Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Doug Forrester- his pay-to-play contracts

"Enact Comprehensive "Pay-to-Play" Reform: No issue is more important to reversing the downward spiral of ethical standards in government than the enactment of across-the-board, comprehensive "pay-to-play" reform for all levels of government. "

That's from Doug Forrester's web site. Shame he hasn't read it.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Monday that Benecard, Doug Forrester's insurance benefits company, benefitted from a $3.4 million in business they recieved from Burlington County Special Services School District. in 2004 and 2005, despite the fact that they were significantly more expensive than other bidders. Their contract was renewed after the first year, even though the price increased 37%.

"Forrester has said that his companies' government contracts were not influenced by politics but based on price proposals that were lower than its competitors'." Um, they're not. What are they influenced by?

Forrester donated almost $60,000 to Burlington County Republicans since 2003. And, the agent who brokered those county contracts? Sean Gormley, son of State Sen. William Gormley. The Burlington County GOP controlls the school board in question, according to the Inquirer article. Republican county leader, Glenn Paulsen, is one of the Republican powers influential in choosing statewide candidates- such as, who gets to run for governor. Hmmm... kinda sounds like pay-to-play to me...

Go read the Inquirer article, especially if you're an undecided voter. The Star-Ledger article is here.

No comments: