A review Blagojevich‘s campaign contributions show that he received at $80,000 in contributions from firms with connections to state road building companies last summer and fall, including a $10,000 cash infusion the day the governor announced a series of toll road projects worth a total of $1.8 billion.

This series of toll-related projects was later mentioned in the federal criminal complaint filed against the governor in December. The complaint alleges that Blagojevich told an associate on Oct 6 that he was deliberately underplaying the announcement to see if a particular contractor would make good on a promise to raise $500,000 for Blago before the end of the year.

Tollroad News hints that Blagojevich, while not officially in charge of these toll projects, had an unusually close relationship with the corporation that manages Illinois’ toll roads. Other states with major public toll systems, like Pennsylvania and New Jersey, have stronger firewalls between the governor and the corporation to minimize untoward political pressure.

Blagojevich is an extreme example, but corruption at the state and local levels should not be discounted when the merits of the stimulus package are debated.

“The House’s action today was not a surprise; it was a foregone conclusion,” Blagojevich began calmly. “They’ve been talking about doing it for years.”

He went on to describe his accomplishments as governor, and the state House of Representatives’ efforts to hinder his health care reforms. Flanked by a motley crew of Illinoisians who he said “have benefited from some of these initiatives,” he ranted for minutes on end about breast cancer and kidney conditions.

But he made absolutely no mention of the core issue: his attempted sale of Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, as alleged by federal prosecutors. Instead, he seemed to think that he had been impeached for his crusade to save lives.

Over and over, he described his health care programs and asked rhetorically, “Is that an impeachable offense?”

The only moments that did not seem thoroughly surreal came at the end of the press conference — but not the very end, when he once again quoted a British poet to prove some point that eluded me — as he maintained his innocence.

“Let me reassert to all of you once more that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” he insisted. “I’m confident that at the end of the day I will be properly exonerated. In the meantime I have a job to do for the people.”

Go save lives, Blago! Godspeed!

UPDATE: Here’s the video:

He will now face a trial in front of the full state Senate.

According to the AP, this is the first time in history that an Illinois governor has been impeached.