Half a Billion Dollars "Tainted" in CityTime Scandal

I'm surprised the press hasn't linked the CityTime scandal to the massive cutbacks. Or maybe not so surprised:

 Reddy Allen and Dr Padma Allen have been indicted on federal fraud and kickback charges in relation to the scandals surrounding Mayor Michael Bloomberg administration's CityTime project to modernise the municipal payroll system.

A grand jury said on Monday that more than $600 million of the project's bloated budget is "tainted" by fraud. The couple secured a lucrative, no-bid subcontract for the CityTime that made it look like their firm, TechnoDyne, was "a successful and fast-growing company," the New York Post
reported.

Gee, another "no-bid" contract. How did that happen? Anyone know?

Is Newt His Own Favorite Charity Case?

Looks like he may have funneled money from his "charity" to his for profit businesses.

ABC relates:

The charity, Renewing American Leadership, not only featured Gingrich on its website and in fundraising letters, it also paid $220,000 over two years to one of Gingrich's for-profit companies, Gingrich Communications. It purchased cases of Gingrich's books and bought up copies of DVDs produced by another of the former House speaker's entities, Gingrich Productions.

Renew that leadership with bales of cash, Newt. There's more heinous behavior of the kind in the article, including fundraising letters on his own stationery chopping up a quote from Pres. O. to state that ours is not a Christian nation. (Famous quote, very stirring, adding and including others, just like the founders expressly stated that they wanted.)

I ask you, Who would Jesus bilk?

Newt can also be found in many gardenscapes.

Newt's Entire Senior Staff Resigns

A summary courtesy of theatlanticwire.com (quoting a.p. and politico):

Just a day after he returned from vacation--and only a month into his presidential campaign--Newt Gingrich's senior staff has resigned "en masse," the Associated Press reports. Politico's Jonathan Martin says Rob Johnson, Sam Dawson, Dave Carney, Katon Dawson, and Craig Schoenfeld have all quit the campaign.

The Associated Press' David Espo says the resignations--which include staff in early voting states South Carolina, Iowa, and New Hampshire--leaves Gingrich's "hopes of winning the Republican nomination in tatters." Nevertheless, "Gingrich told the group he intends to stay in the race, they added."

Gee, wonder what made them all walk at once. Seems like a concerted effort, waiting until his cruise of the Greek isles docked. I think the major media tale about the cruise is rather soggy and squishy. The story runs something like Tiffany credit line payoff plus luxury cruise foils his "common man" image plan for the campaign. See my last post on this stuff.

Who on earth ever thought that Newt was a man-of-the-people, salt-of-the-earth type? In what universe? Right, the same one where he's a Washington outsider. Too much spin. I am dizzy. Isn't there a sex scandal we should be paying attention to somewhere?

So, the staff was angry that Newt wouldn't live in the fantasy world they were dreaming up for him, but preferred his own fantasy world? Come on! Who's fooling who? My intuition tells me there's more to it. Maybe even, gasp!, shirtless pics. I'm saddened, and wish he'd stick around, just to keep things interesting as we watch him turn beet red at each embarrassing event.

I'm waiting for someone to spill before I believe any of these yarns being spun on any side. In the mean time, have a good chuckle as the good ship Newt now circles the drain.

Mortgage Crisis, part 2. Securities based on dark matter.

Naked Capitalism collects the story well.

According to court testimony, it looks like a lot of notes did not get properly transferred into the securities, meaning many of those instruments were, perhaps, based on nothing. Let's call these things dark matter securities. That would mean that there's literally no there there, and the investors who bought pieces of these heaps of nothing now hold less than nothing, if I follow rightly.

Of course, some of those holders would have to enter the fray and find proof in their cases. Gov't looks like it's trying to frame a "settlement" that waves a magic wand over it all.

But what of the government resale of all this nonstuff? The repackaging of dark matter with a bow on it? Could be the biggest cover-up in history in progress. Nobody look behind the curtain, and somebody call the fabric store!

Newt by popular demand. All blinged out.

So now we know that Newt's wife had a big post at the committee overseeing MINING. And MINING leads to JEWELRY. And Tiffany sells JEWELRY. And Newt had a no-interest line of credit for thousands upon thousands, reportedly half a mil. This story has been circling the drain lately, but it seems that the pipes are starting to back up.

Tiffany's denial rings of tin rather than silver.

I'm sure Justice will get right on this, after the Edwards indictment.

(Link to Salon. Thanks to S.F. for the tip.)

John Edwards indicted.

Red hot details here.

Apparently, a plea deal fell through. There was alleged money shipped in chocolate boxes, and other sketchy behavior, according to the story.  What I don't get was why it cost hundreds of thousands to play hide the mistress. Couldn't they have just bought her a wig, oversized sunglasses, a big floppy hat, sweatpants, and stashed her in a series of moderately priced, but decent, traveler's hotel?

With all the sameness of American strips, anonymity seems much more easily done. I guess a candidate's mistress gets her hideouts gold-plated.