Yes, do we vote for the Democrat liberal or the Republican
liberal?
Howie’s Friday column. Column ping.
Finneran joins ex-pol pals aboard lobbying gravy train
By Howie Carr | Friday, February 1, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com
Convicted felon Tom Finneran wants to be a lobbyist for the same reason Willie Sutton wanted to rob banks.
Because thats where the money is.
How can anyone be surprised that the Advil-addled, ethically challenged former House speaker would decide to take a shot at influence-peddling?
Hes lost his law license, hes lost his state pension, he should be doing a five-year bit at Club Fed, and on the radio hes not exactly the second coming of Howard Stern, or even Peter Meade.
Hey, Tommy Taxes: dont do the crime if you cant do the time.
The fact that this criminal hack would be hired by the state police union makes the story more amusing, but hardly unexpected. Which is why when he got the radio gig last year and came on my show just after copping a plea, I put him on the spot.
I asked him if he would vow not to do any lobbying as long as he was on the radio. He brushed away the Bible that I had brought into the studio for the occasion and refused to take the no-influence-peddling pledge.
Give The Felon credit. For once in his squalid life, he didnt lie.
One poster on a radio message board now imagines the Felons next monologue on his new clients, the Mass. State Police:
They are vastly underpaid and grossly overworked. Those paid details are what make Massachusetts great! Our troopers deserve your love, admiration and doughnuts.
But you ask, how can a convicted felon like Finneran be a lobbyist?
Four words: Good Time Charlie Flaherty. He was the House Speaker before the Felon, and he too was convicted of a federal crime: felony tax fraud. According to statements on file with the Secretary of State, in 2007 this prior speaker/convicted felon made $420,500 as a lobbyist.
The bad news for the Felon is, hell have to have his mugshot taken when he registers with the Secretary of State. The good news is, it wont be the first time.
The Felon made his bones during the old political street wars in Boston in the 1970s between Kevin White and Joe Timilty. Some of the survivors of those City Hall shootouts are now grabbing close to a million a year lobbying.
Consider Bobby White, an old Dorchester coatholder, a good pal of Tommy Taxes. (I saw him at the Felons sentencing.) Robert White Associates last year reported taking in $811,000. Not bad for a guy who was below even Mumbles Menino on Joe Timiltys political depth chart.
Then theres Brian Hickey. Kevin White ran him for the City Council out of Charlestown in 1981. Last year Hickeys company took in $953,940, paying out salaries of $589,500, including Hickeys $200,000.
Thats a lot of accounts, as the lobybists call their marks.
Finneran sees all this cash flowing to political ham-and-eggers, and it makes him crazy. So he sets up shop with his old law partner, Jimmy Bunzo Byrne, the former city councilor from Dorchester.
Look at lobbyist Steve Karol - he used to be a state rep back in the Jurassic era. Now hes partners with former Sen. Paul White (yet another Dorchester hack). The Karol Group last year took in $1,034,416. Whites salary: $180,000, Karols $174,000.
Then theres ex-Sen. Henri Rauschenbach, aka Kickenbach, a Republican who used to complain (under oath) about how he only made 30 beans a year in the Legislature. Now I see that his company took in $324,330 last year, of which he paid himself $130,000. And given Kickenbachs closeness to Senate President Terry Murray, hell be rollin in beans again this year.
They all have expenses of course. Rauschenbach, for instance, lists donations to 27 state reps, 19 state senators, a sheriff and a clerk of courts who used to be state senators, and one governor. Of course, the lobbyists have figured out a way to minimize their, uh, exposure. They can only give $200 per hack per year, the rest of us can pony up $500.
Imagine if youre Tommy Taxes. Kickenbach too was indicted - when it comes to lobbying, if youre indicted, youre invited. But Kichenbach beat the rap, and it was just a state rap! Why, Kickenbach isnt even a convicted felon.
So now the Felon becomes a lobbyist . . . for cops. I guess well have a lot more doughnuts around the studio.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1070466