Foster Watch

Those who know me know that I was very enthusiastically behind John Laesch for the 14th District congressional seat. I have to admit to a bit of bitterness that being outspent almost 20:1 meant that John lost the 398 votes that he needed to win the primary. However, I have tried to be fair towards Foster. He has voted for some good bills, like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. But, he's also voted for some bad things.

Take this provision, for instance, buried deep in the Federal Stimulus Package:

SEC. 1112. ADDITIONAL ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE USE OF FUNDS.

None of the funds provided by this Act may be made available to the State of Illinois, or any agency of the State, unless (1) the use of such funds by the State is approved in legislation enacted by the State after the date of the enactment of this Act, or (2) Rod R. Blagojevich no longer holds the office of Governor of the State of Illinois.

Guess who put that into the bill. You guessed it: our very own Representative Foster, working along with Republican Mark Kirk from the 10th District.

Basically what this means is this: (from AdamB at DailyKos)

If you want the money, remove Blagojevich from power or otherwise pass a bill making clear that you trust him with the money. This provision ... could cost the state $50 billion in federal aid.

Also as AdamB points out, the Bill of Retainder Clause in the Constitution says that congress can't pass a law that punishes an individual without a fair trial. However, that's exactly what Foster and Kirk have done here. So, our governor's a laughingstock, and now our representatives don't know their Constitution? Illinois politics just gets better and better, doesn't it?