SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A former Democratic campaign treasurer was sentenced Wednesday to more than eight years in federal prison for defrauding high-profile clients such as US Senator Dianne Feinstein in a case that a judge said tampered with the electoral process.
Kinde Durkee, who has been described by prosecutors as the Bernie Madoff of campaign treasurers, was sentenced to 97 months and ordered to pay $10.5 million in restitution after pleading guilty to five counts of mail fraud in March. It is unlikely that most of the money will be repaid, since Durkee has few assets.
During sentencing, US District Judge Kimberly Mueller emphasized the egregious nature of Durkee’s crimes.
Durkee, 59, apologized in court to ‘‘those who trusted me and I betrayed.’’
Durkee acknowledged in her plea deal to defrauding clients of more than $7 million, though prosecutors believe the figure is closer to $10.5 million.
Feinstein said she lost about $4.5 million in the scam.
Poetic irony seeing as they are scamming us.
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"Calif. mayor’s defense says he’s uneducated" by Linda Deutsch | Associated Press, February 22, 2013
LOS ANGELES — The unschooled and illiterate former mayor of the scandal-ridden suburban city of Bell had no training that would have alerted him that his huge salary was illegal, his lawyer told a jury in closing arguments Thursday.
Oscar Hernandez didn’t have a college or high school degree and didn’t even finish elementary school, defense attorney Stanley Friedmand said.
Hernandez is among six former Bell city officials on trial for allegedly misappropriating funds. He was earning just under $100,000 a year for the part-time job.
Friedman argued that financial advisers hired by the city could have informed Hernandez that salaries being paid to council members were illegal, but no one did that.
Hernandez was known around town for having a big heart and being willing to listen to everyone’s problems, the lawyer said.
In prosecutors’ closing arguments on Wednesday, they said the six officials facing charges of misappropriating funds felt they were above the law and collected paychecks for jobs that didn’t exist....
???? First I see of this is closing arguments?
Deputy District Attorney Ed Miller said in addition to their inflated council salaries, the officials appointed one another to commissions that did nothing and often met yearly just to increase their pay.
Why do we need government these days, because this seems to be all they do other than further and feathering their on ne$ts.
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Related: Slow Saturday Special: California's Total Recall
"5 ex-officials convicted in pay scheme" by John Rogers | Associated Press, March 21, 2013
LOS ANGELES — Five former elected officials of the city of Bell were convicted Wednesday of multiple counts of misappropriating public funds by paying themselves huge salaries while raising taxes on residents.
A former mayor, Oscar Hernandez, and codefendants Teresa Jacobo, George Mirabal, George Cole, and Victor Belo were all convicted of multiple counts and acquitted of others.
Former councilman Luis Artiga was cleared entirely.
The charges involved paying themselves inflated salaries of up to $100,000 a year in the city of 36,000 people, where 1 in 4 residents live below the poverty line.
An audit by the state controller’s office had found the city had illegally raised property taxes, business license fees, and other sources of revenue to pay the salaries. The office ordered the money repaid.
The guilty findings were related to the appointment of the defendants to the Solid Waste and Recycling Authority, an agency that prosecutors said served no purpose other than to pay them a salary.
All were cleared of charges that they illegally tapped public money while serving on the city’s Public Financing Authority. The waste authority was never created legally and met only once in 2006, which boosted pay by about $13,000 per member.
Artiga was found not guilty of a dozen charges. He was the only defendant who had not served as mayor at some point....
The scandal raised the curtain on a fiefdom established by a former city manager, Robert Rizzo. City records revealed he had an annual compensation package worth $1.5 million, making him one of the highest paid administrators in the country. His salary was about $800,000 a year, double that of the US president....
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Also see: Whooping It Up in California
Speaking of mayors:
"Ex-San Diego mayor's gambling wagers top $1B
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A former San Diego mayor and fast-food heiress acknowledged Thursday that she took $2.1 million from her late husband's charitable foundation in a decade-long gambling spree when she wagered more than $1 billion.
Maureen O'Connor, 66, pleaded not guilty in federal court to a money laundering charge under a deal with federal prosecutors that allows her to defer prosecution for two years as she works to repay the debt.
AmeriKan justice in the 21$t-century.
O'Connor's game of choice was video poker at casinos in San Diego, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J. Her attorney, Eugene Iredale, said she played for hours at a time at the Barona Resort & Casino near San Diego.
Her net gambling losses topped $13 million from 2001 to 2009, the lawyer said. He estimated his client's personal fortune once totaled as much as $50 million but said she is now virtually broke.
That is so difficult for me to imagine.
It marked a stunning fall for O'Connor, a former physical education teacher who was elected to the City Council when she was 25 and became San Diego's first female mayor in 1986. A two-term Democratic leader in a city known for electing Republicans, she won support with a populist flair and stewardship over major civic projects including a downtown convention center.
Her inheritance came from her husband of 17 years, Robert O. Peterson, the founder of the Jack in the Box chain who died of leukemia in 1994.
What my web search added:
O'Connor kept a high profile for several years after he died, donating to charitable causes such as hospice care and alleviating homelessness.
O'Connor began gambling around 2001 as she struggled with pain and loneliness from the death of her husband and several close friends, said Iredale, who called it "grief gambling." Within four years, she was betting heavily.
Reports from casinos to the Internal Revenue Service put her cumulative winnings at more than $1 billion from 2000 to 2009, but she lost even more money.
O'Connor acknowledged taking $2.1 million from the R.P. Foundation between September 2008 and March 2009 to pay gambling debts, wager more and cover living costs. She was one of three trustees of the foundation, a nonprofit organization that supported the Alzheimer's Association, City of Hope, San Diego Hospice and other charities.
Her annual gambling winnings peaked at more than $200 million, said Phillip Halpern, an assistant U.S. attorney. In April 2009, she won $100,000 from the Barona casino.
On Thursday, O'Connor walked across the courtroom with a cane, appearing frail and struggling to maintain composure at one point as her attorney wrapped his arm around her shoulder and placed his hand on her head.
At a news conference later, she said she always intended to repay the foundation and appeared to blame her behavior on a brain tumor that was diagnosed in 2011.
"There are two Maureens — Maureen No. 1 and Maureen No. 2," said O'Connor, who declined to take questions. "Maureen No. 2 is the Maureen who did not know she had a tumor growing in her brain."
The U.S. attorney's office said O'Connor's medical condition influenced their decision to delay prosecution for two years, saying it may have been difficult or impossible to bring the case to trial. The tumor was removed but her doctor submitted a letter that says she suffers from residual fatigue and cognitive deficit.
"Maureen O'Connor was a selfless public official who contributed much to the well-being of San Diego," said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. "However, no figure, regardless of how much good they've done or how much they've given to charity can escape criminal liability with impunity."
"She's embarrassed, she's ashamed, she's afraid," Iredale said....
Well, I'm sorry about that, but you steal $50 and you get a mandatory minimum.
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"LA mayor’s race matches similar Democratic rivals" by MICHAEL R. BLOOD | AP Political Writer, March 07, 2013
LOS ANGELES — Eric Garcetti is a Rhodes scholar and such a talented piano player that he seemed as capable of becoming a professional musician as a politician like his father. One-time cheerleader Wendy Greuel found herself lifting spirits in her early career, but not beneath a scoreboard. She was a City Hall aide helping the homeless in some of the city’s destitute corners.
The rival Democrats are now headed for a May 21 runoff in the race to become mayor of Los Angeles.
Some of the differences between them are obvious. Greuel, 51, is trying to become the first woman to win the office, while Garcetti, 42, could become the first Jew elected to the job.
Why not? Let's just admit they are running this whole f***ing show and be open about it?
But they are alike in many ways that might make it hard for voters to distinguish between them, with liberal pedigrees and long experience at City Hall.
A key challenge for both will be standing out and connecting with voters who supported someone else in the primary or didn’t go to the polls.
‘‘In order to win the election, you have to change people’s minds,’’ said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles.
Both candidates went on the attack on Wednesday.
Greuel depicted her rival as a creature of a City Hall bureaucracy, resistant to change. Garcetti suggested Greuel would answer to unions and others who helped bankroll her campaign.
Garcetti, a city councilman, and Greuel, the city controller, easily outdistanced their rivals Tuesday after a lackluster campaign that was snubbed by many voters.
Garcetti topped the field, carrying 33 percent of the vote. Since no candidate collected the majority needed to win outright, he will face Greuel in the runoff. She had 29 percent of the vote, accordingly to preliminary returns.
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At least thing$ are looking up:
"Calif. finances show improvement; Spending to rise by $5b; follows years of deficits" by JUDY LIN and JULIET WILLIAMS | Associated Press, January 11, 2013
SACRAMENTO — Riding a wave of new tax revenue, California’s spending plan for the coming fiscal year will rise by nearly $5 billion, a powerful indication that the state that came to symbolize fiscal mismanagement during the heart of the recession is emerging into brighter days....
The additional revenue hiked the spending plan by 5 percent over the current year and helps the governor pour more money into public schools and universities....
A rebounding economy coupled with new revenue from the higher sales and income taxes voters approved last November have put the nation’s most populous state on a healthier financial trajectory as it begins to turn the corner on an era of deep budget shortfalls and spending cuts to core programs.
California’s persistent budget woes came to represent the plight of states struggling through the recession as tax revenue declined steeply, leaving governors and state legislatures around the country little choice but to consider deep cuts or unpopular tax increases.
Governor Jerry Brown took both approaches. He pushed an austerity message that forced cuts throughout state government during his first two years in office while persuading California voters to approve increases to the state sales tax and higher income taxes on the wealthy.
Despite the new revenue flowing in, Brown has warned his Democratic colleagues who control both houses of the Legislature that they must not overplay their hand and spend too freely. The governor wants to build a reserve fund for future downturns to help smooth the type of boom-and-bust budget cycles that have become chronic in California....
Related: California Bankruptcies
It's both parties, folks.
Also see: Jerry Brown Just Lost the Governorship of California
Double standards for Democrats.
Related: California Bankruptcies
It's both parties, folks.
Also see: Jerry Brown Just Lost the Governorship of California
Double standards for Democrats.
His budget includes a rainy day fund of $1 billion and even drew cautious praise from Republicans, the minority party in the Legislature. GOP lawmakers had opposed Brown’s tax initiative and had refused to work with him a year earlier to raise taxes in exchange for pension overhauls.
Republican Assemblyman Jeff Gorell of Camarillo called Brown’s proposal a ‘‘realistic budget framework.’’
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And about those states:
Also see: Declining Confidence in Amerikan Economy
A New Golden Age For Corporate Profits
Yeah, what are you complaining about, 'murkn?
And about those states:
"Cut taxes or add services? Debate rages in states; The approaches vary as economy begins to recover" by Michael Cooper | New York Times, July 11, 2012
OCEAN CITY, Md. — As state governments begin to emerge from the long economic downturn, many are grappling with a difficult choice: Should they restore some services and jobs they were forced to cut, or cut taxes in the hopes of bolstering their economies?
The debate over taxing and spending has been raging in Congress, on the presidential campaign trail, and in state houses....
The recession and its aftermath have been tumultuous for states. Initially, they got federal stimulus funds that helped stanch the red ink from the steepest and longest drop in tax collections on record. As that money dried up, states cut hundreds of billions of dollars of spending, and many raised taxes — some temporarily — to tide them over.
And we still got service cuts.
Now, though, revenue has been steadily climbing back for nine straight quarters, and a division between Republican-controlled and Democratic-controlled states is coming into sharp focus over whether to restore the lost services and jobs or to lower taxes, which in some states could effectively lock in some of the budget cuts....
This spring, when the George W. Bush Institute held a conference on economic growth, panelist after panelist said cutting taxes would jolt the economy.
Didn't they f*** up the economy enough?
But the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, associated with Citizens for Tax Justice, which advocates a more progressive tax code, found that states with high income tax rates outperformed those with no income tax over the past decade on growth per capita and median family income.
Another corporate and wealth-influenced nonprofit wanting to raise taxes citing a study that backs it up?
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Lasted about a week:
"Fiscal crisis in states could outlast slump; Analysts see dire fallout from cuts, policies of past" by Michael Cooper and Mary Williams Walsh | New York Times, July 18, 2012
WASHINGTON — The fiscal crisis for states will persist long after the economy rebounds as governments confront problems that include rising health care costs, underfunded pensions, ignored infrastructure needs, eroding revenues, and expected federal budget cuts, according to a report issued Tuesday by a task force of respected budget analysts....
The report, an independent analysis of six states released by a group calling itself the State Budget Crisis Task Force. The report said the financial collapse of 2008 exposed a number of deep-set financial challenges that will worsen if no action is taken by national policy makers.
I was just told.... SIGH!
“The ability of the states to meet their obligations to public employees, to creditors, and most critically to the education and well-being of their citizens is threatened,’’ warned the two chairmen of the task force, Richard Ravitch, the former lieutenant governor of New York, and Paul A. Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Where did all the money go?
The report added a strong dose of pessimism just as many states have seen their immediate budget pressures ease for the first time in years. It also called into question how states will be able to restore the services and jobs they cut during the downturn, saying the loss of jobs in prisons, hospitals, courts, and agencies had been more severe than in any of the past nine recessions.
That means they won't be restored. Welcome to the new AmeriKa!
“This is a fundamental shift in the way governments have responded to recessions and appears to signal a willingness to ‘unbuild’ state government in a way that has not been done before,’’ the report said, noting that many states had cut their court system’s hours.
The report arrived at a delicate political moment. States are deciding whether or not to expand their Medicaid programs to cover the uninsured poor as part of the new health care law — an added expense some are balking at even though the federal government has pledged to pay the full cost for the first few years and 90 percent after that.
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"US poverty rate projected to hit highest level since ’60s" by Hope Yen | Associated Press, July 23, 2012
WASHINGTON — The ranks of America’s poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.
But everything's all right, yes, everything's fine.
Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections....
Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor.
Related: US wealth gap grew during recovery
Yeah, one group did great!
More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. At least that makes the unemployment Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty, including in such political battlegrounds as Colorado, Florida, and Nevada, where voters are coping with a new norm of living hand to mouth....
Yup, a "new norm" for you.
Laura Fritz, 27, of Wheat Ridge, Colo., describing her slide from rich to poor as she filled out aid forms at a county center, said she grew up wealthy in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch, but fortunes turned after her parents lost a significant amount of money in the housing bust. Stuck in a half-million dollar house, her parents began living off food stamps and Fritz’s college money evaporated. She tried joining the Army but was injured during basic training.
Now she’s living on disability pay, with an infant daughter and a boyfriend, Garrett Goudeseune, 25, who can’t find work as a landscaper. They are struggling to pay their $650 rent on his unemployment checks and don’t know how they would get by without the extra help as they hope for the job market to improve.
I don't see it improving for Americans, do you?
In an election year dominated by discussion of the middle class, Fritz’s case highlights a dim reality for the growing group in poverty. Millions could fall through the cracks as government aid from unemployment insurance, Medicaid, welfare, and food stamps diminishes....
Amazing how that discussion and action faded after the election, huh? I told you it was all s*** political fooleys at the time.
Oh, right, they did get a tax increase that was actually a tax cut -- and you are getting austerity!
Peter Edelman, director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy, pointed to the recent recession but also longer-term changes in the economy such as globalization, automation, outsourcing, immigration, and less unionization that have pushed median household income lower.
All done for your own benefit and good, Amurkns!
Even after strong economic growth in the 1990s, poverty never fell below a 1973 low of 11.1 percent. That low point came after President Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty, launched in 1964, that created Medicaid, Medicare, and other social welfare programs....
Poverty is closely tied to joblessness. While the unemployment rate improved from 9.6 percent in 2010 to 8.9 percent in 2011, the employment-population ratio remained largely unchanged, meaning many discouraged workers simply stopped looking for work. Food stamp rolls, another indicator of poverty, also grew.
Demographers also say poverty will remain above the prerecession level of 12.5 percent for many more years.
While the wealthy elite gorge themselves.
Several predicted that peak poverty levels — 15 percent to 16 percent — will last at least until 2014, due to expiring unemployment benefits, a jobless rate persistently above 6 percent, and weak wage growth....
And it will be extended even longer like the jobs crisis. We have been reading about the labor market healing for years and years. This is all bullshit.
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Also see: Declining Confidence in Amerikan Economy
A New Golden Age For Corporate Profits
Yeah, what are you complaining about, 'murkn?
