Democrat Corruption Scandal In PA

Flopping Aces ^ | 07-11-08 | Curt

[Starman417]

How much you want to bet if this story involved Republicans the story would be all over the national nightly news?

Scandal in the statehouse: 12 Democrats face corruption charges

A SORDID TANGLE of corruption, cash and sex rocked the Statehouse yesterday in a political scandal that left one current and one former legislator and 10 current and former staff members facing criminal charges.

Among the accusations leveled by two state grand juries: Former top legislative staffer Mike Manzo got his lover, a twenty-something former rural beauty queen, a $29,000 job and $7,000 bonus mostly for doing her schoolwork.

State Attorney General Tom Corbett announced the charges against the 12, all Democrats, in a news conference in Harrisburg.

"It's a very sad day in Pennsylvania," Corbett said.

The long-running investigation began with a Harrisburg Patriot-News story about secret bonuses to legislative employees. The 12 are accused of using public funds to finance political activities, a vacation, meals for friends and Manzo's no-show job for his girlfriend.

It doesn't stop there:

The allegations strike at top party staffers in the House, and more charges are expected, say prosecutors. Court documents suggested that hundreds of Democratic staffers might have been involved in illegal work.

How does some of the media in Philly respond? By asking why there is no investigations being done on Republicans.

[driftdiver]

‘How does some of the media in Philly respond? By asking why there is no investigations being done on Republicans.”

but of course, they have no respect for the law.

[Palladin]

This has been going on from time immemorial in Pennsylvania.

I know a very nice elderly lady who was given a state job and had all her living expenses paid for by her married boyfriend legislator for 30 years—until he dropped dead of a heart attack outside her apartment one evening.

This was from the 1940’s to the 1970’s.

So, what else is new in Pennsylvania?

[LiberConservative]

Nothing will become of this, at least not politically. I’ll bet Republicans are indeed doing the same thing. Oh, sure there might be some trials and even a few convictions but that’s about it. It’s that “not even a governor has to step down” corruption clause. It started gaining momentum in Ohio with convicted criminal Governor Taft.

[libs_kma]

Same crap happened in Tennessee a few years ago. I don’t remember all the details, because the dinosaur media did a great job of not covering that one too.

[BallyBill]

We have such amateurs here in PA. The crooks, err I mean the politicians, in Jersey are laughing at us again.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Mike Manzo was a big macher in the legislature. I'm guessing he was the brains and the organizer behind the whole thing, and it isn't going to involve any Republicans. There were some small bonuses paid to a handful of Republican staffers, but the Dems doled out nearly $2 million and left a huge paper trail about how staffers were rated for bonuses according to how much political work they did. It's almost comically bad.

Tom Corbett may ride this all the way to the U.S. Senate when Arlen Specter finally retires.

[sinclair]

Interesting comparison on Google search:

Results 1 - 10 of about 14,400,000 for democrat corruption. (0.22 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 341,000 for republican corruption. (0.22 seconds)

That would be more than 42 times more Democrat corruption than Republican corruption. On Google no less. I'm going to send this to Pelosi.

[CHEE]

Among the accusations leveled by two state grand juries: Former top legislative staffer Mike Manzo got his lover, a twenty-something former rural beauty queen, a $29,000 job and $7,000 bonus mostly for doing her schoolwork
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Let's see, $36,000 per year divided by 12 amounts to $3,000.00 per month. Sounds kind of expensive for a novice mistress. Now if she had more experience I might understand the outlay.

[HamiltonJay]

There’s not MIGHT about it... I’m sure they’ll get some R’s too... but the bulk will be overwhelmingly D’s... but the culture of corruption in this state is so entrenched there is no way either party is clean. Of course the scope of the D’s will be insanely massive relatively to the R’s.. but it doesn’t matter.

This state is a 3rd world nation that can rely on tax revenues from companies who want to be close to NYC but not NY to continue to fund their 1930s to 1950s mentality.

THis state is without question the most backward thinking , good old boy, corrupt one that I have ever lived in.. it makes Arkansas look forward thinking.

[RightWingTeen]

No, don’t they know DEMS are NEVER CORRUPT? :) /s

[Unicorn]

BTTT

[bt-99]

Pa is horribly run, Just about last in the nation in job growth, Out of control spending, Philadelphia passing their own illegal gun control laws, political corruption and the media gives it a cursory report and then goes back to focusing on why we should have more gun control and why George Bush sucks.