Quinn's little piggies

Council pols feast off the public for their own political gain

It seems there is no limit to how much of the public's money politicians will steal, waste and abuse if we don't keep a close and skeptical eye on them. The piggies have been busy lately, and it's going to cost us plenty. What we know so far about the budget scandal engulfing the City Council is that the Council has, since 2001, allocated $17 million by giving grants to nonexistent organizations. Quinn's been in charge there since 2006, and her pork pool __ the term she uses is "reserve funds"_was then diverted to pet projects favored by the speaker and/or her staff. Quinn says she banned the shady bookkeeping and alerted federal prosecutors last fall after realizing the staff had ignored her order to stop the practice. That's a step in the right direction _ but the possibility of fraud isn't the only scandal.
The deeper problem is the mentality at City Hall that allowed the pork trough to operate unnoticed for years. It stems from the feeling by many pols_ at all levels of government_ that the public's money is theirs to spend on whatever strikes their fancy: gifts to friends and family members, pork to pay off political allies, even pay raises to stick in their own pockets.
Adapted from newyorkdailynews and__Errol Louis
Posted by David's radiotv 2000 4-6-2008 page 29