Tuesday, May 3, 2016

More Fun Times In New York!

So today, Sheldon Silver (D), our former Speaker of the Assembly finds out exactly how long he will have to spend in prison for crimes against the taxpayers of the state of New York. Silver was convicted in February for collecting $5 million from two law firms over a series of years in exchange for using his influence to steer work to the firms, as well as providing state grants to a doctor who had patients suffering from illnesses associated with asbestos. US Attorney of SDNY Preet Bharara has requested that Silver be sentenced to only 14 years in prison which would be the largest prison sentence ever levied against a convicted state lawmaker, and is also asking that Silver return $5 million he pocketed from his corruption schemes.

The 73 year old Silver would be lucky to only get 14 years as his crimes could actually have gotten him up to 150 years. To the great annoyance of many people in New York, what he won't have to give up is his cushy state pension paid for the taxpayers for his 25+ years as an elected official. Hopefully, the state legislature will finally pass a bill that would take away the pension for Silver and all the other public servants who have been convicted of crimes against the taxpayers. It seems like a "no-brainer", but so far the legislators have failed to pass a bill or any other kind of ethics reform.

Not to be outdone by the Democrats in New York, the Republican State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R) was convicted in December for using his influence to get no-show jobs for his son, Adam, who was also found guilty in the scheme. They are set for sentencing May 12.

And in other news, US Attorney Bharara now has his sights set on Mayor de Blasio and just this week has subpoenaed many of the mayor's appointeees for information into his various "charitable foundations" he set up that were "coincidentially" funded by the various generous people who allegedly wanted to garner special favors from the mayor.

And in other, other news, Bharara has also set his sights on Governor Andrew Cuomo and his inner circle. The same federal prosecutors who convicted Silver and Skelos have now subpoenaed by one of Cuomo's closest confidante Joseph Percoco for information concerning alleged outside income during his tenure as Cuomo's top aide. It's part of a broadening probe into Cuomo's economic-development initiatives in upstate New York and may well prove to be the end of the promising political road for Andrew Cuomo.

Yeah, things have just gotten really real for our elected officials...

18 comments:

ScottDS said...

Hey, Bev! I was actually in your neck of the woods this weekend... and I came to a horrifying realization: I love the city but I don't miss it as much as I thought I did. It's actually kinda heartbreaking since I was all set and ready to move in a month or two... and now it's like, "Well, I guess there are no sure things." :-(

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, It just blows me away how many New York politicians end up in jail. I can't think of the last Colorado politician to get arrested, much less imprisoned. There is something seriously wrong with the political culture out there!

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, Times change and people grow. You'll find a place you like!

AndrewPrice said...

OT: BTW, Rasmussen now has Trump beating Hillary by 2%. I don't put much faith in polls at this point, but this sticks out compared to what you usually see in the R v. D polling world.

BevfromNYC said...

Scott - I agree with Andrew. Look, NYC is going through a tough time right now as is most of NY and FYI NYC ain't goin' anywhere! Btw, have you considered Austin or Dallas?

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew re: NY politicians. They honestly think they aren't doing anything wrong. I have said over and over, it would just streamline the process if we moved the state capital to Ossinging, the home of Sing Sing Prison...

ScottDS said...

Bev -

Right now, there's an e-mail in my inbox re: an interview in Austin, but I can't keep spending money on flights!

I've considered it, but I've never been there before.

(Fine print: even though Austin is blue, Texas overall is a little too red for this purple-stater!) :-)

BevfromNYC said...

(Fine print: even though Austin is blue, Texas overall is a little too red for this purple-stater!) :-)

Don't judge the state by what you read/hear via political hacks and attacks. You'd be surprised how much Texans really don't care about what others do as long as others don't care what they do.

And Austin was on weird bus long before Portland, OR even bought a ticket!

Anthony said...

So according to Trump Cruz's dad was a buddy of Lee Harvey Oswald. Sounds sane to me.

BevfromNYC said...

THIS JUST IN...Sheldon Silver has been sentenced to 12 years hard labor and fined $5,179,106.12. The judge showed no mercy because of all of the crocodile tears being shed.

This is a great day in NY! Now on to Skelos and Sampson who will be sentenced later this month. yeah, I forgot about John Sampson, former Senate Majority Leader (D) who was convicted in a second trial (after the first was declared a mistrial) late last year.

BevfromNYC said...

Anthony - Well, Cruz' father did call Trump satanic (or something like that, so...).

ScottDS said...

Bev - Ha!

Anthony said...

Bev,

Trump going after Cruz's dad was fair game (its not like when he went after Cru'z wife) but Trump's constant pushing of conspiracy crap tells me Trump is either a nutjob or is pretending to be one to cater to the talk radio crowd.

BevfromNYC said...

Anthony - The one thing I know about Trump is that he is NOT a nutjob. He knows exactly what he is saying and why....maximum clickbait. He is a genius at manipulating the media and they are willing participants 'cause $$$$$ for them too.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I agree with that. Trump is not a nut, nor is he nearly as asinine as he comes across. It is an act. The question is, what is the real Trump like underneath? The hints he's given will not thrill his fans.

BevfromNYC said...

Looks like Trump took Indiana at 54%, Cruz 36% and Kasich 8%. Interestingly Sanders is at 50.9% and Clinton 49.1% contested...

BevfromNYC said...

It was just announced that Cruz has dropped out. Kasich is still in, but it looks like Trump will be the Republican candidate for President, folks. Oh, and mark this date to tell your grandchildren that you remember the exact day the Republican Party died...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, The race was over before this, but it sounds like it's officially over now.

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