"County Council can continue cluelessly gambling The Blob will shrink to a more manageable size before it eats the diner and kills everybody. Or council can freeze it and dump it in the North Pole."
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Bill White Sounds Off on Swaption
"County Council can continue cluelessly gambling The Blob will shrink to a more manageable size before it eats the diner and kills everybody. Or council can freeze it and dump it in the North Pole."
33 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
agreed it was rieberman's folly, but there has been a great deal of dumbass by the current admin and council. Don't let them manage your vast fortune, BO.
ReplyDeleteThe financial expert brought to the last council meeting stated that at the time many used the swaption. The sin wasn't the swaption itself but the fact that it needed to be religiously managed due to constantly changing economies.
ReplyDeleteThat was a failure of the Stoffa Administration. Like everything else under his watch, this very specialized fiscal instrument needed constant monitoring to protect the county. Stoffa's gang that can't manage straight didn't bother to pay attention. Why should they, they haven't paid attention to much else.
So while one can blame the original swaption deal on Reibman and the then county council that passed it, the present problems belong to John Stoffa.
Of course you, Bill White and the other media boys that helped elect Stoffa and love his charming incompetence will write off his entire two term blunders to other people's errors.
Fortunately the people know that he screwed the pooch on this as well as many other issues.
If the county ends up paying $25 million, which they really don't have to, it is because on Stoffa's watch, no one was watching. Sorry Bill, you hate Reibman as much as O'Hare but the Stoffa worship has run its course.
Stoffa is seen as the worst county executive in history.
reibman might arguably be responsible for 8-9 million of this situation. the rest is on JohnRon.
ReplyDeleteEveryone know that Reibman got into this "Swaption" because he got a handsome donation to his campaign from the brokers of this financial catastrophe. However, when this thing started going SOUTH, Reibman was no longer at the Helm. Reibman ought to be ashamed for getting us into such a mess. Stoffa has to accept blame for not monioring this debacle and bailing out when it was brought to his attention that we now owed ten mullion dollars. Stoffa gets credit and a "A" rating for bringing integrety to County Government. He gets an "F" for financial accountability in his administration. He's been the leader for almost seven years. He can't keep blaming Reibman for this mess when the largest downslide of the "swaption" occured on his watch. George Washington was the only leader in our Country's History that didn't blame anything on a prior administration.
ReplyDeleteDear 7:47,
ReplyDeleteI believe washington blamed the British for the mess he was in, lol.
You are correct. The original group that approved the swaption shares blame with the current administration and the 2009 and 2010 council for not dumping it earlier..Either way, it needs to be dumped and done with already..
"Everyone know that Reibman got into this "Swaption" because he got a handsome donation to his campaign from the brokers of this financial catastrophe"
ReplyDeleteBullshit. check the records.
The only difference between Reibman and Stoffa is the degree of sleaze. Stoffa was elected because Reibman was just too greasy. Both proved to be typical, career public trough slopping fiscal nitwits. They both leave a shit stain of fiscal disaster and collect big pensions. And politicians wonder why they're held in lower regard than termites and the 9/11 terrorists? Diapers and political types need to be changed regularly for exactly the same reason.
ReplyDeleteI know Bill White will read this thread so I hope he notices what people are saying.
ReplyDeleteBill, we get the message after almost sixteen years of your columns, you "hate" all things Reibman. Reibman was the anti-Christ. Now let us leave the far past and deal with current history of the past six years.
You continually reference county council and not the Stoffa Administration. We know that like O'Hare, you ascribe some mystical power to Stoffa. Those of us that have worked with and for him realize he is incompetent. His old bosses will tell you that. He is not "lillywhite". He lies when he has to like all politicians and will deceive in a heartbeat. You and O'Hare cover your ears and babel when that happens but it does happen.
This swaption was not a good idea for the many, many institutions that went with them, that being said the instructions on the box were quite clear. This was a financial instrument that needed to be monitored closely. It needed top notch fiscal oversight to make a change if problems started to develop.
$25 million did not happen overnight and while county council can vote, it depends on the full-time Administration and their "experts" for guidance. Of course with Stoffa that means nothing. Stoffa has and continues to punt on every decision that comes his way.
After the Gracedale debacle in which Stoffa lied to many more people than just the union, it is evident his much hyped integrity is an invention of folks like yourself who wanted anyone but Reibman in office. Well you got it, so thanks for the $25 million dollar bill for helping to give him to us.
Bernie why do you continue to use the grossly offensive picture in reference to Mr. Reibman. People realize he has an illness and you take great pleasure in exploiting that at every opportunity.
ReplyDeleteYou are quick to "sanitize" your blog of what you consider hate and personal attacks. Yet here you are continuing to mock a physical condition of Mr. Reibman. You are a hypocrite and shameful in your actions.
Who cares what a second rate newspaper filled with full page ads and no content has to say.
ReplyDeleteI equate this with Whites
lame attempt at humor with his obvious ripoff of "Innocents Abroad" in his ongoing travel series
"Lets' Eat Europe".
He totally mislead the reader as to Rons' original stance on swaption, you know the one where he was poised to profit from it.
Ron was consistently opposed to the swaption. He never varied. Now, he did accept a contribution from a person who later received money as a consultant on this deal. But Angle was always against this, and it was Angle who requested the DA to investigate the connection between the consultant and financial adviser. The DA did so, and found no criminal behavior. .
ReplyDeleteSo I don't know what point you are trying to make, except to establish that Angle was not swayed by a campaign contribution.
White's account is accurate, while you are an anonymous troll, spreading misinformation.
" The sin wasn't the swaption itself"
ReplyDeleteYes, it was, and your failure to recognize that demonstrates how local governments get into these messes. It should be illegal and was illegal for many years.
"Bernie why do you continue to use the grossly offensive picture in reference to Mr. Reibman."
ReplyDeleteBecause I know it pisses you off.
Paul Harvey Here
ReplyDeletehttp://articles.mcall.com/2004-07-29/news/3558802_1_refinancing-bond-issue-merrill
read this and you will know
"the rest of the story"
yeah, The article plainly reveals that, in addition to being consistently against the swaption, it is Angle who asked the DA to investigate. That's the part of the story Gracedale Goons are omitting from their revisionist history. .
ReplyDeleteYou know because a judge decided there was no wrongdoing.....it doesn't mean in the court of public opinion or for me to accept that judges ruling as correct....
ReplyDeletewithout going into it I think you know someone who has had issues with judges opinions lately.....and that person is very vocal about it..
so that proves that judges might be wrong.....
That said I find it appalling that someone will enrich themself ...then scream and carry on when his people aren't awarded the deal...
scimming by the minutia is not adventageous to your defense
You obviously don't know how to read. No judge ever made a determination there was no wrongdoing. DA Morganelli investigated and found there was nothing improper. Take it up with him.
ReplyDeleteNo mention of Angle and his link to Concord Financial who is the money group behind the Bethlehem Twsp theft. Hmmm why leaving out those facts BO?
ReplyDeleteYou are out of your mind, do you know that?
ReplyDeleteYou are a mean and vile hypocrite Mr. O'Hare. You mock those with physical afflictions and lie!
ReplyDeleteMoral Behavior
ReplyDeleteCriminal Behavior
I always get those two mixed up
Maybe NCC could offer a class on that. Lets' see who would teach what?
O'Hare, Angle and Panto are teaming up to teach a class on government. Haha, ya got to pity those poor students with those three.
ReplyDeleteO'Hare pretends to cry for the elderly poor, yet he keeps posting a picture that mocks an individuals physical illness. hypocrite O'Hare.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fortune teller, asshole. The supposed mockery exists only in your sick mind. I will continue posting this picture w/ every swaption story until you shut up.
ReplyDeleteStoffa was offered a resonable solution but he won't take it. He wants to create a budget crises on purpose and blame Gracedale. He should be recalled and indicted.
ReplyDeleteStoffa should be indicted and recalled for a swaption he had nothing to do with and that his fiscal adviser had been asking to resolve for several years. I remember very clearly that, while Mazziotti was doing that, Lamont McClure was insisting it would go down.
ReplyDeleteInstead of braying about this anonymously on a blog, file a petition, asshole.
The pettition is on the way O'Hare. Once Stoffa is gone you will have destroyed the politcal careers of two county officials. You have already rrunied Sal Panto's shot at the county executve seat.
ReplyDeleteNice work. Whats you nickname, "kiss of death". They should send you to Afghanastan to befriend the Taliban. That would ruin them faster than our troops.
Good. You'll have to sign your name to the petition that is supposedly on the way.
ReplyDeleteWe signed to keep Gracedale, so there is no fear in signing to "dump Stoffa". You, Angle and Stoffa no longer inspire fear in the people. Stoffa is an old and incompetent man who has destroyed trust in government and you are a baseless blogger.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for your petition, the one you'll have to sign, the one ou said was on its way.
ReplyDeleteO'Hare the hate blogger continues to mock a Reibman family illness. That is one of the many reasons That this is know as the Lehigh Valleys worst hate blog.
ReplyDeleteIf Sen. Reibman were still alive she would publicly demand an apology to the Reibman family by O'Hare. O'Hare continues to mock a physical disability in order to get laughs from his teabagger buddies.
ReplyDeleteIf Sen Reibman were still alive, she'd be embarrassed by her nephew. I know she was when she was alive.
ReplyDelete