Blago Talks Quinn, Taxes on Air

Rod Blagojevich is on the air.

The impeached governor's morning radio agenda Wednesday morning on WLS-AM didn't focus on his upcoming retrial or his lawyers' controversial recent request to cancel the trial in favor of immediate sentencing.

No, Blagojevich set his sights on political life and former colleagues, namely who he called the "unholy trinity of Democrats": Gov. Pat Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate Pres. John Cullerton.

"What's on my mind today are things like the taxes, the Illinois taxes," Blagojevich said at the start of his 5-9 a.m. stint filling in for Don and Roma on the "Don Wade and Roma Show."

"I was hijacked from office. Pat Quinn got there, and he made a deal with [Madigan and Cullerton] that he was going to sock it to the people and solve the problems of government on the backs of the hard-working people of Illinois ... not by making government more efficient."

Blagojevich said taxpayers have to pay because "Pat Quinn broke promises." He predicts an exodus of Illinois businesses in response to the third-largest tax hike in state history.

Callers cheered him on, saying they too are fed up with the increases.

This is the second time Blagojevich filled in on the show. He even had his own two-hour show on the station until weeks before his first trial.

Earlier this month, Blagojevich's attorneys asked a judge to skip his April 20 retrial, citing financial troubles and "hefty" trial costs. Blagojevich was convicted for lying to the FBI, one of 24 counts against him.

But for now, the former governor isn't really talking about it. He says he disagrees with Wisconsin's decision to cut most collective bargaining rights from public workers, and he "vehemently disagrees" with raising Illinois' income tax.

"I don't recognize them," Blagojevich said of Quinn, Madigan and Cullerton. "I don't know what party they belong to." 

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