Getting Ready to Metastasize

Governor Ed Rendell likes to award a lot of no-bid contracts … More than $1 billion between 2003 & 2008 with $246.3 million so far this year. Even in a state where payback, pork and patronage run rampant, these numbers stand out.

A particularly flagrant instance is the $1.8 million contract awarded to Rendell’s former law firm, Ballard Spahr Anderson & Ingersoll. The firm was retained in May 2007 for work on Rendell’s effort to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike but state lawmakers didn’t find out until last week.

So was this award illegal? Unfortunately not. Pennsylvania law allows state officials to award contracts without competition when it’s “in the best interest of the commonwealth.”

Has Fast Eddie been any worse than governors before him? That’s an interesting question. One everyone would like to know. Unfortunately the state’s Department of General Services can’t find the previous spending records. They claim the records were lost when they switched to a computerized system. Or maybe past administrations never kept the information. Either way, we don’t know and it appears we never will.

What we do know, however, is that Ballard Spahr has contributed heavily and consistently to Rendell’s political campaigns. A search of that firm on Pennsylvania’s Campaign Finance Reporting web site reveals some interesting information. Between 2001 and 2007, contributions to Rendell in the name of the partnership totaled $269,250. Individual firm attorneys gave a whopping $476,025 and another $200,257 came in labeled as ‘in-kind’. That totals a hearty $945,532 over that 7-year period.

For some reason, Rendell’s campaign had cause to pay some of that money back to Ballard Spahr. The reporting web site shows payments for “personnel” and “administration” totaled $431,427. Then there were a few bucks ($30,399) for travel and catering. All totaled, the Rendell campaign paid Ballard Spahr $461,826 leaving Rendell with net contributions of $483,706 for the 2001 – 2007 period.

Let’s see …they give nearly a half-million dollars. Then they get a contract for $1.8 million. Not bad. Not bad at all. Especially since it can’t be the only thing they’ve gotten over the years.

Even though Fast Eddie won’t be in a position much longer to throw millions or billions of state dollars at his friends, who have coincidentally contributed heavily to his campaigns, and who coincidentally are “in the best interest of the commonwealth”….. We shouldn’t be too quick to breathe a collective sigh of relief because Rendell has hitched his star to Hillary Clinton’s presidential effort. Rumor has it he wants to be her Secretary of Transportation and one can only imagine what damage he could do from that position.

He’s received a lot of support from outdoor advertisers over the years. Maybe he’d be ready on day one to plant an LED billboard every 50 feet on our nation’s highways and byways. Maybe Ravenstahl's LEDs wouldn't look so bad by comparison.

Yet another good reason in a long list of good reasons not to vote for Ms. Hillary. We just can't let this stuff spread.

And The Media Says Nothing

Photo: Rendell instructs Ravenstahl in the fine art of splitting hairs.

Did I Slip Into A Parallel Universe Or Something?

On Tuesday, Gov. Ed Rendell “popped in” to Marty Griffin’s morning talk show on KDKA and dropped a virtual bomb shell. Rendell calmly and matter-of-factly stated Philadelphia has “selective enforcement” of their drink tax. (Like, doesn’t everybody operate this way?)

Now investigative reporters such as Marty spend their whole lives perfecting and honing their craft. Each reporter probably has a different method for wringing what they want out of people. Getting people to trip up, spill the beans, inadvertently say that one stupid word they wish they could just suck back into their mouths. So just imagine Marty’s dumbfound condition as Rendell coolly plops a public admission in his lap that Philadelphia illegally enforces their drink tax. (Like, doesn’t everybody operate this way?)

Not trusting his own ears, Griffin asked Rendell to elaborate and Fast Eddie was quick to comply. Rendell explained there was something in the Pennsylvania constitution called the “uniformity clause.” As it applies to taxes, this clause basically says that for a tax to be legal, it must be applied uniformly. Rendell lamented that when Chicago enacted their drink tax, they only applied it to those bars and restaurants along the (Downtown) Loop. Rendell and Philly would have preferred to do the same, but unlike Chicago, our constitution’s uniformity clause mandates that everyone must be taxed equally, fairly and “uniformly”. (Bummer)

So to get around things and to continue doing whatever they damn well pleased, our pesky state constitution not withstanding, clever Rendell/Philly decided they would “selectively enforce” their “uniform” tax. They would check up, audit and hound the establishments they wanted to hammer. Whereas they would just “look the other way” (a Rendell quote) with the taverns they wanted to cut some slack. (Possibly the ones who were campaign contributers? Friends? Relatives?) They reasoned they had done their constitutional duty by *placing* a “uniform” tax on the books. Collecting the tax was another matter, however. One they reasoned was not regulated by the uniformity clause. (Like, doesn’t everybody operate this way?)

So I’m dumbfounded. I can’t believe my ears. Talk radio has been non-stop all over this for the past two days. The Rendell interview has been blasted from one end of the state to the other. Calls are being made for an investigation by the Attorney General. Lawyers for the Restaurant Association (Philly and Pgh) are in hyper-mode. Dan Onorato was hunted down for his reaction, interrupting his Excellent European Vacation, as it’s now quite clear to all this tax is DOA in Allegheny County. Leaving Dan holding the bag without a pot to piss in. Quite clear that Rendell has just blown Dan’s ass clear out of the water for who-knows-what reason. There’s even speculation that Philly’s drink tax will now spontaneously combust under the weight of all the lawsuits yet to be filed.

But…… Not a word in the print press. Not a syllable on the evening news.

Have I slipped into a parallel universe or something?

Governor Rendell Gets Pissy

Latest Millvale “Tour” Interfered With Pirates Game


Marty Griffin reported this morning that Governor Rendell’s Wednesday tour of flood-stricken Millvale was extremely abbreviated for a reason: Rendell was scheduled to see the Pirates play and he feared a stop in Millvale would make him late for the game. Marty went on to say that Rendell’s “people” had to twist his arm to make the stop. When he finally did grace Millvale’s soggy citizens with his presence, the governor only stayed for a couple of minutes and made damn sure everyone knew he wasn’t happy about any of it.

In his 2-minute address, Fast Eddie told the peasants gathered before him that there’d be no disaster money available because damage to the area wasn’t “bad” enough to officially qualify for the help. He added there might not be any low interest loans either. He then got into his limo and was whisked off to a more pressing engagement…..the all-important dinner and Pirates game that had brought the governor to our side of the state in the first place.

Long pause here.

Just how hard does a person have to be smacked before he finally sees the light? How many times must a person wipe the spit off his face before he acknowledges that the spitter holds him in complete and utter contempt? How many tons of feces-fouled flood waters have to come crashing in to a person’s home before he admits that the politician standing before him is a lying, snake-oil SOB who should be flogged in public and run out of town?

Apparently the answer to the above riddle is “more than three floods in one week” because Ed Rendell bears no flogging marks.

Marty continued his tirade by reminding all of his listeners that each year our beloved state politicians hand out $300 million in WAM monies alone. That the Johnstown Flood Tax is still being collected even though not one penny of that tax is going to flood victims. That we’ve spent over $1 billion on stadiums and a convention center. That the US Government is now sending flood aid to our BFF North Korea. But no one anywhere it seems has a spare buck to throw to the poor folks in Millvale.

I have to hand it to Marty. He says he’s getting calls from local “higher ups” complaining that he’s being too hard on them for their (pathetic) flood response. The big wigs are telling him to lay off the negative comments or …..

Marty’s response? BFD. He doesn’t want them on his show now anyway. Not until they quit scamming the folks of Millvale. Until then he’s instructed his producer not to take their calls.

Well. I guess the Pist-Gazette owes Mr. Griffin an apology.