Bruno. An “equal time” post.
I wouldn’t want anyone to think I reserve all my political disgust for Eliot Spitzer. I don’t. My scorn for NY State politicians is abundantly bi-partisan.
So for your enjoyment, here’s an AP photograph taken by Mark Groll at a recent memorial service for fallen NY State firefighters, which I found on gothamist:
The fellow on the left is New York senate leader Joe Bruno. A Republican. Drawing on political skills he learned as a five-year-old.
Bruno is mad ‘cuz Spitzer’s administration is using some (mildish) dirty tricks to discredit him.
Which is apparently far more important, in Bruno’s childish little world, than showing respect for people who lost their lives trying to save the lives of others.
It speaks volume about what he really thinks about “public service,” doesn’t it.
Spitzer’s no angel, of course, and I’m not sorry to see his fake halo dislodged. But Bruno’s self-righteous anger is a big fat sham as well:
While it’s common for elected officials to dip into their campaign committees for an occasional personal meal or other perk, the filings for Bruno’s three committees suggest that he may never pick up his own tab. In 2006 and the first six months of 2007, the committees have spent more than $92,000 on restaurant and country-club bills for “meetings” or “meals,” not including any expenses that are listed for “fundraising” purposes. Calls to some of the restaurants confirm that Bruno eats there regularly, often with guests. It’s not at all uncommon for multiple meals to be billed for the same day, or for the committee to cover virtually an entire week of dinners (including the weekend), usually in restaurants near the capitol and his home. It is possible that some of these meals are for staff, but one committee has no full-time staff, and it’s the one with $38,000 in restaurant billings alone.
In addition, the committees have spent an astounding $18,225 at the track, including expenses virtually every other day during the 36-day summer season at Saratoga, where horseman Bruno reigns as a local potentate. He also appears to take at least a yearly “fundraising” junket to Florida, where he has spent $55,000 in the last year and a half—far more than he’s ever raised there.
As extraordinary as these totals are, there’s also the $211,381 attributed on the Bruno filings to “Cardmember Services,” an affiliate of the World Perks Visa Card; $55,621 to “Commercial Card Solutions,” an affiliate of J.P. Morgan Chase; and $26,000 to a third credit-card company. These entities, which are cumulatively listed at five addresses on Bruno reports, “consolidate transactions” and “help manage travel and other miscellaneous expenses” for small businesses. In addition, the committees report $36,507 in “unitemized expenses,” often listed by the thousands at the end of a reporting period. The law requires that any expenditure over $50 be specified. Ironically, while two of the committees serve the senate majority, the third—which has spent $4.5 million since 2000—is in business purely to re-elect Bruno himself, in a district where he hasn’t faced a real opponent (and sometimes no Democrat at all) in a decade.
That’s Wayne Barrett reporting in the Village Voice — and he’s only warming up. The article goes on & on for three pages, detailing how Bruno and his associates live fat, abuse their positions, and deliberately obfuscate their activities from anyone who might be critical of them.
Our state’s political class is a joke, and our residents are paying the price. Laughing yet?
Technorati Tags: Eliot Spitzer, Joe Bruno, New York State politics