Rod Blagojevich Was Practically Giving that Senate Seat Away

While Jesse Jackson Jr. and his lawyer are making a case that the Congressman might not have actually offered Rod Blagojevich money for the vacant Illinois Senate seat, the fact remains that the FBI has the Governor on record expressing a willingness to accept upwards of $1.5 million to appoint Jackson.

The Blagojevich indictment states that during an Oct. 31 conversation, Blagojevich described an approach from an associate of Senate Candidate Five: "We were approached 'pay to play.' That, you know, he'd raise me 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him [Senate Candidate 5] a senator."

But as it turns out, a mil and a half is a bargain for a Senate seat. The Club for Growth got out their calculator, crunched the numbers and figured out how much the job is worth.

Salary over two terms = $1.9 million

12 years as a lobbyist = $4.5 million

Pension until age 84 = $1.8 million

Which all adds up to a grand total of $6.2 million dollars. And Blagojevich was willing to let it go for less than a quarter of that.

I don't know if I'd vote for him, but I'd definitely buy a stereo from Crazy Rod's Home Appliances.

Tags: Illinois, Jesse Jackson Jr., Rod Blagojevich, Senate