On July 10, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General announced indictments against a state legislator, a former state legislator, and ten Democratic legislative staffers, for accepting public funds to work on the petition challenges to Ralph Nader in 2004 and the Green Party statewide petition in 2006. Here is the press release from the Attorney General.
The grand jury found that as many as 50 Democratic House Caucus staff members participated in the 2004 Nader petition challenge. Some employees spent an entire week working on the challenge. For the 2006 challenge to the Green Party statewide petition, the same activity occurred. Staffers were told, “It’s very important to the (Democratic House) leadership that the Green Party not appear on the ballot, and also not to worry about taking vacation time, but to work on government time.
There was also a great deal of other partisan work done by state employees on government time that did not deal with the Nader and Green Party petition challenges. See this article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
I wonder if the Pennsylvania Green Party and Nader could sue for ballot access this year based on this activity.
I would hope Nader, the GP, or even the McKinney campaign, assuming she is the GP nominee, would try at at least.
I hope all those Democrats get to wear orange for a couple years.
“I hope all those Democrats get to wear orange for a couple years.”
LOL. Indeed.
You can’t make up stuff this good:
“Michael L. Manzo, 39, former chief of staff to Majority Leader H. William DeWeese. Mr. Manzo is accused of conspiracy in connection with the bonus scandal, engineering ballot challenges using state workers and hiding a girlfriend on the state payroll in a phony state office above a cigar store in Pittsburgh’s South Side.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Nader was not paranoid! They were after him!
In so called reform movement circles, near by Ohio had/ has a John Birch Society friendly/ Ralph Nader unfriendly Reform Party USA state chair, Virginia Brooks. First she dragged and dragged the national print house organ [again, in a presidential year] to not being published. She finally stumbled out a meally mouth, rather nuetral edition in golden rod color [which is nearly impossible to reproduce locally]!
She had managed to get her self $900 of dearly acquired Reform Party funds to set the ground for the national convention in Ohio for the summer of 2004. A convention which never happened and almost a thousand dollars which was never repaid!
Her partner in crime with these ‘odd jobs’ was a guy [Ted Webster] from Iowa, in an Uncle Sam Hat who conducted meetings, in person or over the telephone, at 45 decibles!
I do not know about any offices or any cigar stores, but I would not be all that surprised!
Nader was right, and in retro spect, reformers need to reform the reform party! OK class, all together now ‘Agents Provacateur’!
Just because your paraniod doesn’t mean they are not actually after you,lol
Something else to ponder about the 2004 Election.
The Republican Party chose to hold their nominating convention very late that year. The first week in September if I remember correctly. The candidates can’t formally file paperwork with the individual states until after they are officially nominated at their convention.
Illinois’s State Constitution mandated that all candidates had to file their paperwork by the 2nd or 3rd of September to meet the filing deadline for inclusion on the November Ballot. By convention rules and scheduling Bush was not nominated until the 7th or 8th.
Well it just so happened that at the 11th hour, the middle of August, the Democrat Govenor of Illinois Rod Blogajevich signed an ammendment to the state’s constitution that pushed the filing date back to the middle of September.
Now I don’t know about you but if I were a Democrat who was genuinely outraged about what happened in Florida in 2000. I would have told the Republicans:
“You know what the rules are !
You know what the date is !
You chose the date for your convention !
Why are you bothering us with this matter ?
You didn’t make the date so your guy isn’t on the ballot !
GO POUND SAND !”
But no ! The Democrats accomodated the Republicans while they were bludgeoning Ralph Nader.
It certainly makes me wonder what all the fussing and fuming about Ohio in 2004 and Forida in 2000 was all about !
That’s right, except the Republicans nominated in 2004 on September 1. This year it is September 4, the latest major party presidential convention in US history.
Ha Ha Ha This is funny. It reads like a cheap Drug Store Novel. I would say that Veon and Manzo are looking at time. Judging from the AG’s Press Release I would say he is giving everyone involved the Hot Lamp Treatment with the hopes they will roll over on DeWeese. There is definitely more to come. It will be interesting to see if the Feds get involved seeing as Nader is alleging similar activity in other states.
Wait till the news outlets and the Late-Night Chat Show Hosts get a hold this one.
Bob Marston, your recollection is very close. The GOP did set their convention after Illinois’ 2004 deadline to certify names on the ballot. The GOP knew they were doing this before they set their convention date as well. Don’t remember the specific dates, but it was like a week late.
The GOP asked the IL Elections Board to ignore the deadline for Bush in a letter. That was objected to and they wouldn’t do it, so that left in the General Assembly’s hands in June. First, Michael Madigan floated a bill that would change the deadline for Bush and also forgive about $3 million in campaign fines, mostly against his Democrats like Jesse White. That didn’t fly in the newspapers, so they just put Bush on using an awkward bill. Blago signed it. All the Democrats in Illinois voted for it.
And that same year Madigan’s staff was working on the challenge to kick Nader off the ballot. Was it on our dime, or vacation or sick days or ??? Madigan squashed the FOIA requests for payroll records. But the feds could get them if they wanted to.
You should read the Illinois page in Nader’s FEC complaint posted here a few weeks back. Good stuff. At the time it happened it made the CBS national prime time newscast. Nader’s got some good people working with him.
I wouldn’t doubt if Nader uncovers even more of this nonsense. He’s doing a great public service in that regard.
Madigan and the Dems aren’t the only ones who pull this nonsense in Illinois. Even though he is sitting in the pokey now for unrelated charges, perhaps former governor George Ryan should also be prosecuted for tossing the Libertarians off of the ballott in 1998. He was Secretary of State at the time and GOP candidate for governor. He had his office people knock the Libs off of the ballott, presumably on state time and sith state resources. It seems that the exact scenario that the Pennsylvania Dems are being prosecuted for right now took place in Illinois in 1998 and 2004. Perhaps seeing that they may actually have to answer for this political grandstanding will keep this stuff from going on in the future. One could only hope.
This is good news. The more Democrats thrown into jail, the better for America.
Tim Sasse
If you have any connections with the Libertarian Party I would tell them to get whatever facts they have on the matter ready. If this episode breaks big in the major media which it should eventually there will be more investigations.
In should be surprising that this story isn’t headline news this morning. But then again I would not be surprised if this story vanishes in to thin air.
Right now a Google News search turns up 15 stories 12 of which are in Pennsylvannia or Western NY. The other 3 are specialty websites like Ballot Access News.
A Conservative Blogger on the WEBCommentary website states a total of 4 Million Dollars was diverted in the AntiNader-AntiRomanelli Campaigns.
http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=phyrillast&date=080710
It will be interesting to see if this guy gets muzzled.
MORE INFO !
In response to a question inferring the Attorney General’s probe was partisan in nature, Corbett is a Republican, the AG alleges Democrats were investigated FIRST because they were destroying documents !
This from a story that poped up in the last 30 minutes on Digitjournal a website out of Canada.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/257287
When this blows it will let lose like Mount Vesuvius !
Here is a link to audio snippets from Corbett’s news conference yesterday.
http://cmsweb.listenz.com/prns/bonusgate.htm
This is good news. The more Democrats thrown into jail, the better….
where they can join Tucson Arid Zona federal felon and All American U of Missouri alum and war air ace and hero, ‘Puke’ Cunningham! [MY former congress member and pretty much the worst, most corrupt House member in history —-and a rock ribbed Republican….]
Sorry Cody, just woke up……
This is good news. The more Democrats thrown into jail, the better….
where they can join Tucson Arid Zona federal felon and All American U of Missouri alum and war air ace and hero, ‘Puke’ Cunningham! [MY former congress member and pretty much the worst, most corrupt House member in history —-and a rock ribbed Republican….]
A RICO type pattern conspiracy ???
Or even an insurrection type conspiracy to subvert Democracy in PA ???
Will Bush II perhaps declare an insurrection conspiracy exists in PA to overthrow the U.S.A. Constitution and/or the PA Constitution ???
How many HAMMER indictments will it take on EVIL party hack reptile brains ???
Democracy or DEATH (for EVIL reptile brain party hacks who subvert Democracy) ???