Posted on 12/25/2007 8:30:39 AM PST by shrinkermd
...No, I am referring to the government of the city, the municipality, the hamlet nestled on the historic Potomac. Incredibly, one woman alone is said to have masterminded a scheme in which she and others allegedly stole at least $20 million from the city
...Take the scheme that withdrew millions upon millions of dollars from the city's coffers. Not a politician involved. Instead, those accused are all bureaucrats and their alleged accessories... All they did was allegedly issue tax refunds to dummy corporations and then cash the checks themselves. They are accused of having done this for years. A Post analysis said the total could be up to $44 million.
In a similar manner, an executive responsible for 17 charter schools took or illegally steered more than $800,000. Others in the school system dipped into student recreation funds, not quite taking candy from babies, just field trips and the like. Again, notice the absence of elected officials or corrupt politicians. Why, one school official took $30,000 from the chess club of a school for emotionally disturbed pupils -- a dark chapter not even Dickens could envisage.
The Santa Clausiness of the D.C. government is almost beyond comprehension. ...for instance, The Post reported just last week on how a former principal requested a grant to train teachers and the school system authorized $3 million in a single day. And when she went to pick up the first $1 million, the school system just handed over the money -- no silly, fussy contract or anything like that.
The things that happen in Washington for some reason stay in Washington. They get almost no national attention, even though the town practices corruption on a scale that compares to kleptocracies like Nigeria or kingdoms like Saudi Arabia.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
—bflr—
Interesting article for Christmas day. . .
Hope you all have a merry one.
So true —and if there was not “federal oversight” of DC, can you imagine how bad this would be. Marion Berry would be so proud of his legacy....
Gee. I wonder why that would be? / sarc
After all, it's not their money that's being stolen.
It's ours.
This is a city EVERY liberal, socialist, feel good experiment has been tried and failed. After dark it is a very dangerous place...don’t hear much about that do you.
I bet the people involved are all Irish Republicans too.
Although there is a municipal government and a Mayor, Congress has the supreme authority over the city and district, which results in citizens having less self-governance than residents of the states. The District has a non-voting at-large Congressional representative. In the financial year 2004, federal tax collections were $16.9 billion[4] while federal spending in the District was $37.6 billion.[5]
it’s also DUE TO Federal Oversight. DC is run like a fiefdom of local politicians, and the Feds, who are hamstrung and oh-so-politically-correct only get involved when the news really gets bad.
“This is what they have found, think of what they haven’t found.”
Took them so long to find it because 95% of their “investivgavite” reporters have been on the bash Bush steamroller for the past 7 years.
“Not a politician involved.”
I suspect Cohen can say this because the purpose of the article is to focus solely on the fraud committed by those he calls “bureaucrats.” However, were he to construct an article focusing on the fraud and embezzlement committed by the politicians involved in running D.C., the numbers would probably dwarf those in the instant article. And that’s not to mention the money that most likely floats from the D.C. bureaucrats back to the patrons in Congress who throw money their way to begin with, in the manner of all government “programs.”
This sounds like a great dodge, a straw man, to give the democrat overseers of D.C. a pass on corruption. But Granny Nancy has proven otherwise. Sorry, Rich, it don’t float.
Notice how uber-lib and Republican-hater Dickie Cohen doesn't mention that all those states, like DC, are run by corrupt DEMOCRATS?
"It takes a Pillage!"
Obviously what we need is a Sarbanes-Oxley Act for Government Bureaucracies.
HA!
If people ever needed a reason to never vote for democrats, they could use DC Home-Rule as a lesson plan.
Wash D.C. city government is an accurate reflection of the quality of the Federal Govt’s ability to govern directly.
Sad but true, also remember the folks in D.C. would be fine if the just had mo money.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.