New York’s Pension Scandal (comptroller pleads guilty to pension felony, gets to keep $105k/yr)

NY Times ^ | 10/07/10

[Libloather]

New York’s Pension Scandal
Published: October 7, 2010

Alan Hevesi, the former comptroller, has provided the best argument to stop giving one person the power to invest New York State’s $125 billion pension fund.

Mr. Hevesi pleaded guilty on Thursday to a felony corruption charge for accepting more than $1 million in travel expenses, sham consulting fees and campaign contributions. In return, Mr. Hevesi allowed his benefactor to earn more than $18 million in management fees for investing $250 million of the state’s pension fund.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, in his announcement of Mr. Hevesi’s plea, accused him of indulging in a “culture of corruption.” Mr. Hevesi, who is now cooperating with the broad pension investigation, could serve up to four years in jail, which would make him the highest-ranking elected official in New York State to go to prison in recent memory. In 2006, Mr. Hevesi resigned rather than go to jail for misusing state resources.

[CdMGuy]

He is just the tip of the iceberg from New York to California and ending up in Washington, DC. We need to bring back the firing squad.

[ronnie raygun]

Evil eye Andy standing out above the crooked crowd as a shining superman of the people. sure.....

[Mobties]

Hevesi should be spending his entire retirement years in a gated community on the Hudson River ..... Sing Sing prison.

His pension should be capitalized and paid in a lump sum consisting of New York State municipal bonds.

[Cicero]

This is SOP for NY governors. They serve a term as Attorney General, take on some polical crook in a high-profile case, and then are elected governor by admiring voters. Kind of tough on the scapegoat, but there’s always someone that they’re ready to throw to the wolves. Plenty more crooked pols where they came from.

The timing of this announcement presumably is not accidental.

Let’s hope this time it doesn’t work.

[Tamzee]

Don’t know how it could have slipped the NYT’s mind, but WHAT PARTY does he belong to?

Old grey whore sells herself again....

[taildragger]

Ok... so why don’t these states just hire Vanguard or Barclays and go with baskets of ETF’s for their large cap exposures ( most cost effective since they are efficent markets, not advice, but it is a stategy used by some top advisers) and something akin to a clone of the NFA family of funds for the other classes. Then they would even need this guy.

[Tamzee]

Interesting... his brother Dennis Hevesi is a journalist with the New York Times.

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/h/dennis_hevesi/index.html

[Zakeet]

Let me see if I've got this right ...

A corrupt Democrat politician announced ... that another corrupt Democrat politician admitted to taking bribes and kickbacks ... from corrupt Democrat lobbyists ... which would have been perfectly legal had he been a corrupt Democrat Congressman ... or corrupt Democrat Senator ... for stealing pension funds meant for corrupt Democrat civil servants ... which had originally been shaken out of idiot taxpayers who voted for Democrats ... by corrupt Democrat politicians ... and corrupt Democrat union bosses ... and corrupt Democrat civil servants ... under a system with no internal controls designed by corrupt Democrat civil servants ... enacted by corrupt Democrat politicians ... who still gets to keep his lush pension because he is a corrupt Democrat politician ... and because by pleading out we won't have a trial which might implicate other corrupt Democrat politicians ... and corrupt Democrat union bosses ... who are all protected by corrupt Democrat newsers ... and corrupt Democrat judges.

So what's the problem?

[EQAndyBuzz]

No problem. You summed it up perfectly.

On the flip side, the NY Slimes reported for 10 straight days in 2004 that George Bush went to the dentist one afternoon therefore he was AWOL from his military assignment which he was finishing up.

I forgot to mention, that Kerry was in Vietnam.

[ronnie raygun]

On a happier note(sarc) link below about lame duck session to vote on pension bailout, legislation to confiscate all private 401K’s and create a government pension system that would dole the money out in a fair and equal way. How are we ever holding in our anger?
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39336

[Leo Carpathian]

Vote Palladino’s baseball bat and broooome to sweep the corrupt RATS out!!!

[Ouderkirk]

IN the event that they would vote to seize 401k’s I would withdraw every cent before they did.

[eleni121]

We need to bring back the firing squad.

---

Sadly, it seems that your suggestion requires serious scrutiny given the absolute corruption we find ourselves in. The crooks and traitors are running things...and history is replete with moments of setting things right requiring the shedding of blood.

[GregoryFul]

I forgot to mention, that Kerry was in Vietnam.

Except when he was in Cambodia!

[GregoryFul]

And pay AMT taxes on your "earnings" the year you did that.

Make a deal with the devil...

[Ouderkirk]

Would you rather have your money or have it seized by the feds?

I’ll pay the tax and keep he cash and my freedom to invest it as I choose.