From HousingWire:
Ex-NJ mayor sent to prison for kickbacks involving HUD funds
The former mayor of Passaic, New Jersey will spend the next two years in prison after being convicted of soliciting and accepting bribes from developers who wanted to build low-income housing in the city.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, a federal judge sentenced Alex Blanco to spend 27 months in prison for taking $110,000 in corrupt payments, much of which was money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
…
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from 2010 to 2012, two developers sought to build eight low-income residential units on property they owned in Passaic.After the Passaic City Council and the Passaic Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the projects, Blanco dispatched an intermediary to approach the developers in July 2011.
According to court documents, Blanco’s intermediary told the developers that they were expected to provide a “sizable payment” to the mayor to ensure that the project would move forward.
Some time after that meeting took place, the Passaic City Council approved the release of $216,400 in HUD funds to the developers, money that was designated for use on the project.
Then, in early September 2011, Blanco arranged for a meeting with the developers where solicited and agreed to accept $75,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The following day, Blanco met one of the developers in Clifton, New Jersey, and asked for the kickback in cash. Court document showed that the developer told Blanco that the developer brought signed, blank checks, which could be made out to whoever Blanco chose.
Blanco took those checks, which totaled $65,000, and had them filled in, arranged for them to be cashed, and pocketed the cash.
Good Morning New Jersey
Merry Holidays y’all!
@AoDespair
With O’Reilly gone, we are gonna fukc Christmas up.
Let’s do this.
Never watched O’Reilly’s show once. Don’t really care that it’s over.
Funny how some people are celebrating his departure though…says a lot about them.
Anyone see the NJ dot com story suggesting that Christie might replace him?
Defens that is my fundamental problem with so called liberals they are just as crude and ignorant as some on the right can be. What makes it worse is they claim to be so sophisticated and educated that they don’t sink to that sort of behavior. And yet they do exactly that.
This opening story has two tales of corruption. The businessman and the politician. Let’s get them both the f@ck out of govt so we can see real progress. If businessmen were honest, the politician would never even attempt to play this game. Takes two to tango.
What is the cost of corruption in the private sector? We all focus on govt corruption, but I would bet that corruption in private sector dealings costs us even more than govt corruption. Funny that no one ever brings this up.
This is the type of simpleton mindset that writes off private corruption because the ignorant fool thinks it’s not his money and has no impact on him whatsoever. He doesn’t understand the negative impact this inefficiency has on the overall economy. So keep on ignoring private corruption because you think it’s not your money being robbed when in fact it is.
“Think about it: does it make any difference to you whether an insurance company executive embezzled company funds, or accepted a bribe to influence a quote? Not unless you happen to be a client of that insurance company, a competitor, or a shareholder. The same is not true for government corruption. Most government corruption affects us all, in our roles as taxpayers or citizens, or both.”
Defrauding investors should be the ultimate economic crime. You should go to jail for life. You took savings used to grow the economy and just pissed it away by stealing it. Now you make the economic engine not reach it’s full potential because you make people afraid to invest. So it slows down growth dramatically with fearful investing and loss of savings to drive growth.
yep…..especially when they live in Manhattan, or it happens on a college campus……as if their location somehow imbues them with some sort of authority…….
3b says:
April 20, 2017 at 8:52 am
Defens that is my fundamental problem with so called liberals they are just as crude and ignorant as some on the right can be. What makes it worse is they claim to be so sophisticated and educated that they don’t sink to that sort of behavior. And yet they do exactly that.
You poor snowflakes. Maybe you should spend the day in a room full of puppies to sooth your butt hurt before you go back to finger r@ping your friends’ daughters and female work colleagues like your president brags about doing. You know, since PC is so over now.
chicagofinance says:
April 20, 2017 at 9:31 am
yep…..especially when they live in Manhattan, or it happens on a college campus……as if their location somehow imbues them with some sort of authority…….
3b says:
April 20, 2017 at 8:52 am
Defens that is my fundamental problem with so called liberals they are just as crude and ignorant as some on the right can be. What makes it worse is they claim to be so sophisticated and educated that they don’t sink to that sort of behavior. And yet they do exactly that.
The free market has spoken, comrade.
D-FENS says:
April 20, 2017 at 8:16 am
Never watched O’Reilly’s show once. Don’t really care that it’s over.
Funny how some people are celebrating his departure though…says a lot about them.
Anyone see the NJ dot com story suggesting that Christie might replace him?
…before you go back to finger r@ping your friends’ daughters and female work colleagues…
Bill Clinton?
not sure who’s dumber. You or fast Eddie.
The Great Pumpkin says:
April 20, 2017 at 9:26 am
Defrauding investors should be the ultimate economic crime. You should go to jail for life. You took savings used to grow the economy and just pissed it away by stealing it. Now you make the economic engine not reach it’s full potential because you make people afraid to invest. So it slows down growth dramatically with fearful investing and loss of savings to drive growth.
❛The myth of private-sector superiority has three components that feed off and reinforce one another. First, that the private sector is always dynamic and best; second, that the public sector is costly and inefficient; and third, the conclusion that everyone benefits from the continual incremental privatization of the public sphere. All three elements are false.❜
Andrew Simms, British author and campaigner
YUP!
❛People often don’t understand the engine that drives corruption. Particularly in India, they assume government equals corruption, private companies equal efficiency. But government officials are not genetically programmed to be corrupt. Corruption is linked to power. If it is the corporations that are powerful, then they will be corrupt.❜
Arundhati Roy, Indian author and public intellectual
And clearly you are in capable of understanding what I’m saying. Have a good day, sir.
Ottoman says:
April 20, 2017 at 10:19 am
not sure who’s dumber. You or fast Eddie.
Ottoman, if I’m the low level thinker here, please explain how financial fraud doesn’t hurt the economy. Please explain, Mr. Smarty pants. Problem is, I’m capable of deep thinking on the economy, and clearly you are not.
not sure who’s dumber. You or fast Eddie.
Kiss me, sweetheart.
I think the private u.s. health care system is one of the greatest examples of the myth that the private sector always does it better.
Like I have always stated, some things should be privatized, and some socialized. It’s not a one way street.
“But what does privatization in its varied forms – outright sales of companies, public-private partnerships, outsourcing – deliver? Does it lead to greater technical efficiency or effectiveness in providing a service? That privatized businesses will aim for cost efficiencies is a given, but that usually means a lower level of service or pay cuts for workers, job insecurity and job losses, which all have their deadening effects on the wider economy if one is willing to look that far.”
“By now privatization has been thoroughly scrutinized – there are numerous studies, surveys and, indeed, surveys of surveys of its effects. The consistent conclusion: there is no evidence of greater efficiency.2 So, the best outcome one can hope for is that private-sector ownership or involvement is no worse than what the public sector provides – hardly a turn-up for the books. The largest study of the efficiency of privatized companies looked at all European companies privatized during 1980-2009. It compared their performance with companies that remained public and with their own past performance as public companies. The result? The privatized companies performed worse than those that remained public and continued to do so for up to 10 years after privatization.2
Even in the super-competitive telecoms sector, where customers have benefited from lower costs and increasing variety of services over the years, this result holds. A global survey found that ‘privatized sectors perform significantly worse’ than telecom companies remaining in state hands.2
Healthcare is where this myth is really given the lie. In the US, where healthcare spending is at its peak, with private spending on healthcare exceeding public spending, basic health outcomes are worse than in Cuba – which spends a fraction of the US amount per person in a totally public healthcare system (see table).”
“23.1% higher prices, on average, charged by private electricity companies compared with public ones in the 34 wealthy OECD countries, 2010.
16.6% higher – the price of water provided by private companies in France, compared to municipal provision of water.
96% of Italians voted in a referendum in 2011 to keep their water services public.”
https://newint.org/features/2015/12/01/private-public-sector/
Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly…
Something about the name Bill.
Ottoman, look at this waste. No impact on the economy whatsoever, right? Prove me wrong after insulting my intelligence.
“A 2012 report by the US Institute of Medicine was damning:
‘30 cents of every medical dollar goes to unnecessary healthcare, deceitful paperwork, fraud and other waste. The $750 billion in annual waste is more than the Pentagon budget and more than enough to care for every American who lacks health insurance… Most of the waste came from unnecessary services ($210 billion annually), excess administrative costs ($190 billion) and inefficient delivery of care ($130 billion).’2
That same year government had to step in with the Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare) to try to rectify a bloated system that was clearly failing poor citizens.”
Otto you proved my point. By the way both you and the the far left as well as the far right are a bunch of morons. And are destroying the country.
“female work colleagues”
Bill Clinton is the godfather of sexual abuse and the poster boy for infidelity. Between the golfing complaints and the O’Reilly pronouncements (who is no different than Rachel (I got punked by Trump worse than Colbert did on Election Day) Maddow. It just proves that Trump is making enough adjustments that you can’t find much to fault him of anymore. This must scare the the sh1t out of the left.
Ottoman is fragile, go easy on her.
Blumpy,
Look at Costa Rica for a simple healthcare system that not only works, but costs 1/4 to 1/3rd less than ours and is higher ranked. Of course, their residents voted against neoliberal politics, which supports your argument. Where you are incredibly dense is in believing that any politician in the last 40 years, besides Bernie Sanders perhaps, is not a neoliberal. When you sum it all up, besides a few social issues which placates the individual bases, both parties suck the corporate c0ck equally.
Here’s a handy countdown clock for the resident snowflakes, when President Pence is sworn in after President Trump’s second term:
https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20250120T12&p0=263&msg=President+Pence+Inauguration&font=cursive
You are dead on, lib (also about me) Think the answer is to limit big business. If something needs to be to big to fail, then socialize it. But the majority of corporations are too big and powerful. The bigger you get, the less efficient you become due to lack of competition and a bloated bureaucracy. So we should inspire lots of small business to take on the roll of these giant corporations. More small business means more competition, meaning a better outcome for all.
I’m learning, lib, I’m learning. You have to make mistakes in your thought process in order to learn and progress.
If we take away big corporations, we take away corruption. The giant corporations are the holder of power and therefore the source of corruption. We can solve private and public corruption all in one shot, by eliminating the amount of power one source can accrue.
Venezuela Braces For ‘Mother Of All Protests’
http://news.sky.com/story/maduro-donates-500000-dollars-to-trump-fund-despite-economic-woes-10843547?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
Footrest,
“Not sure who’s dumber, you or Fast Eddie”
Might I add a third name for consideration?
And shouldn’t you be getting back to work? How long can your village go without its idiot?
Footrest,
” The free market has spoken, comrade”
Since when do you believe in free markets, Tovaritch?
And don’t call us comrades. We aren’t your comrades.
The mega conglomerates are more of an artificial byproduct of manipulating interest rates down so low that it allows one company to buy out another on cheap borrowed cash.
Blumpy,
when hundreds of millions of people are on medicare.medicaid, you cannot call it a private system. When artificial lines are drawn by the government restricting competition, you cannot call it a private system.
Riddle me this….you tell me why the cost of Laser Eye Surgery has done nothing but go down since it’s inception? Why does laser eye surgery go down in price while the cost of a flu shot keeps skyrocketing up?
That’s part of it teach. The other part is the power of lobbies today. It doesn’t take much to buy influence anymore. Some of the returns are absolutely incredible. I’ve seen $15,000 buy $15,000,000 in return. The system has gotten so corrupt too from the cost of campaigning, which is it’s own industry now. If you shut down the lobbying model, you can actual have leaders do what’s best for their constituents. Instead, politicians run for the wealth of it. They now make all of their decisions based on what pays the best. Politicians no longer have a conscience. Both parties can go on making believe their collective d1cks are larger than each other. But in the end, they are all millimeter Peters. The donors have the jumbo jimbrowskis.
Lib, beautiful breakdown. Well said.
Not disagreeing with you, but like Lib points out, those artificial lines were created by corporate lobbying power. They were bought by huge corporations with the power and money to make it happen. This is why we must eliminate all private business that becomes a huge institution. Small business drives competition which prevents the corruption that can only be produced by a powerful and large institution.
Blue Ribbon Teacher says:
April 20, 2017 at 12:03 pm
Blumpy,
when hundreds of millions of people are on medicare.medicaid, you cannot call it a private system. When artificial lines are drawn by the government restricting competition, you cannot call it a private system.
Riddle me this….you tell me why the cost of Laser Eye Surgery has done nothing but go down since it’s inception? Why does laser eye surgery go down in price while the cost of a flu shot keeps skyrocketing up?
@gabrielsherman
The Fox News nightmare continues this morning.
According to two sources,
more women are joining the ongoing racial discrimination suit.
Not disagreeing with you, but like Lib points out, those artificial lines were created by corporate lobbying power. They were bought by huge corporations with the power and money to make it happen. This is why we must eliminate all private business that becomes a huge institution. Small business drives competition which prevents the corruption that can only be produced by a powerful and large institution.
What came first, the chicken or the egg? We can easily erase those lines, admit mistakes were made, and move on.
Hyping the entertainment magazine’s latest cover, Co-Editor-in-Chief Claudia Eller gushed this week, “How cool does Chelsea Clinton look on our Power of Women, NY, cover?”
Welcome to the liberal media’s manufacturing of “cool.” Leather jacket? Check. Overzealous airbrushing? Check. Humanizing grin? Check. Democratic establishment pedigree? Checkity-check-check.
This is just the latest attempt by The Media Resistance to make Chelsea Clinton a thing. The same liberal lunatics in the press who rage about the Trump children’s nepotistic privileges champion the ‘‘refreshingly outspoken’‘ daughter of the Clinton dynasty — who, at 37 years old, will receive a “Lifetime Impact” award from Variety on Friday for her “humanitarian work.”
The honor comes during the same week that the Clinton Global Initiative cash machine officially shut down. Among the generous “humanitarian” projects of CGI’s parent, the Clinton Foundation: accused of using its resources for Chelsea’s wedding to another heir of Democratic corruptocrats, Marc Mezvinsky — the newly jobless former hedge-fund manager and son of convicted fraudster Edward Mezvinsky, a former Democratic congressman from Iowa.
Remember: The Clintons’ own inner circle lambasted Chelsea’s hubby for exploiting the Clinton Foundation and CGI to prop up his now-defunct hedge fund. The duo also siphoned off charitable donations to pay for “taxes on money from her parents” and expenses racked up to subsidize her “life for a decade,” according to longtime Clinton aide Doug Band.
But I digress from the Cult of Chelsea Coolness. Shake those pompoms, propaganda media:
The New York Times lauded “Chelsea Clinton, Unbound,” applauded her “confrontational tweeting” against President Trump and interviewed her about books for a series featuring successful authors — after her most recent ghostwritten opus on global health care flopped like those famous Filipino divers on YouTube.
BuzzFeed and The Hill cover Chelsea as if she were a Kardashian. Politico also cooed over Chelsea’s new “spicy, sarcastic online personality” on Twitter. Then the Beltway publication hailed her upcoming children’s book, which opportunistically cribs left-wing feminist Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s cri de coeur, “She Persisted.”
The Huffington Post breathlessly reported on Chelsea’s brave thoughts about breastfeeding and menstruation. She boldly asserted in a wellness article that we all need to “support” breastfeeding women and menstruating girls “by talking candidly” about them. OK then. Prepare the Nobel Prize nomination, stat!
Insipid platitudes deserve eye rolls, not gala celebrations. What independent “power of women” has Chelsea Clinton exercised — other than inheriting her father’s name and what’s left of her two-time-losing mother’s political cachet?
“Lifetime achievement”? She skated through college and pulled family strings to secure her short-lived, high-priced jobs in management consulting and media.
Those who know Chelsea Clinton best see her for what she is: a “spoiled brat,” to quote Doug Band.
She is Bill Clinton without the charm, Hillary Clinton without the ruthlessness and full Billary in her bottomless well of inflated entitlement and ideological hackery.
The ineluctable drive to prop up Chelsea Clinton is textbook fake news. The only constituency rooting for her to run for political office is the Hollywood-media complex, which is desperately trying to squeeze blood from a rotten turnip.
How uncool is that?
I don’t understand your reaction. All that is being highlighted by 3b is hypocrisy…….and further your style of response is exactly what is being profiled…..are you that blind to it? We are discussing behavior; not the validity of opinions…..
Ottoman says:
April 20, 2017 at 10:13 am
You poor snowflakes. Maybe you should spend the day in a room full of puppies to sooth your butt hurt before you go back to finger r@ping your friends’ daughters and female work colleagues like your president brags about doing. You know, since PC is so over now.
chicagofinance says:
April 20, 2017 at 9:31 am
yep…..especially when they live in Manhattan, or it happens on a college campus……as if their location somehow imbues them with some sort of authority…….
3b says:
April 20, 2017 at 8:52 am
Defens that is my fundamental problem with so called liberals they are just as crude and ignorant as some on the right can be. What makes it worse is they claim to be so sophisticated and educated that they don’t sink to that sort of behavior. And yet they do exactly that.
Anyone ever do key west drive from miami? Any tips or recommendations.
Agree with the chicken and egg assessment, but it’s not so easy when they keep pushing their power, money, and influence. Once you open up pandor@’s box, not easy to fix the mess. Just put it this way, corporations have become so big and powerful that they can influence almost any govt in the world now. It’s not American problem anymore, it’s a world problem.
“What came first, the chicken or the egg? We can easily erase those lines, admit mistakes were made, and move on.”
re: key west – Any tips or recommendations.
Pack a lunch, then rent a boat at Key West and head due south 90 miles, dock boat at Marina Hemingway and take a cab about 9 miles into the city and then find your way to La Bodeguita del Medio for the best mojitos on the planet.
lmao….awesome advice!
And check out how effective their healthcare is!
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/hillary-clinton-reportedly-blamed-everyone-223036674.html
It wasn’t Trump. It wasn’t me. It had to be the Russians.
Wha wha.
re: ” It had to be the Russians.”
Mitt Romney has acknowledged just how much his “47 percent” comment was bad for his 2012 campaign, it took him about a year and a half to do it. Hillary after another year has passed will have to do the same, especially if she wants to do a sit down on prime time and talk about her campaign. Yes the “the Basket of deplorable” comment did shave a few points and those points made all the difference.
I still think it was the conflict of interest that her/his foundation represented.
Also fainting on a 70 degree day while all he’s stories about your health are permeating didn’t help.
Plus, it appeared to me that she had a turkey snood.
Confused it with the wattle. She had a wattle. And a waddle in her walk.
Lmao
Children’s Closets Get Luxury Makeovers – The Wall Street Journal
https://apple.news/AIgTg-3ahTaeGaLM4w4whqw
Why did Hillary lose? You have intersexual, insecure folks like Moana and Otto who voted for her, that’s why.
This story makes me sick. If that was my dog, I would prob end up in jail for life. No way would I let this go. And the sad part, ranchers are full of sh!t with their numbers, it doesn’t have to be this way…..shocker.
“I’ve had half a dozen government trappers tell me that ranchers routinely inflate the number of losses that occur,” said Brooks Fahy, founder of Predator Defense, a conservation organization in Eugene, Oregon, devoted to advancing public understanding of predators. In some cases, he said, they “aren’t suffering losses at all, yet they just want Wildlife Services to come in and prophylactically kill predators whether they’re a problem or not.”
Dog’s Death Spotlights Use of Cyanide ‘Bombs’ to Kill Predators – National Geographic
https://apple.news/AknmXC5xDSMSXHonWYvKfFg
Lib, I know he might just be another corzine, but I’m voting for this guy. He has great ideas and seems to understand what this state needs. I don’t see Christie or anybody else coming up with ideas like this. Why would I vote for these other clowns when this guy seems to know exactly what he is doing.
“Seeking to create jobs and spur growth across New Jersey, Phil Murphy unveiled a multi-tiered plan to revitalize New Jersey’s STEM economy, saying “if we don’t get our economy right for this generation, we won’t get New Jersey right for the generations to come.”
He spoke of his vision for making New Jersey the home for new technology and innovation-based businesses and industries — creating an ecosystem to nurture tech businesses, increasing the accessibility of STEM education, and strengthening privacy safeguards — at an NJ Tech Meetup in Hoboken earlier this week.
“Before there was Silicon Valley, there was New Jersey,” Murphy said. “From Bell Labs to pharma, from life sciences to telecom, people once looked up to New Jersey as a worldwide leader in innovation. Today’s dynamic economy demands a commitment to a dynamic business ecosystem, world-class education, and cutting edge cybersecurity for a 21st century workforce. We can do better, and in my administration, New Jersey will once again emerge as a leader in the STEM economy.”
“For New Jersey’s tech entrepreneurs and innovators this plan gives hope to our future, reclaiming our stance as a leading technology hub. With broad assets and energy around innovation and technology, this plan can help accelerate businesses and provide education for careers in the modern economy,” said Aaron Price, founder of the NJ Tech Meetup.
“It takes someone who understands how economies work to put forward such a far-reaching plan. Phil has proven that he understands not only the needs of the tech community, but also the greater community that yearns for new jobs and economic opportunities,” said Pastor Steffie Bartley, coordinator-director of NAN Newark Tech Work, which is run in partnership with Panasonic. “NAN Newark Tech World will be the go-to community-based institution to provide IT training for the Newark community. With STEM-focused learning and a forward-looking economic plan, the next generation in New Jersey will be able to lead.”
“For communities focused on innovation, Phil’s plan to drive research and development investments is welcome more than ever,” said Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert. “With some of the world’s leading institutions already right here in our state, and the capacity they have to expand ground-breaking research, this plan is a win-win.””
The Three Amigos!
The raper, The drug ’em unconscious raper, and the guy who says some untoward stuff to women at work.
Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, Bill O’Reilly…
Something about the name Bill.
I have. Here’s my recommendation, Pumps:
1. Wait until you are on one of the narrow over-water sections, then…
2. When an approaching Tractor Trailer is 100 yards away veer into his lane.
Anyone ever do key west drive from miami? Any tips or recommendations.
Murphy will win. And then we will all complain to no end as he continues the Democratic cycle in NJ politics. Which is to give away the farm to the unions and the cities and then raises taxes to pay for it, necessitating a switch in party 4 year’s later. Hopefully, he doesn’t try to purchase Lehman Brothers for the state pension fund a week before it goes bankrupt.
I think I figured out why a lot of people can’t leave Jersey. If being connected to misery defines you, you would fail to exist if that was ever taken away.
NEW YORK—Smiling wistfully as he gazed at the cherished mementos that had sat on his desk for much of the past 20 years, former Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly reportedly grew teary-eyed Thursday as he packed up the framed up-skirt photos from his work space following his termination by the cable channel. “God, I have so many great memories from this place,” said the longtime host of The O’Reilly Factor as he stared down at the 8-by-10 glossy print showing a woman’s exposed underwear taken from underneath a news desk, before wrapping it in tissue paper and placing it gently in a cardboard box alongside a smaller three-panel frame containing photos of various women’s bare thighs. “I worked with some truly amazing people who showed me some incredible things over the years. I’m really going to miss everything I got to do at this place—it was always such a good time. It’s hard to let go.” At press time, O’Reilly was seen wiping away a tear from the corner of his eye and popping a small down-blouse photo of a woman’s cleavage out of its frame and placing it carefully in his wallet.
http://www.theonion.com/article/bill-oreilly-tearfully-packs-framed-skirt-photos-d-55818
Simpsons mocking college crybabies.
https://youtu.be/p8M2tg2RkIQ
Eddie reminds of the guy that married the first girl that ever called him back…
I met Gary’s wife, and I’m pretty sure she was the second to call him back.
Chi fi
Trying to reason with footrest is like playing chess with a pigeon. He’ll knock over the pieces, shite on the board, and declare himself the winner
If I ever need to persuade footrest, I’ll use the method my father used to persuade things that didn’t want to move: a 10 lb sledgehammer.
Yup here is a source of the education bubble…
“According to the Ministry of Education, as of March, China had sent a total of 544,500 students abroad, making China the biggest source nation for international students worldwide. Among those more than half million overseas students, nearly 80 percent go to English-speaking countries, the top three being the US, the UK and Australia.”
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-04/18/content_28973251.htm