Posted on 06/24/2013 10:13:30 AM PDT by Olog-hai
The engineering firm Birdsall Services Group was built of New Jersey steel, the kind forged in a fire of wheeling and dealing and political influence that made the company a titan in the brawl for millions of dollars worth of public contracts.
Now it’s all melting down.
Birdsall, bankrupt and a shadow of its former self, admitted in state court this month to dumping loads of illegal campaign donations into the coffers of elected officials, a practice one former employee said “regularly won contracts” for the company.
It was classic Jersey: Banned by law from giving more than $300 to many politicians, Birdsall instead had its employees write personal checks to candidates and then later reimbursed the staffers with salary bonuses and lied to the state on disclosure forms. …
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
And the pols who received these “donations” are in the clear, even if they knew what they were getting were illegally set up funds. Politicians are slick weasels.
Bergewn Record/North Jersey Herald has front page story on how the slimy politians wont give money back......
And now they have NSA metadata to knife their enemies and reward their friends, while keeping tabs on both. National Security for the corrupt ruling class.
“Politicians are slick weasels.”
It’s human nature. All of us put our self interest first. They are some angels among us, but they are few and far between. And very few of those go into politics.
That incontrovertible insight is the intellectual foundation behind the desirability of “small government”. Some government is needed but it should be made as small as possible. We should give it the bare minimum in money and power to do its job, and then it should be watched like a hawk.
If they paid all this money in order to get contracts, why are they bankrupt now?..........
Ferengi Rules of Acquisition #284:
Deep inside, everyone is Ferengi.................
Pay to play translates to one thing: BRIBERY! Offering or accepting are each a crime and should be dealt with as such.
If all political contributions were anonymous, donor identity unknown to recipient, they couldn’t sell influence. They wouldn’t know who is buying.
That preserves the citizen’s right to support his choice, while preventing the deal-making that goes on.
Look WAY offshore for their retirement funds. Think "The Producers".
They don't have any first names in the article, but I believe I know this family.
Good people.
I scanned through this article... but didn’t see any mention of this... but this sort of ethical shenanigans ewarrants a swift and firm reaction from the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs.
It looks to me like at least one PE deserves to lose his license over this... it denigrates the whole profession.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.