I'll do updates on the NYS races soon, especially ALAN HEVESI and JEANINE PIRRO in my next NY Republican Massacre post (click on the links), but I have to address what REAL corruption is like in Democratic NYC.
Exhibit one is State Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin (Wiki doesn't mention his indictment). This guy was a labor union leader, an elected representative, and one of the leaders of the successful fight to keep Wal-Mart out of NYC. From NY1 :
A 44-count indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses McLaughlin of using his position as an assemblyman and head of the city's Central Labor Council to steal more than $2 million from labor unions, the state, and non-profit groups, including a Little League Baseball fund.
McLaughlin allegedly used union connections to get three cars, one he gave to his son and someone he had a personal relationship with. The indictment alleges he used union workers to clean his house, move furniture, shovel snow, and even hang up holiday lights.
He is also accused of using campaign funds to pay for a rehearsal dinner for his son's wedding and of profiting from an alleged bid-rigging scheme for multimillion dollar city streetlight contracts.
Innocent until proven guilty, of course.
Exhibit two is Clarence Norman. Mr. Norman, the former state assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic chairman, has been convicted in two out of three trials, with a fourth upcoming. His cases came from a probe of the sale of judgeships by the Brooklyn Democrat machine. See the NY TIMES' chronicle of his misdeeds . According to the NY POST , his buddy Jeffery Feldman, the executive director of Norman's Kings County Democratic County Organization, is cutting a deal with prosecutors.
They are just the tip of the iceberg, as these NY POST Op-Eds illustrate:
September 15, 2006 -- State Sen. Ada Smith of Queens was handed her retirement papers Tuesday, when voters chose Shirley Huntley, a former community board president, over the temper-challenged "senator from hell."
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Assemblyman Roger Green - who pled guilty to misdemeanor corruption two years ago - finished third (behind racial arsonist and city councilman Charles Barron) in a primary challenge to victorious incumbent Rep. Ed Towns.
In running for Congress, Green surrendered his Assembly seat, so both Albany and Washington, D.C., will be spared his presence.
State Sen. Carl Andrews - a key lieutenant in Clarence Norman's scandal-ravaged Brooklyn-machine and Al Sharpton's candidate in the race - came in third in the contentious four-way Brooklyn congressional contest won by Councilwoman Yvette Clarke.
At the same time, however, another Brooklyn machine product - Assemblywoman Diane Gordon, indicted in July on bribery and official misconduct charges - won her three-way primary.
Her victory - after being videotaped soliciting a $500,000 bribe from a developer - is quite troubling.
But, with any luck, Brooklyn prosecutors will take care of Gordon in due course. And, on the whole, the voters got it right.
In the meantime, it is to be hoped that these results presage the beginning of positive change blowing into Albany in the months ahead.
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August 26, 2006 -- It was a case of another day, another indictment.
After a year-long investigation, state Sen. Efrain Gonzales Jr. of The Bronx was arraigned yesterday in federal court in Manhattan.
Gonzales allegedly defrauded the not-for-profit West Bronx Neighborhood Association - on whose board he sat as an honorary advisory member - by ripping it off to pay for rent, college tuition, clothes . . . and Yankees tickets.
You've really got to love The Bronx and its bipartisan approach to bilking the taxpayers: Two years ago, Republican state Sen. Guy Velella went to Rikers Island for bribery and influence-peddling; now a Democrat has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Gonzales faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 (though, considering Velella served barely three months of a year-long sentence, Gonzales must like his chances).
Yes, this is only a charge . . . everyone is innocent until proven guilty . . . blah, blah, blah.
But Gonzales is just the latest state legislator to fall afoul of the law of late: He joins Velella and Sen. Ada Smith, plus Assemblymembers Clarence Norman, Roger Green, Gloria Davis and Brian McLaughlin on the recent dishonor roll.
McLaughlin is in the middle of a federal probe into a bid-rigging scam - though his constituents should hardly feel confident after seeing his office raided by the FBI earlier this year. This week, he stepped aside from his walking conflict-of-interest second job as head of the Central Labor Council.
Smith, accused of tossing hot coffee at an aide, managed to plead her assault charge down to "only" harassment.
Thank goodness for little favors.
But ex-legislators Velella, Norman, Green (theft of public money) and Davis (bribery) have been convicted of serious crimes.
Indeed, Norman - the ex-boss of the Brooklyn Democratic machine - faces yet another corruption trial, following two that ended in convictions.
In Albany, it's no longer a case of when the next shoe drops - this is now the Imelda Marcos closet of corruption and misbehavior.
So, when do New Yorkers get wise - and throw the heels out?
Hevesi is still double-digits ahead in the polls, and the NY POST (that conservative bastion) has endorsed Andrew Cuomo over Republican Jeanine Pirro. New York's corruption was described as "Byzantine" before the founding of this nation. It still is, and that's this conservative's take on NY politics. Just a teaser for my next NYRM 2006 post, so keep reading!
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Comments: 9
Our civil service union pension funds in Minnesota pocketed $11 BILLION by giving a big fat raise to retirees at the height of the NASDAQ bubble then keeping the raise once the bubble burst.
That is theft.
Hell, the teachers in Minneapolis alone clipped the taxpayers for a cool BILLION but somehow that doesn't even make the last page of the D Section in our local paper.
We had a Democratic Party functionary, Mike Ciresi get a NO-BID contract for his law firm that put a cool BILLION in his pocket and so many BILLION in his law firm's pocket that they had to seal the court records so that no one will ever really know how much money he stole.
We have had two Democratic council members and one Green council member in Minneapolis arrested and convicted of shake-downs in the last five years.
Heck, now they are even running a former lobbyist for Global Crossing for Senate.
Where was the public regulatory oversight that would've prevented this from happening? What idiot would've deregulated this?
Corruption abounds in our entire political system, which is why it's mandatory that we throw the lousy sons of bitches out on their collective fat asses and start over. Anybody that votes for an incumbant this year is a fool and is nothing more than contributing to the problem.
The only entity that regulates this is the Minnesota State Legislature, a group of people subject to the pressure of lobbyists.
It needs to be stated that Education Minnesota, the teacher's union employes more lobbyists than any other entity in the state.
Now do you understand how the Minneapolis Teachers Pension Fund could go $1 Billion into debt and bankrupt before anyone did anything about it?
Sounds like there needs to be a healthy, stiff does of regulatory oversight put into place to me. Too bad the current political environment of GOPness favors DE-regulation, which actually allows and even encourages this type of behavior.
The Democratic Party's cash cow, the civil servants unions, brought this about. I fail to see how electing Democrat will help. They are obviously people who will regulate everyone but their own. Plus they have a habit of coming out of court rooms with their jackets pulled over their faces.
Don't count on third parties to do any better. We just convicted the first local Green Party Cadidate to be elected.
Read it and weep Green Party Leader Convicted of Taking Bribes