Saturday, January 12th, 2008
On the heels of former state senator Nick Asselta selling his vote for a cushy seat on the Board of Public Utilities (btw, this little six-year run will net him $13,657.84 in perpetuity on the backs of taxpayers on top of the $125,000 annual salary) comes multi-dipper former state senator Wayne Bryant and his request to use campaign funds to pay the legal fees associated with his corruption:
Former state Sen. Wayne Bryant wants to use his campaign cash to pay legal bills stemming from his indictment on federal corruption charges, state election officials said Wednesday.
Bryant’s request to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission is the first time anyone has sought approval to use campaign money to defend against criminal charges, said Frederick M. Herrmann, the commission’s executive director.
Let’s see . . .
Bryant raised money from people to get himself elected to the state senate. He raised so much money that $625,000 is still in the bank. But after getting himself elected, Bryant strong armed a state university to hire him as a consultant to sit and read a newspaper. He also siphoned off some of the Christmas tree money the state provided Camden. Taxpayers are funding the trial against him.
Bryant wants to use the excess campaign fund to defend those actions.
Now, that’s chutzpah!
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Monday, October 2nd, 2006
When they prosecute state senator Wayne Bryant, one of the punishments in addition to jail time needs to be a review of his pension.
The AP today laid out some of the issues regarding the triple-dipper.
The newspaper also reported that Bryant has filed time sheets reporting work for the county on days he did legislative work in Trenton. For example, he logged 8.3 hours of work for Gloucester County on July 28, a day he had a full workday as a senator in the Capital City.
In all, Bryant made $177,700 last year from four taxpayer-funded jobs that count toward his pension: the Gloucester County job, his state Senate seat, the UMDNJ job, and an adjunct professorship at Rutgers University-Camden. If he were to retire immediately, Bryant would be eligible for an $82,000 annual pension.
He logged hours working for Gloucester while he was attending meetings in Trenton. This was two months ago, long after the magnifying glass was on him.
Do not reward this behavior. Strip him of his pension benefits. Lying and cheating has him currently available to earn much more than public school teachers earn in this state.
The path to cleaning up corruption in New Jersey is prosecuting the big names who are corrupt. Bryant is a good place to start.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 20th, 2006
It’s always an issue when one is appointed the judge of others. Who judges the judge?
So it is with the New Jersey Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards. This committee is charged with investigating misdoings by the elected ones.
As we reported the other day, state senator Wayne Bryant is in a heap of trouble. An independent report issued Monday charged Bryant with coercing a no-show job from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. For this piece of cake job, Bryant was paid $35,000 annually. In return, Bryant used his leverage as a state senator to secure funds for the university. If true, Bryant should face prosecution.
The Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards is the next step in the process. On Monday, it scheduled a meeting for today. Yesterday, Sen. Gerald Cardinale, who sits on the Committee, stated that he was going to request that hearings be opened up into the Bryant mess.
Interestingly, however, this ethics committee ducked its responsibility. Because it was not interested in dealing with one of its own, the Committee cancelled today’s meeting.
Guess what? The Bryant mess is still here folks. But your actions highlight the problem in this state. No one is serious about cleaning up the messes. Those in Trenton just want to ride the gravy train, served by our tax dollars, and abstain from doing any work.
Remember this when they ask you for their vote . . .
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | 1 Comment »
Monday, September 18th, 2006
What a week it has been. On the heels of former Senate president John Lynch admitting to corruption charges and disgraced former Governor McGreevey releasing his kiss-and-tell memoir comes another report about the embattled University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
The first report told us about $243 million in fraud and abuse. This report told us about state senator Wayne Bryant. Bryant seems to have coaxed the corrupt officials at the university to create a no-show job for an annual salary of $35,000. That job was one of several that Bryant held.
Bryant lobbied on behalf of the school in the state Senate. After the no-show job was created, the amount of aid from the state coffers increased dramtically.
The corruption in our state is past epidemic levels. It seems to be what political life is.
Wally Edge ran a blurb about this latest scandal today. I do not understand the following, however:
But this latest news, one Democratic insider says, may be enough to attract some competition for Bryant’s fifth district Senate seat.
Huh? Shouldn’t Bryant be jailed for this? There is no may about it. If what is charged in the independent report is true, Bryant should be indicted, tried, and convicted. If we do not make examples out of these corrupt officials, we will keep paying them not to work.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | 1 Comment »
