Up To 185

Things keep getting worse and worse for former Speaker Sal DiMasi…

New federal corruption charges filed against former Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi roiled Beacon Hill lawmakers yesterday, as the shame of another indicted House leader mixed with concerns that other pols may be next.

“It’s kind of disappointing,” said Rep. James R. Miceli (D-Wilmington). “In the building they keep saying this investigation is going to involve more people.”

The new charges allege that DiMasi – with the help of an unnamed top staffer – secretly invested in Genesis Management Group, a real-estate company that managed the state Transportation Building. DiMasi’s friend Richard Vitale set up the company and prosecutors said DiMasi had a “hidden future interest” in the business.

The fresh indictment means the North End Democrat, 64, faces prison time that could total 185 years.

Can’t wait to see who gets nailed next… shall we start taking bets?

Balance: Christy Mihos

Balance. No matter what we talk about or what we do in life there has to be balance; a moderating influence. Without it, the wheels fall off, as in the case of our state government. One-party rule has given us an abuse of power and the embarrassment of the corruption we hear and read about daily.

Job 1 for my candidacy is to bring a reasonable balance back to state government by working to elect Republican Senators and Representatives to our Legislature.

For many reasons we are down to five Republicans in the Senate and sixteen in the House. 21 out of 200 is certainly not balance. In 1990, with similar one-party rule, Governor-elect Bill Weld ushered in 16 Republican Senators and 39 Republican Representatives, meaning full debate and reform was again prevalent in our state government.

Our Republican candidates need money to run good campaigns and in this election cycle, with so much at stake, it’s especially critical. All donations to the MASS GOP will be available only to Legislative Candidates. I pledge not to seek, nor accept, any MASS GOP funds for my campaign. In the past candidates at the top of the ticket took all the donations made to the MASS GOP and left nothing for anyone else. We must have people run for office who, like me, are work horses, not show horses. Without a good balance of Republican legislators, who have been well financed, are running on local issues, and are committed to bringing reform, transparency and accountability to our state government, we can never rebuild our state to what it can be.

The DiMasi Indictment And Deval Patrick

The corruption indictment of Sal DiMasi, according to the Boston Globe, “contains what critics are calling an unflattering behind-the-scenes look at Governor Deval Patrick’s administration, depicting its officials as bowing to political pressure to award a $13 million computer software contract that was allegedly rigged.”

But hey, that was the hope and change Deval Patrick promise wasn’t it? The sad fact is that this is par for the course in Massachusetts. Every election cycle the Democrats gain more seats, and in 2006 they decided to completely remove checks and balances from state government. The people of Massachusetts are to blame. Michael Graham nails it here:

Bay Staters are among the nation’s most affluent and well-educated. About 75 percent of our high school grads go to college. Almost 40 percent of adults have degrees. Our median income is 25 percent higher than the national average.

Yet these “brilliant and amazing” citizens repeatedly vote themselves one of America’s most corrupt and incompetent governments.

Three indicted speakers – and counting. Empty legislative offices with fulltime paid staffs. Pension perks for incumbents so lousy that they’re finally forced out.

What sort of voters put up with this?

Meanwhile, our pols don’t hide from corruption, they celebrate it. When they re-elected Sal DiMasi speaker, everyone knew he was under investigation. But only seven Democrats withheld their votes. The rest were with Rep. Jim Fagan, who bragged, “We are direct descendants of patriots and heroes!” – a comment that must have had Sam Adams drinking in his grave.

It up to the voters to change the state’s government. Deval Patrick came is an outsider, and became part of the corrupt machine.  Empty campaign rhetoric about hope and change doesn’t make you a leader, it doesn’t mean you’ll do all the glorious things you said you would do. Deval’s dismal approval ratings prove that a good campaign speech doesn’t make a good governor. True accountability can’t come until checks and balances are restored. One party rule is crippling the state, and the worst part is that it happened with the consent of the governed.

A Futile Search for Competence

The Boston Globe on the Patrick administration’s follies.

The corruption indictment of former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi contains what critics are calling an unflattering behind-the-scenes look at Governor Deval Patrick’s administration, depicting its officials as bowing to political pressure to award a $13 million computer software contract that was allegedly rigged.

No Patrick officials have been implicated in criminal wrongdoing. Yet the scandal, one of the biggest to roil Beacon Hill in decades, has the potential to create political problems for the governor as he pushes forward on ethics law changes and lays the groundwork for a reelection campaign.

Yesterday, critics seized on the impression that the Patrick administration, which awarded one of two Cognos ULC contracts cited in the indictment, failed to respond to a series of red flags indicating that DiMasi and others were exerting heavy influence.

“What the speaker is accused of doing is absolutely wrong – and he should be held accountable – but it takes two to tango,” said House minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr., a North Reading Republican. “Somebody in the administration knew it was important to the speaker, and somebody made the decision to go forward with it.”

DiMasi is accused by federal authorities of reaping $57,000 from the software company even as his associates pushed state officials to award contracts to the firm. Three friends were also indicted. No further indictments are expected.

“There was a lot of insider baseball going on, and you wonder how the contract got approved in the first place,” said Senate minority leader Richard R. Tisei, a Wakefield Republican. “Was awarding that contract in the best interest of the people in Massachusetts, or was it done to placate the speaker? That’s really the question.”

Yesterday Patrick’s office acknowledged that the administration could have acted sooner to scuttle the project. But administration officials said Patrick and his staff were unaware that DiMasi was pushing for a contract award to Cognos, and they denied any deal-making with the speaker.

“There have been absolutely no allegations by the investigators of misconduct of any kind by any senior Patrick administration official,” said spokesman Joe Landolfi. “We are confident that senior administration officials acted appropriately at all times.”

Landolfi declined to discuss specific allegations in the indictment, citing the ongoing federal investigation.

UPDATE: More from the AP, Michael Graham, Joan Vennochi, the Herald and WBUR.

DiMasi Indicted

MyFoxBoston.com reports…

Former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and three associates have been indicted on federal corruption charges.

The federal government alleged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday they concealed efforts to help a software company win a $15 million state contract and payments they received for their influence.

DiMasi was indicted Tuesday on eight counts, including conspiracy to defraud the federal government, mail fraud and wire fraud.

Also indicted on corruption charges were Richard McDonough, Joseph Lally, and Richard Vitale.

The indictment alleges that the company, Cognos LLC, paid Lally $2.8 million, and he in turn paid McDonough $200,000 and Vitale $500,000 when the contract was awarded

The indictment also said DiMasi received proceeds from $5,000 monthly payments Cognos made to a fellow attorney.

DiMasi resigned from one of the most powerful positions in state government in January amid allegations that close friends used their relationship with him to push legislation and gain favor in awarding state contracts.