Johnny Casino's boys are gonna' be busy today. At Noon, Moveon.org will descend on LV Congressman Charlie Dent's Bethlehem office, demanding that he do something about evil corporations. Then, at 4 PM, Moveon and the LV Dem Coalition will be rapping on Dent's door again, this time for clean government. But they better hurry or they're going to miss a private reception for Bill Clinton at the Cindy Feinberg estate.You won't get in the door unless you have lots of the green stuff. Or your name is Villani. Or Cantelmi. Or Brong.
So much for evil corporations and clean government.
Speaking of clean government, do you think that schools should be forced to subsidize political contests? How about schools that must increase taxes and lay off teachers?
Since Bill is going to be here anyway, can't John Callahan ask for his help to recover or pay the debt that Hillary Clinton has owed the taxpayers of the Bethlehem Area School District (BASD) for over two years? Hillary, accompanied by Callahan, visited Liberty High School on April 20, 2008, during the Presidential Primary. She incurred a bill of $15,082 to the school district’s taxpayers. Bill has previously offered to raffle himself off to help pay his wife's massive campaign debt. This seems like a perfect opportunity for Clinton to square the books with Bethlehem's school district.
It will mean a little less money for Callahan, but he'd want to help Bethlehem taxpayers, wouldn't he?
Repeated efforts to reach out to Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic Party in order to secure payment have been numerous and fruitless. Minutes from the BASD board meetings show that school administrators turned to John Callahan for assistance in collecting the debt as long ago as February of 2009.
The debt remains unpaid.
Recently, Anne M. Morton, the Board Treasurer of the BASD, sent a memo to Dennis Reichard, Bethlehem's business manager.
On Friday, the Dent Campaign called on Mayor Callahan to use monies raised at President Bill Clinton’s fundraiser for him to cut a check to the Bethlehem Area School District and settle the debt after over two years.
“Mayor Callahan has raised over $1,000,000 for his campaign,” Millan said. “He’s likely to raise a substantial amount of funds during President Clinton’s visit, why not take just $15,082 from that amount and make the school district’s taxpayers whole?”
The Dent campaign sent out a phone call today to people in the Bethlehem Area School District’s communities offering them the chance to contact John Callahan’s campaign office if they think he should pick up the bill.
Updated 6:00 PM: Just a few short days ago, Callahan campaign manager Justin Schall was deriding attempts to collect the money owed to Bethlehem schools as "cheap politics." Well, it worked. The Morning Call has just reported that Hillary Clinton's campaign has finally, after two years, been shamed into paying the $15,082 owed.
62 comments:
My bet is the school will see the money at the same time the Mayor uses the casino revenues to lower property taxes...NEVER.
Peyronie boy will pay AFTER he gets to party with Acerra.
If I was Greg Fineberg I would watch my wife's "fine"berg ass when old horn dog Bill is around.
Just sayin
bernie, perhaps former bethlehem mayor don cunningham could be of service in this collection effort. cindy fineberg is cunningham's key employee, director of community and economic development, and you always say that cunningham makes everything seem so easy...
maybe millan should find a real issue?
Bernie
You're question about should schools even allow political campaigns to take place on their grounds is excellent.
Mrs. Clinton should pay that amount back to Bethlehem. It makes her look unattractive to owe such a small amount. Maybe Bill will take care of it today. Or Maybe BSD authorities could have easily contacted Mrs. Clinton's Washington office and speak with an aide and the entire situation would have been taken care of.
Bernie
Tell us about this MoveOn.Org.
Don't know anything about it.
Is it a D front? Also, Bernie,
after this week's glamour event, would you explain to us exactly what is Google trying to do with
the Internet.
Dent is calling on Callahan to make an in-kind contribution for another candidate that would likely be illegal. Nice that Dent thinks federal campaign laws are irrelevant. this is all an attempt to cover up his horrible record on education.
but wouldn't it be funny if clinton paid the debt at callahans calling? results baby.
You (and Dent) sound like bitter old men. This is not an issue, it is a smokescreen.
As a taxpayer in Bethlehem, I want the debt paid, but I am smart enough (unlike Dent) to know that it is not Callahan's responsibility.
Also, it appears that Reichard's office requested that information. Your post makes it seem like the BASD Treasurer took it upon herself to forward that memo to Reichard. Also, where are pages 2 and 4 of the fax?
Looks like Dent is getting worried that Callahan is keeping pace with him on fundraising...
Maybe someone who attends this party
will give us a report.
"Dent is calling on Callahan to make an in-kind contribution for another candidate that would likely be illegal."
Yeah, Schall's cclaim that it can't be sone legally is an outright fabrication. There are all kinds of ways that bill can be paid. Clinton could ask that contributions be made to his wife's campaign with the provision that they be earmarked to pay Bethlehem.
"Maybe someone who attends this party will give us a report"
Well, that would be a Villani. They're personal friends of mine, you know. They started commenting on my blog yesterday, suggesting I kill myself and other nice things. Maybe one of them will tell us whether that bill is finally being paid.
Acting Superintendent Thomas Persing said the school district has tried to recover the money over the last two years, but with the turnover of key school administrators, he could not say whether the inquiries were going to the right people in the campaign. A 2008 memo shows that the district, which did not have a contract with the campaign, could not reach people at the state and national campaign headquarters.
Morning Call Tuesday
Bernie,
Are we to believe BASD cannot figure out how to dial Washington D.C.?
Go ahead and ask him.
You'll get 0.
I suspect with all the things on Bill Clinton's mind, he's really up on the debts of his wife's campaign.
You want to live in a world of trivialities, then vote for . .
The district was in such a hurry to accommodate the campaign, they didn't even write a simple contract of terms. Now they are scrambling trying to collect a debt they don't even have contact information for.
I'm still not sure how Callahan would use federal campaign funds to pay an unassociated bill. I'm also not sure why one would assume a spouse should be held responsible for debt of another.
Finally, the BASD administrator should have addressed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and not "Mrs. Clinton." Seems there are some Dentites working in BASD administration.
Clinton could ask that contributions be made to his wife's campaign with the provision that they be earmarked to pay Bethlehem.
At a fundraiser for John Callahan? You don't think at all, do you?
Millan wrote this piece and left out pages from the memo? Shocking.
I love how the Callahan campaign thinks it has any credibility on campaign finance rule. Didnt Callahan break campaign finance laws before even officially entering the racce? I guess if you break enough of the rules, you become an expert on them.
Callahan should use monies raised to pay for Hillary's pedicure and hair styling too. Why not use campaign funds for some beers at Musikfest too?
Amazing that Dent's campaign is either that stupid or it thinks the taxpayers are that stupid.
Looks like the Dent pressure got to Callahan. Now he is going to ask Clinton's staff about the debt. Funny how it takes Dent and public outcry before the Mayor actually looks out for the taxpayers.
Oh, boy Justin Schall has his little Calla-trolls working double-time today.
9:06,
Funny you bring up the taxpayers, we are the ones getting hit here. Who do you think has to foot the bill? When you start paying taxes, come back and let us know how it feels to be stuck with Clinton's campaign debt.
" Now he is going to ask Clinton's staff about the debt."
This kills me. Why the hell can't he open his mouth and say something to Clinton directly? Bill Clinton could easily ask donors to make their checks out to Hillary's campaign. That would be the right thing to do. But apparently, Johnny Casino's coffers are more important than a school district with no money for teachers.
Looks like the Dent pressure got to Callahan. Now he is going to ask Clinton's staff about the debt. Funny how it takes Dent and public outcry before the Mayor actually looks out for the taxpayers.
Once again, the mayor has no authority in the public school system. You really ought to look into basic civics of the city.
9:06,
Funny you bring up the taxpayers, we are the ones getting hit here. Who do you think has to foot the bill? When you start paying taxes, come back and let us know how it feels to be stuck with Clinton's campaign debt.
If you actually understood basic government, you'd know that your beef is with the public school district and their incompetent officials. But no, let's use their incompetence to paint the mayor as someone that condones not paying bills.
The Millan minions are out in full force today. Put some pants on Millan.
"Once again, the mayor has no authority in the public school system."
He doesnt need authority to look out for the taxpayers. That should be the job of anyone and everyone involved in public service. The fact that Callahan's supporters like you have such a disdain for taxpayers is scary.
The mayor has plenty of authority, from using pals as DARE officers to TIF monies being squandered.
A good Mayor also has moral authority, the kind you don't get by covering up car accidents involving your brother-in-law. A good Mayor would ask Clinton's guests to write out checks to pay that bill.
It's called leadership.
He doesnt need authority to look out for the taxpayers. That should be the job of anyone and everyone involved in public service. The fact that Callahan's supporters like you have such a disdain for taxpayers is scary.
You do realize that public employees are taxpayers too, right? So you suggest they act against their own best interests for love of raising taxes. Absurd like many of the Dentite positions.
The mayor has plenty of authority
Please enlighten me on the authority of the mayor in BASD? Does he have BASD letterhead? Does he have access to the financial records of BASD? Your position is absurd.
Face it. The Big Dog doesn't make a visit unless the campaign is a winner. Dent is going down and the former President is here to drive in a few nails.
I did enlighten you, but you folks from DC apparently don't understand just how much authority Bethlehem's Mayor has over the Bethlehem TIFs, which are currently being used to screw BASD taxpayers so Jeff Parks can get everything he wants.
"So you suggest they act against their own best interests for love of raising taxes."
Yes, because then they just give themselves a pay raise, just like Johnny Casino did.
"You do realize that public employees are taxpayers too, right? So you suggest they act against their own best interests for love of raising taxes."
I see the math teachers have joined the discussion.
Bernie,
now you are just pathetic, pushing a non-issue. a real issue would be why aren't the former superintendent and his financial guy being investigated for the swaps they invested in on behalf of the taxpayers with their "advisor" making over a million dollars in commissions while the taxpayers got screwed out of 60 million. seems like they kept their advisor despite his failure, leading one to think that they may have received some benefit from using the same guy despite his practice of changing firms.
i don't have a problem with public schools being used as venues for political campaigns. however, schools should get their money up front because almost all campaigns never pay their bills. maybe your bud charlie owes some money to someone somewhere.
Not an issue. Didn't read. Why is Dent/BOH avoiding the issues like Education, Jobs, deficits, etc.?
Oh that's right ... Charlie I'm-a-moderate-who-votes-the-party-like Dent won't really take a position on anything of importance.
10:21,
I dont know what planet you have lived on over the last year. Where was Callahan on health care reform? Right, he supported it...the day after the bill passed. Other than that, he has been MIA.
One of the issues in this race is independence. Is callahan a Pelosi toadie? Is Dent going to do everything Boehner tells him to do?
Dent has demonstrated, time and again, that he is willing to be independent and buck his party. Yes, he still is more conservative on issues than I might like, but he's prepared and is his own man. In sharp contrast, Callahan has avoided issues and even now, will not confront Clinton directly. This is not the mark of an independent leader, but of a follower.
10:07 -
This is an issue of leadership, and an easy one that. Callahan should have been out in front on. He could have handled this behind the scenes and worked it to his favor, now he's chasing his tail, just as Millan wanted.
You do however, make an excellent point about the BASD officials needing to be investigated. And not just Bethlehem. You want to know why people complain so much about a possible $1 a week county tax increase? It's because they keep getting hit so hard by the corrupt and overfunded/underperforming school districts that no one has any tolerance for any other increases if they have a say in the matter.
Peyronie boy should pay up, and Callahan should do what he can to facilitate that payment. But BASD and others wouldn't be scraping around for dollars if they were well managed - in the interest of the taxpayers who are so aggrieved by the political deadbeats.
The Clinton's are royalty now and paying bills is a mundane issue to them. BASD and the tax payers will never see that bill get paid. I'm a Dem and can't stand what Bill and Hilly have transformed into. Despicable people.
Yes, because then they just give themselves a pay raise, just like Johnny Casino did.
So a school custodian, parks person, county secretary, or other hard working person can just give themselves a raise, huh? The world you live in must be astonishing.
no one has any tolerance for any other increases if they have a say in the matter.
Interesting that BASD passed a 6% tax increase and nary a soul came to the meeting to complain about it. Methinks you overestimate the taxpayer furor, my man.
The Clinton's are royalty now and paying bills is a mundane issue to them. BASD and the tax payers will never see that bill get paid. I'm a Dem and can't stand what Bill and Hilly have transformed into. Despicable people.
11:22 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Yes, because then they just give themselves a pay raise, just like Johnny Casino did.
So a school custodian, parks person, county secretary, or other hard working person can just give themselves a raise, huh? The world you live in must be astonishing.
12:40 PM
Actually a similar event recently took place in a small blue collar working community in California when citizens were informed after the fact that some of their public servants were taking home annual salaries of $800,000/$400,000 while the average annual taxpayer's salary was about $40,000. This week reports revealed city council members had arranged a special election to approve the $800/$400 salaries and were so keen on the salary raises that they took blank absentee ballots to trusting homeowners to complete.
"they keep getting hit so hard by the corrupt and overfunded/underperforming school districts"
Case in point: A nearby school district superintendent that allowed six-year-olds under her watch to be sexually assaulted.
"So a school custodian, parks person, county secretary, or other hard working person can just give themselves a raise, huh? The world you live in must be astonishing."
A little union pressure would be an easy sell for Johnny Casino.
Actually a similar event recently took place in a small blue collar working community in California when citizens were informed after the fact that some of their public servants were taking home annual salaries of $800,000/$400,000 while the average annual taxpayer's salary was about $40,000. This week reports revealed city council members had arranged a special election to approve the $800/$400 salaries and were so keen on the salary raises that they took blank absentee ballots to trusting homeowners to complete.
Again, I ask can a school custodian, secretary or parks worker give themselves a pay raise? Let's move from the realm of a select few with power to the thousands of hardworking, taxpaying, civil servants. That wouldn't fall into your Tea Party talking-point ramblings, however.
"Again, I ask can a school custodian, secretary or parks worker give themselves a pay raise? Let's move from the realm of a select few with power to the thousands of hardworking, taxpaying, civil servants."
Whatta douche. I guess you didn't happen to see that the people Clinton stiffed were the maintenance people and custodians who came in on the weekend for her little to-do. Give it a rest, Eugene Debbs.
Great photo choice. You've been hitting on all editing cylinders lately.
I think the dog, Buddy, was tragically killed in Chappaqua a couple of years ago. The official explanation was car accident. I suspect he knew too much and was just another Vince Foster-type casualty of the Clinton Dynasty.
My dawg, John Callahan SHOULD be afraid to raise the issue with the man from Hope. The horny hick is not someone John should offend. Just ask Buddy. Oh yeah, you can't.
bill was paid
Now, how bout a real campaign, Dent.
The clinton campaign paid for it. Callahan got results. Funny thing is that Dent had 2 years to do his job as a congressman to get the money and couldn't get it done. Callahan spends 1/2 a day with Bill Clinton and gets it.
It would be nice if people remembered that Dent is supposed to represent the district on federal matters. Since the 2008 campaign was a federal campaign, it would have been nice if he acted on this over the last 2 years, rather than wait until this week to care about it.
Now, Callahan gets all the money from the fundraiser AND he got the results that Dent couldn't get as our congressman. Callahan might have to start writing checks to Millan pretty soon b/c Sean is serving them up like softballs.
Looks like Dent's pressure paid off for the taxpayers of Bethlehem. Its a shame that it takes a political embarassment before Mayor Callahan actually tries to help.
"he got the results that Dent couldn't get as our congressman."
Wow, strange you would say that when you Callahan blogoons were just saying above that he had no "authority" over these matters. It appears that Dent's pressure on one of the National Democrats' few hopes has produced the results.
Congrats to Charlie and to Irene for their hard work in getting this money back.
When I updated this blog, I inadverdently saved it to draft for about an hour. Sorry, folks.
5:57, by your own logic Callahan had 2 years to get the money as well. Yet apparently never pursued it until it is politically inconvenient for him.
"It would be nice if people remembered that Dent is supposed to represent the district on federal matters."
So he is supposed to just turn a blind eye to important issues in Bethlehem because it is not in the federal jurisdiction? That's idiotic. It is good Dent was looking out for the taxpayers on this issue. We wouldve been stuck with the bill had he not pressed as hard as he did.
Now, if only Callahan could ask Clinton for $8.5 million...
Hilarious. I'm stealing that line tomorrow.
Good..she paid up after two years..did she include interest? The Bill and Hilly show needs to have the plug pulled on it! I've seen enough of both of them and offically wish them both into the corn field.
Whatta douche. I guess you didn't happen to see that the people Clinton stiffed were the maintenance people and custodians who came in on the weekend for her little to-do. Give it a rest, Eugene Debbs.
But they give themselves pay raises, don't they? You seem conflicted.
Nice job Mayor.
"Nice job Mayor."
An $8.5 million dollar budget shortfall on a $65 million budget? Nice work? Is this the same sort of 'nice work' we can expect in Congress?
Im sorry, $8.5 million is just the number from 2009. I forgot about the $1 million shortfall from the mid-year projections this year, which is definitely undershooting what it will ultimately be. How does everyone feel about that nearly 10% INCREASE in spending for this year? Disaster.
bernie o hare a DISGRACED lawyer banned from practing law. Turned Blogger.
check him out here
http://bloggingdottie.blogspot.com/2009/02/bernie-ohares-tell-tale-troll.html
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