Embattled Illinois Sen. Roland Burris (D) is getting buried deeper and deeper in the political grave he seems to have dug for himself. Burris was propped up as the paradigm for pristine ethics in the corrupt landscape of Chicago politics when he was tapped to fill Obama's vacant Senate seat. But now it looks like even he won't survive the Blago seat-selling scandal.

Reports that the junior senator had more contact with ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pay-to-play peddling staffers than he initially let on quickly escalated into revelations that he actually did try to raise funds for the governor's brother before being offered the seat (he couldn't actually find anyone willing to fork over cash to the governor's brother). Now, it appears there are some problems with some pretty important paperwork -- records showing his lobbying clients don't match up with his statements on the matter.

Burris, the only African American member of the Senate, is getting pressure from all sides to step down -- Illinois Republicans, black pastors and current Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn have all urged him to give up the seat. The White House, which encouraged Senate Democrats who threatened to block Burris' appointment to stand down by offering its support of the former prosecutor when he faced resistance to his appointment, stopped just short of calling for Burris' resignation, instead saying through Press Secretary Robert Gibbs that it supports the Senate investigation into the matter. Gibbs also suggested Burris "take some time this weekend" to think about his future. Ya think? Yet another bad omen that his Senate career will be short-lived? His chief of staff jumped ship today, opting to return to his former job as an adviser in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) office.

Senate Majority Whip/Wise Elder to Illinois Dems Dick Durbin now says he warned Burris to stay away from the "Blagojevich Burlesque" last November. State officials are looking at the possibility of holding a special election to fill the seat in the case Burris exits the Senate stage, voluntarily or otherwise.

In other news from the Beltway's revolving door, looks like Kansan Kathleen Sebelius is topping the shortlist for Obama's choice to fill the Health and Human Services secretary post. Making the cut, especially in the wake of several embarassing mishaps Obama has experienced on the road to filling his cabinet, will surely take more than clicking her ruby slippers three times and chanting "There's no place like Washington,' but the longtime Kansas pol has some strong qualifications to offer.

The governor, who dished up the Democrats' rebuttal to Bush's last State of the Union Address, supports a universal health care system and has a track record of working across the aisle (undoubtedly a requirement for getting anything done as a Democratic governor working with an overwhelmingly Republican legislature). Like most governors these days, she's been grappling with how to close growing budget gaps. But Sebelius won praise for cutting $300 million from the budget without dealing significant blows to health care programs such as Medicaid. During her time as state insurance commissioner, she was also credited with improving health care services for women and children.

Sebelius is scheduled to be in Washington next week for the National Governor's Conference, leading to speculation that an announcement of her selection could come soon.

For those of you following the stimulus saga, everyone is now sparring over who is spending their dough and on what. Obama warned city mayors not to go on a spending spree and Republicans are ready to pounce on any spending that suggests "waste" or "abuse." 

Want to track the spending yourself? Obama has created a Web site just for that purpose... just don't ask gaffe-master Joe Biden for the URL.

Oh, and if you're tired of hearing pro-"economic recovery" propoganda or the same-old anti-stimulus arguments on the airwaves, check out this new television spot, put out by uber religious stimulus skeptics. The general gist is that the stimulus costs more than a million times the age of Jesus and liberals plan on blowing taxpayer dollars on golf carts. Lord help us all.