Corbett fires a Blank (Rome)
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Corbett fires a Blank (Rome)
The corruption shoes keep dropping here in Pennsylvania -- how many feet do we have, anyway? You'll be shocked, shocked to know that there was massive corruption at the then-Democrat controlled Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, something to ponder when you drive out west like I did last summer and realize that unless YOU commit a felony you won't be able to meet their extortionist toll demands. Then we have the unfortunate case of Fortunato Perri.
And there's more from the good people at StateImpactPA, which has been playing tag-team with me on reporting gifts and possible conflicts of interest involving Gov. Corbett., especially relating to the oil-and-gas industry. Specifically, they drilled deeper on one benefactor, the Philly-based powerhouse law firm Blank Rome, which is involved with the pro-industry Marcellus Shale Coalition and represents fracking clients. They noted that if you go back further into Corbett's tenure as attorney general he and his wife reported more than $15,000 in gifts from Blank Rome, mostly yearly tickets to a swank gala at the Academy of Musc.
I found this element of the story intriguing, though:
After Corbett was elected Governor, he appointed a former partner from Blank Rome, Michael Krancer, to head the state Department of Environmental Protection. Krancer worked at the firm prior to 1999, when he was named as a judge on the state’s Environmental Hearing Board by Governor Tom Ridge.
Or maybe that's just the incestuous kind of thing that goes on every day. This is Pennsylvania. I did like this letter to the edtor about Corbett's ethics:
The editorial regarding the gifts Governor Corbett has received has me seeing red. Prior to my retirement from the state, I supervised a group of employees involved in processing employer requests for tax credits. Most of the employers were represented by consultants who were responsible for submitting the tax credit requests and we received many thousands of requests per year.
The Christmas just before my retirement, a consultant company sent a box of candy to the tax credit unit in recognition of the work that was done that year. Management instructed us that the candy would have to be returned because of the rules prohibiting gifts to state employees.
These were frontline staff who had no decision making capabilities that would affect the employer. And yet Governor Corbett, who makes decisions affecting employers on a daily basis, has accepted more than $11,000 in gifts over two years. What's wrong with this picture?
So, despite what all of us are always saying, NOT everybody does it.
What's the phrase, you can polish a turd, but in the end it's still a turd? Yeah, that's Corbett!— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine- MSL thinks a leader is for fishin', yup. Glad MSL and the wok think the sequester is a small issue. The only way to get decrease Federal spending is to plant legislative time bombs and then allow them to go off after the next election. That is bad enough. Then, when minor cuts are enforced the petulant Empty Suit tries to "make them hurt" by enacting selective high profile cuts to back up the fear mongering he thought was leadership.
wok - A leader gets things done. A boss tells you what to do. There is a huge difference. Obama tries to be a boss when he needs to be a leader. You toadies cry that the mean Repubs are holding the nation back because they won't do what they are told to do by Obama. I am still undecided whether it is inexperience or incompetence on Obama's part. As in all things with a couple of potential causes it is likely a mix of the two.— 2ndNlong - Obama does seem to get things done, however. If you'd have told me a year ago that Congress would raise taxes (fiscal cliff) and cut defense spending (sequester) within months of Obama's re-election, I'd have politely asked you to surrender your firearms to the police. Who was it said "leadership" is getting the other side to do what you want and think they're winning?
- I asked you to give me an example of a "leader" in Washington DC?
— wokmaster - Yeah it was. Speaking of awesome, here's where the goobers are hanging out today:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/Does_Obama_have_a_duty_to_defend_every_law.html— wokmaster - "Bonecrushing" - lol. I dont recall but its awesome.— Murrayman
- Wok are you having trouble with reading comprehension -- its "vastly spiraling debt". Can't you read? I don't know what it is, either, and neither does the market. It sounds scary I would imagine it would require a market premium - strangely it is not. No I agree teardown - the administration should have had perfect foresight of the Benghazi a11acks. How dare they try to deflect the very justified a11acks from the right wingers. In essence, the admin. is saying, you wanted spending cuts, you got them. But that's not good enough for right wingers -- they need to complain about both sides. Shows they don't actually care about the issue - they just want to be enraged. That's it. They complain there's too much spending. Spending is cut via sequestration, and now they complain about spending cuts. And when the "major press" doesn't share the right wing insanity -- its a conspiracy. Mental illness is confounding.— Murrayman
- Murray maybe it was you who replied to fishwrappers comment a few months ago when he described it as "bonecrushing" debt. Too funny! — wokmaster
- "Four years without a budget, vastly spiraling debt, credit downgrade, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the sequester...you can ask an Obama supporter about numerous recent actions and events of this government and they will deny that Obama had anything to do with it.
Then if you ask this person if Obama is doing a good job, they will express giddy support for all his good work for which he cannot be held responsible.
Previously, Janet Napolitano smarmily said that sequester cuts left the administration no choice but to release waves of illegal immigrants who had been detained for breaking other laws.
Then when that decision sparked a backlash, she said it had been made by some faceless drone "...in the field."
And now that the decision to close White House tours has been called out as a similarly obvious (but less dangerous) ploy, Obama again deflects responsibility.
It's the major press, of course, constantly reframing everything and keeping Obama's own actions from tainting his record.
They cannot report on an issue without also building in an excuse or cover for Obama within the same article.
It has become reflex now to look for the excuse or fall guy in every news story about this administration's dysfunction."
— teardownthisfishwrap - Would you describe it as bonecrushing debt or backbreaking debt? — wokmaster
- I think they meant intellectually bankrupt.— philly2flag
- Oh yeah, Breitbart, bastion of solid reporting - where John Nolte holds forth with revealing truth - like the fact Woodward was indeed threatened because he exposed the horrid lies that the WH tried to cover up. Does Nolte give specifics on the requester proceedings -- well, no, but that's not the point! Oh yeah, Krugman filed. Serves him right. Now maybe he'll embrace the austerity he should have been practicing all along.— Murrayman
- Wok the reason this is an issue with those two is Stigall and the front thought to bring it up. Their source? A former SS guy, someone who ran for Senator in Maryland, who framed his speculations as the absolute truth. Nothing fishy about that. When a man tells you his word his absolute truth, you should believe him, particularly when its politically expedient. Way to go, guys. Way to kneel down at the altar of Stigall.— Murrayman
- Gotcha. It's kind of hard to keep up these days. Did you hear about Paul Krugman filing for bankruptcy? I heard it from a good source - brietbart.com. — wokmaster
- Shocking. Tom Corbett (Registered Trademark & wholly-owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Power) is still sucking on Aubrey's exhaust pipe. But hey, that cash pipeline to Corbett's friends and family would be a hard habit for anybody to break.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatusTheSecond
- Krancer runs the DEP like a consuting firm. Come visit the master and he will make his minions dance and produce a permit in record time (regulations be damned).— meteo30
- @msl- Agreed. That was the point. This isn't a party specific issue.— Wiseman6
- It's a non-issue, and you've got nothing better than that to somehow question "leadership". Come on. You can do better.
- And you two think "this didn't go through the White House - the Secret Service did it" is leadership?— Mirror
- Obviously not. Obama should have blamed Ollie North. Now THAT was leadership.
- It's nice to see you and 2nd are worried about the important issues facing our country, like White House tours.
Thank you, patriots!!— wokmaster - Whiner of the week has to go to the Empty Suit, throwing the SS under the bus as the cause of the cancellation of WH tours. The nation is still without a leader. There's someone collecting the check but the nation is without a leader.— 2ndNlong
- "There's someone collecting the check but the nation is without a leader."
Ok I'll play along...in your opinion, who's a "leader"?
— wokmaster - One man's Blank Rome, is another's Ballard Spahr.— Wiseman6
- Fishwrapper would give him a run for his money.— wokmaster
- Will should take a page out of Missinelli's show and have a "whiner of the week" award. CD75 would be in the running every week.— wokmaster
- You're a lib Monti, so they'll prolly let it stand, but please - do not use bad words.
..... Mention the antics of OWS like me though, and the comment gets scrubbed.— teardownthisfishwrap - CD75, how come I can find such posts by using the search button above and you can't? Is it possible you're full of sh't?
- Will, what about Fast Eddie's relationships with other white shoe Philly law firms? How come you did not write about that over his 8 years?— CD75
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