Keep your hand on your purse or wallet. Official kleptocracy continues as greed overwhelms American democracy. The three new examples that follow might remind my fellow Wisconsin residents of the case in which a top staffer in the Milwaukee County executive's office of Scott Walker (before he became governor) went to prison after embezzling funds intended for military veterans. Or the case in which Gov. Walker and GOP lawmakers upended public school aid, turning it into a welfare program for wealthy families who send their kids to private “voucher” schools.
It’s all of a piece — a piece of your tax dollars. To swipe line from the late Sen. Everett Dirksen: A million here, a million there, and pretty soon you’re talking big money.
OUTAGE 1. Many colleges are now playing triage with limited financial aid money, cutting off students from poorer families that need the most help with tuition. Competing for "the best and the brightest" (read: "cash"), colleges increasingly deploy financial aid money as a lure to grab more affluent students. Low-income families not only have more trouble enrolling their children, but help pay for financial aid to affluent families through their taxes. The details are in a study by the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank that used Department of Education data. Yes, it’s upwards redistribution of wealth, and it’s a an Alice in Wonderland world in which the people who least need financial aid get the most. Greed apparently is good. www.bloomberg.com/...
OUTRAGE 2. A two-count federal indictment unsealed in February in Salt Lake City charged 11 leaders and members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with conspiracy to commit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They allegedly used the food assistant money for other purposes that didn’t help the poor. The defendants include church leaders. www.deseretnews.com/...
OUTRAGE 3. In South Dakota, a long-simmering case involving numerous individuals now has netted a former state official who once ran the state's scandal-ridden investment-for-visa immigration program. Facing felony charges is Joop Bollen, accused of diverting more than $1.2 million from a state-run program through illegitimate transfers in 2012. The program offers incentives for wealthy foreigners to apply for immigration papers by making financial investments in the state. Authorities link the money transfers to Bollen's purchase of an Egyptian artifact and investing in private bonds, among other uses. Bollen's alleged deeds occurred while he served under a Republican administration that blocked attempts by Democrats to begin an investigation years ago. It’s the “citizenship for sale” scandal. www.sddp.org/...