Blagojevich Impeachment Process Begins

By Jacque Day

Southern Illinois – Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has appointed a special committee to recommend whether Blagojevich should be impeached. Pamella Gronemeyer is a Southern Illinois pathologist and a 19th Congressional District point person for the Progressive Democrats of America. She says there just isn't time for a long, drawn-out process. Instead, she says, the PDA is calling for Blagojevich to step down immediately.

Gronemeyer: "Clearly we have to solve problems in the state of Illinois. With the current state of affairs, Governor Blagojevich is not an effective governor. I mean, he's going to the office and signing bills, but he has approval rating that's probably less than 10 percent. Many many many voices are being heard that think he should not be acting as governor at the current time."

The impeachment committee is to work every day except holidays to come up with a recommendation, after which the Illinois House will formally decide whether to file impeachment charges against the governor.