Did you know that former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick “secretly diverted nearly $27 million in public money to off-budget accounts that paid for a $1.35 million trade junket tab, bloated advertising contracts, and a deal with a federally subsidized tourism venture backed by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid”?
If not, I guess you rely on mainstream media for your news.
On Wednesday, the Boston Herald published Joe Battenfield\’s devastating investigative report on the financial fun and games Patrick apparently played at taxpayers\’ expense while serving two terms in the statehouse.
Here\’s another snippet Mr. Battenfield uncovered – after which I will not post any more, because I want you to use the link I\’ve provided to read the entire piece – which talks about misuse of funds, cronyism, and more. It is well worth your time:
Records show that from 2011 to 2014, Patrick and his traveling entourage rang up a $535,558 hotel tab, $332,193 in airfare, $305,976 for limos and transportation and $175,000 in other costs. All told, it came to $1.35 million.
The total cost of Patrick\’s overseas trips, including a $225,000 visit to China in 2007 – before the trust accounts were created – cost $1,573,949, according to records from the state\’s Housing and Economic Development office, which oversaw the accounts. The 10 overseas junkets, including a $364,000 trip to South America, cost far more than the Patrick administration previously disclosed.
Point of order: As noted above, Mr. Battenfield\’s report was published on Wednesday. That means mainstream media has had four days to pick up on it.
Have they? In almost all cases, the answer is no. Which leads to the question of what the Governor of a major state has to do to get media to report on alleged misdeeds?
I have two suggestions:
-Put an “R” after his name instead of a “D”,
-then accuse him of closing a couple of lanes in the Logan or Ted Williams tunnels.
That should do just fine.
I talk a lot about media bias in here. This is why.
