AG To Name More Names in Bonusgate Probe…
Former House speaker among those charged in corruption probe…
AG To Name More Names in Bonusgate Probe…
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58 Comments
Is this it? These are the "shocking" revelations? Or revelations that "shock the conscience"?
…..More like Corbett's way to snag as many "D" votes as possible from the Southeast next fall, without hurting his fundraising and not touching the actual leadership.
"Shocking" isn't it? Are you shocked, because I'm thinking about being shocked or at least feigning shocked. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the "shocking" announcement that was supposed to come today and "shock" my socks off. Maybe this is just the warm up and the shockingly shocktastic news will be coming later.
$10,000,000 misappropriated should shock anyone
What about the philly daily news story today about how WHILE INVESTIGATING THE HOUSE GOP CAUCUS Corbett was meeting with Preski and Perzel to talk about fundraisers??? Where is the outrage? Seriously that is federal investigation stuff
The state bucket of shenanigans, palm greasing, thievery, baiting & switching, nitwittery, and buffoonish actions is now officially overflowing.
Save your outrage for the slap on the wrist Fumo style sentences these chuckleheads will walk away with. The earlier article from the Pittsburgh Trib quotes his lawyer as saying Perzel stands on his long record of service in the house. They are already setting us up for yet another disappointment.
What is the total annual state budget………..total……….not just general fund……….total………special funds, enterprise funds…..federal funds……..etc. My recollection is that it's about 60 Billion a year.
What percentage of the total state budget is $10,000,000? In nominal dollar terms, it's a lot of money, but it is pocket change in the scheme of things.
You want to shock me? Tell me you've found a 3 Billion or a 5% fraud. 10 million is chump change. They misappropriate that kind of money in the wink of an eye. How much went to BIG? How much went to Citizens Alliance? Why didn't you shut them down before our money could be squandered? Any other non-profits we should know about?
Pffffttttt.
Will our newest state senator be charged?
If you want to shock ME, then tell me you have found all the taxpayer's money and I am getting a whopping check in the mail in the form of a refund.
$9 million distributed across the state would barely even cover the postage.
In the grand scheme of things, $9 million is a drop in the bucket when it comes to the state budget. Pennsylvania spends roughly $125,000 a minute if you go with Dolly's true budget figure. 90 minutes of spending is more.
That does not mean we should aggressively prosecute these clowns. They should be prosecuted, but we should be serious about the prospect of cutting spending. Going after $9 million here and there is not going to make a difference. We need to be targeting the biggest programs for drastic reduction if not elimination.
I doubt it, Mencsh wasn't in leadership in House, and even if he was based on what we learned today not to much was shared with other offices, Prezel ran that caucus with an iron fist.
I am amazed how Perzel ran such an operation. Our perception of the entire leadership acting as a whole appears to be very misguided at best. Sounds like Perzel called all the shots literally.
thats because he did until he got booted from the speakers chair. ran the the caucus, controlled the biggest block of votes in the house, and HRCC and there fundraising ops. long fall from glory.
I've spoken to people who worked in leadership offices in the house and they said that he really did control the show, the appropriations chairs under him were really just figure heads and pushed papers, they said it was extremly frustrating because they couldn't get answers on simple questions from his office and big questions would get stone walled, there is a really good chance that most republican house members really had no idea what was going on and that the information there campaigns were getting was obtained illegally.
Bummer….I was hoping to vote for him for Governor in 2010… Maybe he'll get Fumo's judge and still be out in time!
One thing you can be absolutely certain of is that every Republican member (and probably the Ds too) of the legislature knew in general terms what was going on and that it was illegal. For me, that fact is the most insideous part of the whole scandal. This is nothing short of organized crime. Why they aren't being charged under RICO statutes is beyond me.
This is all further evidence as to why we ought to fight hard for a part-time, citizen legislature that serves for 50 days a year, gets $14k in stipend money, has one or two full time staffers, and no "caucus" staff other than a policy guy or two and a press guy for each party caucus. Forget the "reform-lite" proposals like reducing the size of the legislature. Instead, it's time to reduce the power by reducing all of their jobs to part-time status.
I worked in a part-time legislature in Virginia for three years and the accountability levels are high enough that this would not happen:
"The grand jury found that John Perzel was the architect behind a sophisticated criminal strategy that ultimately spent more than $10 million of taxpayers' money purely for campaign work. Once the foundation of Perzel's illegal scheme was in place, the grand jury found Perzel went to great lengths to maintain control and expand his power through illegal means."
Agreed. They all knew or should have known. Those long-standing incumbents need challengers.
Wouldn't you think that at least one of the anonymous tech support staffers referenced in the press release would have reported what has happening and/or resigned because of what was going down? Where is the conscience of the employee who would willingly allow their bosses to take such a cavalier attitude towards their actual employers… the taxpayers?
Its about time, but the proof is in the conviction and sentence from my perspective.
Corbett is getting brownie points for charging people who deserve to be charged.
But I await the results and I think that ? runs past the election year that Corbett wants us to vote for him.
Best opportunity ever for a ConCon and elimination of full time legislature. Let’s seize the moment. Nobody can argue “no” for the next several months. Forget marches/rallies. Let’s get legislative straight shooters to ram it through. There are enough stand-up men/women in there to get it done. We’ll never have a better opportunity. Russ? Let’s do it. FAST!
The interesting thing about the investigation so far is how many other things Corbett has found beyond the bonuses. The charges today had little to do with what we call Bonusgate.
One thing is certain. Politicians with small families should be preferred. Way too many of these people give away jobs to every family member.
Nice job Tom you have my vote!
I suspect most knew something with going on, but had no clue what was actually happening.
Time to fumigate the capitol.
Or maybe nuke it.
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Additional perspective on the "Shocking" revelation of a $10 million dollar fraud………
I just pulled out my BIG file. The IRS Form 990 shows total assets of $7,693,217 as of the end of 2005 / beginning of tax year 2006. EVERY PENNY of that is taxpayer money and EVERY PENNY of that was piddled down a rat hole. So a $10 million dollar Perzel fraud is not "shocking".
And Citizens Alliance had rough justice $18 million at the end of 2007. http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?partne...
PFFFTTTTT.
Sadly, it does not. It is probably just a drop in the bucket.
Ten charged, ten slaps on the wrists coming up!
Congrats on taking soooooooooooo long, Tom! And just in time to carry you into the primary. Go figure!
Actually, it does kind of force us to ponder who knew what in the GOP caucus.
After all, so many of those jokers voted for Perzel to be Speaker when Roher, Schroder, et al, bailed and voted for O'Brien.
In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, what about Mauree Gingrich? She was a big supporter of Perzel. She got caught with her hand in the cookie jar when it came to ballot access ("Gee, I didn't know it was wrong."); are we now to believe she didn't know what Perzel was up to?
Mauree Gingrich is what you get if Don Rickles mates with Ric Flair.
Perzel ran the show, but unfortunately many of the rest of the GOP leaders went along with him, in order to keep their positions. However, many people knew that something was fishy was going on, but couldn't prove it. In fact, many legislators knew to keep/use other email addresses (instead of their House accounts) because they knew that Perzel was looking through their emails.
So far:
#1 In the 2005-2006 House Republican Caucus (Perzel) Charged.
#2 in the 2005-2006 House Democratic Caucus (Veon) Charged.
#3 In the 2005-2006 Senate Democratic Caucus (Fumo) Convicted.
Something is rotten in Harrisburg.
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I think they are all stooges who went along to get along. Perzel was a dictator with the legislative equivalent of secret police. A few brave souls challenged, but most feared.
Senate is next. Also, Turnpike and non-profits that several legislators funnel WAMs through. This one will truly be shocking. HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS funneled through several dozen non-profits across the state controlled by numerous legislators.
You ain't seen nothing yet.
Plenty of stuff if you wade through the indictment.
"There were "Special Projects" during this time period, such as http://www.uncleansweep.com "
It talks about how when PA Clean sweep requested information on the site through a lawyer, it was like rats scurrying for cover. Nye and company started moving files out of the Capitol and running the shredders.
Good Work Russ.
Other Republican leaders are mentioned as being involved, but at a cursory glance it is hard to tell to what extent.
Anyone have the time to dig through the details?
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Plenty of stuff if you wade through the indictment.
"There were "Special Projects" during this time period, such as http://www.uncleansweep.com "
It talks about how when PA Clean sweep requested information on the site through a lawyer, it was like rats scurrying for cover. Nye and company started moving files out of the Capitol and running the shredders.
Good Work Russ.
Other Republican leaders are mentioned as being involved, but at a cursory glance it is hard to tell to what extent.
Anyone have the time to dig through the details?
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I do not have the time to read it all, but what I have read is very interesting indeed.
Nuking works for me.
Good for Corbett and staff getting this done. Now, who's next. I know there's got to be more.
The real fun starts when one or more start ratting out the others. Fasten your seat belts.
Sounds interesting. Any idea when will this hit?
Thanks, 'shroom. I feel somewhat vindicated by what I read starting on page 168. Our decision to pursue a federal case against Mr. Nye and others was a major factor in the split that led to the demise of PACleanSweep. I still had some tiny nagging doubts of my own until today.
They were Worried about losing their jobs and being able to feed their familys! Whistle blower protection laws are a joke and this is an at will state which means they can fire you for any reason or no reason at all!
Now let's review. 1. The first 3 questions to Corbett the minute after he makes is "big announcement" were his meetings with Perzel, if his cell phone use is a violation of campaign ethics rules and if his staffers are using their own cell phones on AG office time (to which he confusedly answered yes) 2. John Perzel sends his response about political opportunism directly to a reporter to be read aloud at Corbett's own press conference. 3. Every article written about this "triumph" in last few hours questions Corbett's political motivations. Now that is what I call a smooth, seamless handling of the "largest legal victory" Corbett has engineered in his career thus far. Brilliant, just brilliant! The Democrats must be sleeping soundly tonight knowing that Tom Corbett is the current Republican frontrunner for Governor.
To "Deep Throat" – When does Republican Representative Mauree Gingrich get indicted for forgery and perjury?
SS
You assume the public will eat this up? I beg to differ. The population will see a politician going after other politicians and eat it up. The defense that the investigations are partisan from people facing a couple hundred years in jail will work as well as a TV without electricity.
If there is other evidence against other members, please come forward with it. I love how everyone whines about so much corruption on the part of Corbett, but nobody has any proof. I am sure if someone had proof, they could easily forward it over to the other candidates for Governor and they would beat the snot out of Corbett with it. Gerlach and Knox have been trying their best, but they have not shown any evidence of wrongdoing. The DailyNews article was poorly timed to say the least considering all the supposed Corbett buddies were slammed with charges the same day. No wonder the DailyNews remains a cheap, bankrupt knockoff of the NY Post. No wonder Gerlach's campaign has not left the gate let alone the runway.
Corbett must be on to something with these charges when the defenses seem to be obsessed with the "selective prosecution" defense, which has never worked ever in the United States and has not been successful in any Common Law jurisdiction since the reign of George III.
Ten Charged, 240 or so to go.
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Wow John! Not even I would have thought of bilking the taxpayers out of that much money and engaging in deception at that level!
I eagerly await that news. That would be shocking and it is where I suspect the real money went…….funneled through various non-profits. If you can name names, I'll see what I can do to find their 990's.
The biggest single problem you have with that is getting it through the house, getting something through the senate is no picinic but it is doable. The problem is the blackhole that is Babbet Josephs House State Government Committee. Several big reforms have found there way out of the senate only to die a slow and miserable death in her hands, if a constitutional convention is ever going to be called we need the republicans back in control of the house and hope a chairman of that committee who is willing to take on those issues, of course speaker turzai would hopefully be able to steer alot of that through as well, but that is the only chance we have of that.
May G-d bless you, Russ.
Who is going to bust that wide open?
If you can name names, I'll post links to the 990's. Let's do a little "Citizens audit."
http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/990finder...
The thing is that they should have admitted giving away the bonuses and paid them back. Corbett would have never went on his crusade and found out how the Tyrant from NE Philly was running such an operation.
Feese gets out of cuffs for now but hopefully he will spend the rest of his life behind bars! I might send him a Corbett bumper sticker and some soap on a rope.
Did Duane Milne have illegal Perzel computers in his campaign? Ask the Republican committee women 3 now that comprise his office staff
Perzel dumped a cool almost quarter mill in Milne's elections Milne the new guy claims reform but he's packed the taxpayer payroll with party hacks. No politics in legislative offices now?. Not in Milne's office Perzel is Milne's role model on getting his politics done on the taxpayers dime!
Wow, I didn’t heard about this topic up to now. Thanks!