

Yet, today we also learn that the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a request by IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan to relieve Gov. Rod Blagojevich of his duties. To my mind, this makes it crystal clear (as if it weren’t before) that pursuing the holding of a special election in Illinois is now critically important. The big question is whether Illinois Democrats (and others elsewhere) will also see it that way…

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Over the weekend, and indeed today, political news across the nation has continued to center on the scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and contact that President-elect Barack Obama’s team may or may not have had with him (questions regarding which are the focus of this RNC video, released over the weekend). Meanwhile, the Illinois GOP is doing a good job of drawing attention to the connections that a number of prominent Illinois Democrats have with the man now commonly known as Blago: Check out this site, launched over the weekend.

The Illinois GOP continues also to agitate for a special election to replace President-elect Obama in the Senate, rather than leaving it up to Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn to appoint a successor. This Facebook group, aimed at garnering and demonstrating support for a special election, also cropped up over the weekend. The group seems to be attracting support from plenty of Facebook users who agree that Pat Quinn, who was re-elected alongside Blago evidently with the help of Blago campaign funds, should not be appointing Obama’s successor, and that the voters of Illinois– and they alone– should be choosing their next Senator. That’s a hard proposition to disagree with, especially in these circumstances.

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It’s Monday, and the most exciting news of the day is…THE ALL-NEW BARNEY-CAM IS UP, JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

(photo credit: White House photo by Eric Draper)

You can check it out here (link halfway down, on the right-hand side)

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There’s a lot of news and opinion out there today about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Much of it centers on the need for total transparency on the part of President-elect Barack Obama and his team, which of course includes David Axelrod, who is set to become a White House adviser, and (incidentally) the man who went on the record back in 2005 to argue, “in effect, that trading political favors – including jobs – is part of the grease that makes government work” while ripping Patrick Fitzgerald, the US Attorney behind the case against Blagojevich.

Here are some choice quotes courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet and ABC’s Jake Tapper, on this point, specifically:

“The Obama administration just issued a new transparency policy last week. If there were conversations at all with anyone, I think this is what it means to be transparent. If anyone said anything, even in a low level, they need to be able to talk about it and live with the consequences. If this is indeed his transparency, it’s not just transparency by press release but transparency by deed.” (Lynn Sweet, on MSNBC)

“On its website, President-elect Obama’s Transition Team is making a big deal about transparency, posting memos and information about meetings with various, largely supportive organizations. True transparency means a little more than that, one might posit. It means telling voters about matters that aren’t entirely comfortable to share. If one is just counting as being “transparent” the act of sharing meetings with environmental groups delighted to be counting down the days until Wyoming gets its favorite son back, then the notion might not mean much. And that would mean that in order to truly be transparent, the American people need to find out as much as possible, as soon as possible, about what role anyone Team Obama played in any of the various shenanigans Gov. Blagojevich is accused of committing — or any others we don’t yet know about.” (Jake Tapper, writing at Political Punch)

Here is what Chairman Duncan had to say on this matter this morning, for those who missed it elsewhere:

“President-elect Barack Obama’s carefully parsed and vague statements regarding his own contact and that of his team with Governor Rod Blagojevich are unacceptable. Considering the severity of the allegations against Governor Blagojevich, the President-elect should immediately disclose any and all communications his transition team has had with the governor’s office along with any Service Employees International Union (SEIU) officials involved in the matter. Obama’s promise of transparency to the American people is now being tested.”

(Note that Obama remains featured on the SEIU’s website.)

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From an email I just received: “Today, President Bush will commemorate Human Rights Day and the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. To honor the day, President Bush is meeting with activists who use Internet blogs and new-media technologies to promote freedom in countries with restricted media environments – six in person and two via videoconference – including individuals from Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, and Venezuela. President Bush will discuss with them the challenges they confront in overcoming censorship. “

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“Leaders of both political parties have a responsibility to clearly condemn the actions by Governor Rod Blagojevich as alleged by federal prosecutors today. Americans expect strong leadership, but President-elect Barack Obama’s comments on the matter are insufficient at best. Given the President-elect’s history of supporting and advising Governor Blagojevich, he has a responsibility to speak out and fully address the issue.”

I couldn’t agree more.

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On the subject of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (and his relationship with President-elect Obama), this item from ABC’s Jake Tapper is worth a read.

In it, Tapper details the work Obama did on Blagojevich’s campaign when he was first running for governor, and his endorsement of Blagojevich “even though there were serious questions at the time about Blago’s hiring practices.” It also details White House Chief of Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel’s involvement with Blagojevich’s campaign back in the day, which similarly makes for interesting reading.

Tapper is careful to underline in his piece (and rightly so) that “There are no allegations that President-elect Obama or anyone close to him had anything to do with any of the crimes Gov. Blagojevich is accused of having committed.” Though, as Tapper also points out, there are questions about the relationship all the same– and his piece is definitely worth reading if you’re following the story surrounding Blagojevich today.

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