Romney’s salty pork
13th August 2012 · 0 Comments
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
TriceEdneyWire.com Columnist
For years, the state of Utah was a major producer of salt. You can’t follow the politics of our nation without hearing a reference to “pork-barrel politics”—slang used when politicians undertake projects to benefit a group of friends in exchange for campaign donations. The spending mostly benefits a small group of people, but it’s paid for by those of us who may reap no benefit.
We’ve heard of “bringing home the bacon”. Little did I know this would mean so much in the 2012 Presidential election! If we go back to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, we’re told Mitt Romney became well-known for saving the Winter Olympics from corruption surrounding the International Olympic Committee. Criminal charges resulted in indictments and prosecutions. Many involved turned out to be Romney’s friends.
Coming off his defeat by Senator Edward Kennedy for Senate, and with apparent thoughts of running for President, Romney needed a network to support his political aspirations. The Winter Olympics seemed like the perfect place to begin. The fact that he could have the project funded by taxpayers was icing on the cake!
He’s been given credit for raising funds and saving the Olympics. Some would disagree. Sydney Fonnesbeck, member of the Salt Lake City Council…said, “He just came in and gathered the money already (pledged) … He didn’t want to give anyone else any credit. We became nobodies. A lot of us were hurt and angry. It didn’t surprise … us when he ran home and ran for governor.”
Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe said his determination to present himself as a white knight came at a cost. Some say he magnified the extent of the committee’s fiscal distress, risked possible conflicts of interest among board members, and shunted aside others whose work had been instrumental in promoting the Games.
Lisa Roche wrote in the Desert News, “Mitt didn’t save the games. It was a publicity ploy from the beginning to build his platform in politics.”
Senator John McCain, railed against the “pork barrel spending” and “fiscal abuse” of tax payer money used for the Games, saying taxpayers were shaken down to the tune of nearly a billion and ½ dollars, and denounced ‘pork barrel subsidies,’ identifying earmarks for infrastructure in and around Salt Lake City.
In a 12/2001 Sports Illustrated article, Donald Bartlett and James Steele wrote that for the past few years, while attention was on the Great Olympic Bribery Scandal…private and public interests siphoned about $1.5 billion out of the U.S. Treasury, the amount of taxpayer money spent, considering inflation, was more than spending for all seven games in the U.S. since 1904—combined. Private enterprise derived significant long-term benefits from the congressional giveaways, draining funds from an unprecedented number of federal agencies. The largest amount of taxpayer money per athlete was spent—about $625,000, far more than Atlanta or Los Angeles.
He went beyond prevailing practice. He spent far more tax dollars to enhance the long term worth of for-profit businesses than any of our former host states.
Public records show cronyism when Kem Gardner, Romney’s friend, was given a contract to build the Olympic Legacy Park in his shopping mall with millions of tax reimbursements available. There was no competition for the bid. The park was built on private land with no thought of using public land.
Romney says he’s from outside the Washington Beltway, but he sure was well taken care of by the Salt Lake City Beltway!
He received over $1.5 million in campaign funds from people with ties to the Olympics; those he helped benefitted greatly, too. Does it surprise you they donated to his campaign for governor soon after and many joined fundraisers for his presidential campaign?
This article was originally published in the August 13, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper
