| I've long considered Rochester Turning to be one of the best blogs in the state. When people outside of New York ask me about New York blogs they should read (and they ask this often, mind you) I always mention RT.
That's why I was flabbergasted when I read yesterday at the Albany Times Union's blog, Capitol Confidential, that they had never heard of RT.
Those blogs just keep coming. Maybe its Trooper/Spitzergate or 08 but the blogosphere is hosting more and more political sites, it seems each day.
Here are two new ones that I was previously unaware of until some helpful readers e-mailed me.
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On the left is the Rochester-based Rochesterturning blog where blogger Jvriper criticizes Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno’s fundraising tactics, noting that the Senator has collected $25,000 in interest alone since January, according to the July filing.
(Also note that the folks at Cap Con didn't even provide a link.)
That the writers of what is likely the most widely read political site in New York were completely unaware of one the state's best written and most effective blogs is completely astounding. It's even worse when you consider that RT front pager Jrviper is making the rest of the statewide media look silly by completely owning them on a potentially significant story. This is citizen journalism at its finest and it should shame those in the media who have so far been completely unaware of such a great site and the great work that they do.
Jrviper is smacking the hell out of this story. He's doing the media's job because they apparently won't. They should start paying attention because this story ain't no joke. Here's a taste:
Allegations Swirling Around Bruno
As a defense to our previous post on Joe Bruno’s apparently illegal corporate campaign contributions, an unnamed republican staffer made the following claim:
In fact I recognized at least one company listed where I know that the donation was returned because they hit their limit.
Unfortunately for the unnamed staffer, this claim compelled RT to rebut his claims and to further examine Bruno’s campaign finance records. As you will see, it appears this returned contribution may be much more than a simple mistake.
Much more on the flip... |
| The writer has got Uncle Joe and his defenders dead to rights on this one and goes on to show plainly that they're being, shall we say, less than truthful. Here it is in black and white:
The contribution in question was made by Diamond Asphalt Corp. on or about September 27, 2005, to the tune of $7,500. Obviously, since corporations are limited to $5,000 in contributions per calendar year, this was an illegal contribution and it was made in one lump sum solely to Joe Bruno. Given it was illegal on its face, and Bruno knew it was a corporation (as evidenced by the donation being listed on “Schedule B” of Bruno’s disclosure) it will have to be up to Senator Bruno to explain why it was accepted in the first place, but we have a pretty good idea why.
It wasn’t until March 2007, almost two years later, that the donation was returned, and even then it was returned in two separate payments.
The only reasonable explanation for Bruno accepting a contribution from a corporation in an amount over the $5,000 limit and keeping it for almost two years before returning it in two separate chunks is that Bruno wanted the Corporation to make a donation and figured out a way in which the corporation wouldn’t have to donate a dime.
Jrviper then sums up with some to the point analysis of the situation and informs us that he has even asked the Majority Leader for comment to no avail.
In summary, Senate Majority Leader Bruno appears to be accepting illegal donations, earning an enormous amount of interest on those illegal donations, and claiming to have done no wrong because (eventually) the contributions are returned.
The power wielded by Bruno over the last decade or so has so greatly damaged our State Government that we can not afford to let this linger. I emailed Senator Bruno shortly after we ran the original story on the apparently illegal corporate contributions. To date, I haven’t heard a response.
This isn't the first time that the fine folks at RT have produced some outstanding original reporting and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last time they do so. But, to think that the folks at Capitol Confidential were unaware of the site and its work before yesterday is simply beyond me.
They should, uh, ya know, get out more. |
