Rowland Still Won't Quit

This was another bad week for Governor Rowland. On Friday the committee considering whether Rowland should be impeached asked that an article of impeachment be drafted because Rowland has not cooperated with the inquiry.

The committee's request came after one of Rowland's lawyers refused to testify before the committee.

According to the Associated Press State Representative Wayne Fox, a Democrat and co-chair of the committee, is frustrated that the committee hasn't been provided Rowland's financial records:

"What we have sought many many months is direct and simple," said Rep. John Wayne Fox, co-chairman of the inquiry committee. "It's information we feel appropriate to do the job we need to do."

Rowland claims that it is a monumental task to round up all the records demanded by the committee:

"You know how hard it would be to reconstruct documents over the last 10 years for everything you've ever spent or bought or purchased," Rowland said.

There are still many steps before Rowland might actually be impeached. The article of impeachment could be presented to the committee some time next week. The panel then could vote merely to accept it, to recommend it to the House, to delay action or to reject it.

The State legislature passed a state budget which Rowland threatened to veto. The budget was passed by a veto-proof margin and contains $120,550 to help Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell transition to Governor.

On Wednesday the Hartford Courant reported that a new poll found Rowland's approval hit a new low:

A new UConn poll Wednesday showed only two in 10 state residents approve of Rowland - a lower rating than even President Nixon's three days before his 1974 resignation - and nearly seven in 10 want the governor to resign.

Rowland admits to the Associated Press that it would be easier on his family if he were to step down, but refuses to do so:

But Gov. John G. Rowland, one month shy of his 47th birthday, says he plans to stick it out. In an interview with The Associated Press, a rarity since he admitted last December to accepting gifts from state contractors, the three-term Republican steadfastly maintains he has not used his office for personal gain. Therefore, he argued, he should not resign.

"People say, 'Oh, he's done things wrong. He's taken gifts.' OK, let's assume half of the stuff is true. I think the more important point is, the reason I don't resign is I haven't compromised this office," Rowland said.

"No one has even said I've compromised this office. I've not done anything inappropriate for anybody," he said.

I have posted before that there are a number of reasons why Rowland won't quit. Financially he is now better off remaining as governor. If he had become a private citizen last year, Rowland would have been able to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Now his gubernatorial salary looks good.

There are legal considerations as well. Staying in office in office would provide greater bargaining power should the federal investigation into his conduct results in charges.

Then there is Rowland's belief that he didn't do anything bad enough to warrant political capital punishment. He has a point there. A former president has established that you shouldn't be impeached for lying.