Yawn.  We are so used to it by now.

Always near the last week of September before an election cycle, Republican State Auditor Thomas Wagner, releases some audit that  somehow gets stretched to cover something both corrupt and Democratic, and Republican Greg LaVelle jumps all over it like a ho on coke to prove he is Delaware’s champion for righteousness and might. It’s like we get nothing of value for two years solid years, then right before an election,  bam, we have a grave crisis, handcrafted for one politician:  Greg LaVelle. Republican for Senate.

They tried to waltz in on the Work Release program.  That fizzled.  Isn’t it ironical that it was only those two Republicans who were redistricted into contentious races who were being  the ones who creating the crisis, fanning the flames, leading the charge, and advertise that it was they  who are calling on the US Attorney’s office to investigate what turns out to be  a petty and extremely minor occurrence….  They were fortunate they had Rick Jensen to give them one day of airplay, otherwise it would have flopped dreadfully.  Rick Jensen failed.  It flopped dreadfully anyways.

“Oh, it’s terrible, it’s typical. It is a sacrilege”…  anytime one hears that in politics it immediately sends up a red flag that someone is in trouble, that a) it is not terrible unless one has a very low threshold of what  “terrible” is;  b) it is not typical, unless one has no idea of what is typical and what is not;  c) it is not a sacrilege;  unless something like breaking a fingernail is also considered to be a sacrilege….

And so Rick Jensen wastes an hour, the News Journal wastes a page of print, and we all waste an awful lot of time…. which could be spent doing something far better…..

You see, the Democratic Governor, the Democratic Senate, and the Democratic House have done such an exemplary job of running this state, that there are no crises to divert voters attention away from the fact that Republicans have really done nothing since being elected into their seats.  Nada……

They NEED a crises to appear important…. And so they called their buddy, Tom Wagner,  the only Republican in a statewide office.

“Tom, Tom, save us, save us.  You gotta help us old buddy. Do something.  Do something”

Instead of doing the right thing and saying….” I stick my neck out for nobody,” …. Tom says “ok, let me see what I can dust off in my files…..”

“Oh, here is one… Let’s give this a shot…  (dials number)… “hello?  Hello?  Oh, yes.  Say, is this Doug?  Which Doug?  Uhh,  this is the News Journal, isn’t it?  Doug …. Denison. Heh, heh… Yeah, I remembered his last name finally.  Tell you, old age doesn’t make one as sharp as he use to be… heh, heh, heh….  Hi, Doug… this is Tom Wagner, state auditor.  Hey I got something you might be interested in…..  We need some help here if you could do us a favor….”

And so the story comes out….  Political Hands in Pact With Non-Profit.  ” An ‘ongoing’ investigation by the state auditor questions why a Wilmington nonprofit received more than $880,000 in contracts after an earlier review determined there was no way of proving the state money was used properly and salaries paid were justified. ”

Greg calls up Tom Wagner…. ” Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

But, soon the other side begins to come out.  Apparently this was a secret audit done which non of the perpetrators even knew existed. Apparently no collaboration of the actual charges were ever made.  Apparently this was created mysteriously in the dark of night,  and none of the responsible parties were asked to provide any documentation…  Apparently there was a good reason for that.  If they had been asked to provide documentation and did, then there would not be a crises.

They only mileage that can be ginned from this, is simply saying “there’s trouble in River City.”  When poking around, one finds there really is no trouble at all…..

If you look at the report,  simplified, it states that this nonprofit was audited before, and holy crap, we are still giving money to it.

Is that bad?  You tell me.  If a nonprofit corrects its deficiencies and functions as it is supposed to, shouldn’t it be allowed to continue?  Of course.  But Republicans can’t win if that’s the case.  They have no positives and can only win by saying Democrats are corrupt, and are equivalent to that abysmal boil on the underside of your rump.   But, when evidence proves otherwise, that Democrats are pretty cool and certainly more trustworthy,  Republicans lose big.

So Doug Denison gets slammed for faulty journalism, and so goes poking around to vindicate his name…   Here is what he finds.

A)  The State Auditor Tom Wagner was not comprehensive or thorough in his review.  (How much are we paying him?)

B)   Concerns addressed in the previous audit were fixed in 2009.

C)   Tom’s report inaccurately states that the contract was terminated and reinstated.  It never was terminated.

D)  The services provided by this organization are vital (life and death) and abruptly terminating this contract would have a life or death impact upon the elderly clients this non profit serves.

E)  Considering the gravity of such termination, Tom’s report deems the decision to continue using this service as “inappropriate”.  (WTF? Inappropriate  based on whose standards, Greg Lavelle’s?)

F) The auditor was unaware that a team had audited the facility and found no wrong doing.  The DHSS was never asked.  The evidence from that internal audit would have eliminate this issue completely..  (But… that wouldn’t have given Greg Lavelle a platform to scream from).

G) After the 2009 issue, a system was put in place of which the auditor (who simply dusted off an old report) was completely unaware, which monitored and assisted the organization in keeping their finances in good standing and compliant.  It’s like if your daughter bounces a check in her first checking account, you the parent, periodically look over it, teaching her how to balance it correctly.  It never happens again.

H) The report implies that the only reason this nonprofit received any funding at all,  is because Tony DeLuca, Patty Blevins, and Bob Gilligan, (all Democrats) overruled official policy and said…  “they’re with me… just give them ‘da’ money…”  Tom states:  “the agency had learned that a few phone calls would absolve their responsibility to comply with the state contract..”  The DHSS, was dumbfounded.  “There were no threats, intimidation, suggestions of reprisals or anything that equates to “political pressure”, as the report mistakenly concludes.

I)  Auditors did not interview anyone from the non profit agency about allegations of political pressure.  It made them all up.

J) The head of the organization told Doug Denison, the News Journal reporter, that since 2009 the organization has never failed to meet the expectations of the DHSS.  “They always say they have everything they’ve asked for.”

K) Non profits undergo a yearly audit by outside auditors, and not one of those accountants raised any concern. Neither has anyone from the DHSS.

Overall this claim by Lavelle and Tom Wagner and all other Republicans, is outrageous. That this is even an issue, and especially that it conveniently  gets trotted out to help Greg Lavelle who is already predicted to lose, and now must rely on some type of “hail mary” or something if he is to win his seat.

Now we all know that this is politics.  But here is the apparent tragedy.  WE, THE PEOPLE of the state of Deloaware, pay $101,600 to our State Auditor, who over two years, earns a combined total of $203,200 and issues one report or two just before election time to save one or two Republican’s seat.

That money one should think,  could be better utilized.  If the Republican Party wants to do a “hit” audit, they can use Party funds for it.  Not the hard earned tax payer dollars just to help keep Greg Lavelle from losing so embarrassingly.

The audit appears to never have been updated.  It appears that all evidence comes from the previous 2009 audit.  It appears that when the Correctional Work Force didn’t generate outrage, something else had to be created quick.  This was the something else.  It appears that all areas are compliant with all laws….

And this is exactly why we cannot have any Republicans in office.  Ever.  They do absolutely nothing except cry wolf.  They did in 1992. They did in 1996. They did in 2000.  They did in 2004. They did in 2006. They did in 2008. They did in 2010… And yep… here we go again.  It is time to throw all these imposters out of office.  These people, who earn our money just being lazy, watching tv, socializing, drinking expensive scotch, and don’t do a damn productive thing for society, think they are entitled to their office….   Except at election time of course, that is when they finally stand up and point their finger and shriek at the top of their lungs…. “You, you, Monster”…

Get rid of Greg Lavelle and all Republicans.  This state is too good to have even just one of them stinking up the works… They have done nothing but push us backwards.  They have done not one decent thing for this state.  They have stalled all progress and cost Delaware thousands of jobs.  All they do is scream…  it is time to vote either Democrat or third party… Someone who will actually do work for us….  Republicans?  Screw them…

I’ll change my tune if anyone, anyone, anyone, can name just one thing, one thing positive, that any Republican has done that no Democrat can do better!!!!!  I’ve been searching Republican blogs for years as well as listen to Rick Jensen over the same time period.  And I can attest that there  IS  NOT  ONE   SINGLE  BENEFIT  THAT  ANY  REPUBLICAN  HAS  DONE   FOR  THIS  STATE  THAT  IS  DOCUMENTED  ANYWHERE .

But there IS a lot of screaming. An… awful… lot… of… screaming….