Howie Carr thread week of Sept. 4, 2011

Howie thread for the week starting with his Sunday Boston Herald column: "‘I’m sorry, it’s my turn’: If Mitt’s supposed to be GOP nominee, someone forgot to tell Rick Perry"

you’re welcome.

Now:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1364351&srvc=rss

Convicted rapist Ben Laguer’s two decades-long fight for a new trial heads to a Worcester court tomorrow as the con seeks to put several top state officials on the stand, including Gov. Deval Patrick.

A hearing in Laguer’s case is slated for tomorrow in Worcester Superior Court where his attorneys plan to argue he should get a new trial due to alleged botched DNA testing. The hearing, granted by Worcester Superior Court Judge Richard T. Tucker, could clear the way for Laguer to call more than two dozen witnesses, including Patrick, state police Col. Marion McGovern and former Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte.

Laguer is expected to testify and his lawyers will argue that Laguer needs to cross-examine the state officials. No other witnesses are scheduled to testify tomorrow. A spokesman for Patrick had no immediate comment.

Laguer is serving a life sentence for the brutal 1983 rape and beating of his 59-year-old neighbor in Leominster. He has always proclaimed his innocence but has lost several appeals and been repeatedly rejected by the Parole Board.

Laguer claims the state mishandled DNA evidence that tied him to the disturbing sex attack. He argues that Patrick called for a review of the DNA testing but it was never done.

Fri column ping, below. Breaking: Sal DiMasi to get 8 years in the “greybar hotel” (jailhouse, sep thread coming)

Think Howie said he’s off today because he’s flying to NY,
9/11-commemoration related? Thus the comment about wondering whether or not he’d have to take off his shoes in the security line (regulation change?) Note: Brad Bleidt is mentioned. He was the owner (for a time) of WBIX AM 1060,
a business-radio station in Boston. He and wife Bonnie had some sort of scheme going (or maybe just him) to defraud people out of millions. He was convicted (not sure about her) and is in jail now. The radio station in question is
now Catholic Radio, WQOM. Bleidt btw was at a party to celebrate WBIX increasing its power. He knew he might soon be arrested, so he went home and tried to kill himself.

Social Security scam turns us into marks
By Howie Carr | Friday, September 9, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Photo
Photo by AP

But it is a Ponzi scheme.

Gov. Rick Perry was right about Social Security. It is a “monstrous lie.”

Only not as monstrous as it used to be, because almost everybody has figured out the scam.

Mitt Romney said the safe thing at the debate, about how it’s worked for millions of people. Funny thing about Ponzi schemes, they always do work, until they don’t. You run out of marks, and then you run out of money, whether you’re Charles Ponzi or Bernie Madoff or Brad Bleidt.

Do you know anyone under 40 who believes Social Security is going to be there for them?

Do you know anyone under 40 who wouldn’t quit the program if the government gave them half a chance, and half a refund?

Why do you think more than 60 percent of the population starts collecting the instant they’re eligible? Sure, they hate their jobs, but they also want to beat the inevitable run on the bank.

Every autumn, the Social Security Administration sends me a pamphlet explaining to me how much I’ve paid into Social Security and Medicare, and how much I can expect to get out every month. Now I’ve heard even Social Security is including a caveat that they’re only going to be able to pay a certain portion (78 percent?) of what they’ve been promising.

As recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there were still old-timers who thought they were just collecting the money they’d paid in. They weren’t very good at math. The Democrats used to tell them that everything that had been deducted from their paychecks was stashed in a “lockbox,” like a safe-deposit box at the bank, and your money was there.

You know what would be in the lockbox, if there was one? IOU’s dating back to the Johnson administration. And maybe if you’re lucky, a thank-you note from Auntie Zeituni. Lockbox is one of those big government lies, like earmarked funds and taxes that sunset.

When was the last time a Democrat won an election by waving the bloody shirt of Social Security? Was it the Florida primary of 1992, when Bill Clinton accused the late Paul Tsongas of wanting to throw old people into the street, and Tsongas had no money to respond because his campaign treasurer Nick Rizzo had embezzled all the funds?

By 2000, during the Bush-Gore presidential debates, whenever Albert mentioned the “lockbox” it sounded like a punch line.

All you need to know is that when Social Security was started, 20 people were paying in for every recipient. You couldn’t start collecting until you turned 65. And the average American only lived to the age of 62. If Bernie Madoff had those kinds of actuarial numbers, he’d still be living in Palm Beach, instead of Club Fed.

Romney’s handlers and the Democrats were giddy Wednesday night after the debate. They thought Perry had made a big mistake. I don’t think so, unless somebody can use all our lockboxes.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1364477

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