All These Things

Negatives
A lawsuit against Burlington that sought the immediate repayment of mismanaged telecom funds was dismissed Tuesday in Chittenden Superior Court.


Plaintiffs Fred Osier and Eugene Shaver, both city residents, had alleged fraud, deceit and breach of duty on the part of the city and then-Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold, and had sought the return to taxpayers of $17 million borrowed from general city accounts by Burlington Telecom between 2007 and 2010.

Judge Geoffrey Crawford, while acknowledging the wrongdoing -- the loans violated state regulatory constraints -- granted the city’s request to dismiss the case.

In his written order, Crawford stated that the plaintiff’s call for immediate reimbursement would subvert ongoing oversight of BT by the Vermont Public Service Board.

“Taking $17 million out of BT would repay the taxpayers, but it would undoubtedly also eviscerate BT, resulting in negative consequences for the City (such as a lowered credit rating) and its taxpayers,” Crawford wrote. (Burlington Free Press, 9/25/2012)

It is always a pleasure to revisit the fun and games in Burlington, Vermont where accountability does not exist as long as you are Liberal enough. When we last checked in, the city had defaulted on its obligations to Burlington Telecom's lender. The lender then wanted its collateral returned which is what lenders say when you haven't paid your note. Burlington took the position that it was not obliged to return the collateral, perhaps citing some new legal principle that says that you don't ALWAYS have to pay what you owe.  Meanwhile, Bob Kiss,the city's Progressive mayor under whom all these shenanigans occurred, ended his term and was replaced by a Democrat.  Only Kiss is not really gone.  He was spotted two days ago on the street waving a sign which seemed to indicate that he was running for the state senate.  Apparently not content with screwing up Burlington, he wants to apply these same principles on a state-wide basis.

Meanwhile - if we read the article above correctly - Burlington got a favorable court ruling from a friendly judge. The judge seems to be saying that, yes, Burlington committed crimes, but gosh darn it, if we punish the city things will only get worse! (Yes, if we send that drug dealer to prison how is he ever going to straighten out his life?) 

There truly are alternate universes.


Off Track
The New York Times, in collaboration with Quinnipiac University and CBS News, is tracking the presidential race with recurring polls in six states. In Ohio — which no Republican has won the presidency without — Mr. Obama is leading Mr. Romney 53 percent to 43 percent in the poll. In Florida, the president leads Mr. Romney 53 to 44 percent in the poll.

The surveys, which had margins of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for each candidate, also included a Pennsylvania poll, where Mr. Obama is leading Mr. Romney by 12 percentage points. (NYT, 9/26/2012)

Wow, sure sounds bad for Romney.  Wonder what Dick Morris's polling says: 

Obama leads in Ohio (47-46)...Obama leads in Florida (48-46)...Obama is only getting 51% of the vote in Pennsylvania... (Dickmorris.com, 9/25/2012)

Worser
On issues related to the military and foreign policy, Obama’s worse than Bush, “in the sense that he’s more aggressive, more illegal worldwide,” Nader told POLITICO, going so far as to call Obama a “war criminal.” (POLITICO.com, 9/25/2012)

If you ever get really depressed, it is comforting to know that you can always turn to someone like Ralph Nader to lift your spirits. 

In all seriousness, there actually is something honorable about Nader's non-partisan lunacy.