Influence for labor but not the people.. That is for dam sure. Of course we don’t have the money to buy them off, labor does. They use dues from their members to buy their influence. We on the other hand just vote for them. Politicians use their money and influence to destroy any possible opponent. All it is is tax payers dollars being used in a vicious circle against us. Once again we allow it to go on. Time to wake up NYers…. Time to wake up.
ALBANY, N.Y. AP — The corruption trial of former New York Senate leader Joseph Bruno revealed how box seats at a swanky race track, golf outings and other perks were the currency as labor unions and politicians kept public works dollars flowing, required union wages on taxpayer-funded projects, and sweetened pension benefits for unionized government workers.
Mark Congi, Laborers Local 91 assistant business agent in Niagara Falls until his 2002 indictment for racketeering, testified at Bruno’s trial that the union’s late business agent, Michael Quarcini, was always looking for more state money for road construction jobs and knew where to go.
“He was always close to politicians who could help Local 91, starting with Nelson Rockefeller,” Congi said, referring to New York’s governor from 1959-73.A dozen union officials denied under oath trading pension fund investments with the company that employed Bruno in return for his legislative support. But they described the Republican as a consistent friend to labor, one they could reach — or more often his top staff.
Some were golf partners and guests at his two boxes at Saratoga Race Course.”The interesting thing about the trial was how pervasive this creeping corruption was,” said Susan Lerner of Common Cause/NY. “It wasn’t limited to labor or business. This was equal opportunity corruption, which tells you it’s a corrupt system.”For 14 years, Bruno controlled the flow of legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate and personally directed millions of dollars in annual grants, including several grants to unions. He retired last year. The 80-year-old was convicted last week of two fraud counts for denying New Yorkers his “honest services” by taking consulting money from a businessman with state interests and failing to clearly disclose those arrangements.
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