H.B. 2- Pennsylvania Public Integrity Commission

On September 29, 2010 Anne Pickering of the Daily Local News reported that House Bill 2 was introduced by state Rep. Curt Schroder, R-155th of Downingtown, and 50 co-sponsors seeks to establish a Pennsylvania Public Integrity Commission to investigate government corruption.

Schroder and state Reps. Eugene DePasquale, D-York County; Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery County; and John Yudichak, D-Luzerne County, held a July news conference in Philadelphia to announce the legislation. Other legislators from Chester County who have signed onto the bill since then include state Rep. Timothy Hennessey, R-26th of North Coventry; Rep. Steven Barrar, R-160th of Brookhaven; and Rep. Tom Houghton, D-13th of Cochranville.

The Public Integrity Commission would replace the current State Ethics Commission, incorporating all its current functions and expanding its role.

The new commission would also have an educational component and issue annual reports, just as the Pennsylvania Crime Commission did, on the status of its investigations.

In the primary race for the seat vacated by Senator Ray Musto's announced retirement state Representative John Yudichak ran against Wilkes Barre Mayor Tom Leighton and won the Democratic nomination. The Yudichak family has a long history of honesty in government so his sponsorship of this bill is no surprise.

Leighton was backed by House Majority Leader Todd Eachus. Eachus went door to door with Leighton trying to persuade voters that Leighton was the better choice. It didn't work out too well for him.

Here is a link to H.B. 2. Todd Eachus's name is nowhere to be found on this bill which commands government accountability. Eachus refuses to answer questions about Bonusgate. He refuses to answer questions on whether he accepted rides in Robert Powell's jet? He refuses to be accountable.

This picture says it all.

Mayor Leighton Has His Own Scandal

Tom Leighton tried to make an issue with John Yudichak about Bonusgate that has by all measures blown up in his face. Yudichak is no more tied to Bonusgate than happy hour is tied to a Betty Ford clinic. There's a southern saying "Don't insult the alligator before you cross the stream."

Leighton shouldn't pick on Yudichak until he vets his own record. This editorial that appeared in the Times Leader on October 9, 2009 represents that journey across the stream.

By The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Publication: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
Date: Friday, October 9 2009

Oct. 9--IN THE INTEREST of transparency and good government, Wilkes-Barre city officials should post all city-owned properties available for sale on its Web site. Ditto for city employment opportunities.

The issue of public access to information, or more precisely the lack thereof, emerged last week when it became public knowledge that Mayor Tom Leighton brokered a deal to sell the former Old River Road Bakery site to a buyer who also happens to be a campaign donor.

The 1.14-acre business property, assessed at $478,300, is slated to change hands for $38,000. Another potential buyer said he might have paid more if city officials had let him know the property was available.

Despite the mayor's assertions, the availability of this property apparently was not widely known. A cash-starved city that found it necessary to raise property taxes by 31 percent this year should optimize every opportunity to maximize returns.

Adding the Web postings to existing advertising in newspaper and real estate publications will aid in that effort while not imposing a hardship or cost to the city. City Council should take the lead on this front and make it happen.

With a widespread federal corruption probe in full swing, all Northeastern Pennsylvania school districts and municipalities should strive to make more information and documents readily available to the public -- a step to help ensure operations remain clean and above board. Ideally, job postings, meeting minutes and upcoming agenda items should be listed on every public body's Web site.

One would think that a Mayor who owns a real estate firm with an appraisal arm would know the true value of a property and seek that value for the taxpayers. It may not be Bonusgate but it sure smells of "Donorgate."

Leighton made this claim at a debate held at the Burke Auditorium in the McGowan School of Business at King’s College.

“I closed that budget deficit,” he said. “I identified problems and found solutions. I made difficult decisions even if they were politically unpopular. I believe in an open government and accountability.”

Yes, Tom you did close the deficit and your solution was a 31% tax increase. On the issue of open government and accountability I would watch out for those alligators.

We Could Be On The Hook For $7 Trillion

Obamamessiah, have you been listening to your underlings. The Treasury Department has not resolved its problem with giving and getting an accounting relative to the TARP funds. According to ABCNews.com

"Our concern right now is that we do not seem to be a priority for the Treasury Department," the Congressional Oversight Panel's Elizabeth Warren told a Senate Finance Committee hearing today. "We have sent letters. We have requested that there be someone named so that we can get technical information. And so far, we have not been a first priority."

"I'm talking about accountability in a very real sense of this word," she said later. "As I see it, you really have two options here. Either you get Treasury to get some religion on this point -- and put their own standards in place, or Congress is forced to step in. We will do everything we can on your behalf, as your congressional oversight panel, but what we can best do for you now is to identify and pinpoint that this is precisely where the problem starts. And then the problem has roll down effects all the way through the system of lack of accountability, complexity that no one can figure out what's going on, so that we never identify the place where we need to start the solution."

Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief ProgramB also expressed concerns because his office now has to monitor nearly $3 trillion.

"$2.9 trillion is just short of what the entire federal government spent in fiscal year 2008," noted committee chairman Max Baucus. "It's like having a second United States government budget dedicated solely to saving the financial system, and that is truly surreal."

Baucus cautioned that this number could skyrocket to $7 trillion when other measures are added, such as $3 trillion in Federal Reserve programs, Treasury's $400 billion support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the administration's budget request for a placeholder worth up to $750 billion.

"If all these additional amounts materialize, taxpayers could be on the hook for a total of more than $7 trillion," Baucus said. "This is a huge, unprecedented financial commitment. It strains the comprehension of taxpayers and policy-makers alike."