Illinois law gives the governor sole authority to appoint a successor. Blagojevich left the aide in no doubt that his blessing would come at a price. A seat in the Senate, he explained, is "a fucking valuable thing, you just don\’t give it away for nothing".
Well, quite. The thing is though, how do you actually value it? What people are willing to pay seems the best answer.
Hmm, how though do we get an idea of what might be the market clearing price?
Guess we just ask the last guy who bought it what he paid. Anyone know how much that was?
He could have eBayed it. Cuts out the middle men in the smoky back rooms, allows market forces to prevail, and he could click the option to donate 10% to charity, too, so no-one could complain.
An Illinois senate seat must be worth at least $1 million. Michelle Obama got a $200 000 pay rise after Barack became a senator. If you have other family members or books to sell, two years in the senate is worth a lot.
“He could have eBayed it.”
Seems like he did.
“ask the last guy who bought it what he paid. Anyone know how much that was?”
It will take several years to know for suret, but the rough outlines should become visible in the next few months.
“An Illinois senate seat must be worth at least $1 million.”
This one must be worth more though. It’s hardly been used, after all…
JuliaM,
That’s harsh. Very harsh.
Presumably if a price had been agreed we’d have an idea of how much US senators receive “by other means”.
Cleanthes:
Julia’s comment isn’t harsh–it’s just “recognition” of a feature of the item advertised on E-bay. For harsh, see Remittance Man’s musing.