Cambridge, MA State Senator One of Two Who Voted Against Uber, Lyft

[From article]
State Sen. Salvatore DiDomenico told a group of rallying taxi drivers and medallion owners last week that he is behind them “1,000 percent,” pointing out that the support of the cabbies helped him win his special election in 2010. A day later, he was one of just two senators to vote against a ride-hailing bill seen as friendly to Uber and Lyft.
But what DiDomenico didn’t tell the crowd, or the chamber, is that he is so entrenched in the taxi industry that even one of his aides is a medallion owner.
In fact, James Henry — DiDomenico’s director of constituent services — owns two of them in Cambridge, according to state ethics disclosures.
“The passage of any legislation relative to ride sharing has the potential to impact the value of taxi cab medallions,” DiDomenico wrote in a filing dated March 14, 2016.
In a brief interview after his remarks, DiDomenico dismissed concerns about his decision to take such a prominent stance in the debate about regulations for Uber and Lyft.
“This is not something that I have just been talking about since I was a state legislator,” DiDomenico said Tuesday. “I’ve been working on this issue as a city councilor in my hometown of Everett — and I have been working hard. ... Even before I knew this person had any kind of stake in this, I was an advocate and an opponent of what’s happening today and a proponent for the taxi industry.”
DiDomenico also said Henry has not done any work on ride-hailing legislation.
Medallion values have plummeted in recent years as cabbies have continued to lose business to Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing start-ups. Boston cab drivers have been kept afloat largely because of almost exclusive access to
Logan International Airport, but taxis in Cambridge have been hit particularly hard.
The Herald reported earlier this year nearly two dozen Cambridge medallion owners have returned their once-valuable investments to the city. The owners said at the time they couldn’t find drivers for the cabs, or couldn’t afford payments on the loans they took out to buy the medallion.
In many cases, it was both.
Henry was not on the list of owners who returned medallions.
“I have heard the personal stories of people in my district, I have heard the personal stories of a multitude of people who are really getting crushed by this,” DiDomenico said. “And the fact that I know someone — I know everybody who has a stake in
every issue, and we’re fighting for the people who need help the most.”
Still, there is no question the value of a taxi medallion is now closely tied to how restrictive the regulations are on Uber and Lyft, a question that likely will be answered by the end of the legislative session this month.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/07/pols_politics_didomenico_s_aide_owns_two_taxi_medallions

Pols & Politics: DiDomenico’s
aide owns two taxi medallions
One of two Mass. senators to vote against Uber, Lyft
Matt Stout

Sunday, July 03, 2016

Boston Herald

Michigan State Senator Suspected Of Firing Numerous Shots At His Ex-wife's Car

[From article]
State Sen. Virgil K. Smith, suspected of firing numerous shots at his ex-wife's car early Sunday, told investigators it was the stupidest thing he had done in his life, according to police.
The incident occurred after the Detroit Democrat's ex-wife pushed her way into the house and attempted to attack another woman who was in Smith's bed, according to police. Smith told police she threw a chair at the windows of his house and he shot at her car.
[. . .]
Smith, a graduate of Michigan State and Western Michigan universities, was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2002. He was elected to the Senate in 2010. His father, Virgil Smith Jr., is presiding judge in Wayne County Family Juvenile Court and served more than 20 years in the Legislature.
[. . .]
Former Attorney General Mike Cox said Monday that the crimes Smith is accused of don't fit with that ballot proposal approved by voters in 2010 that prohibits people from holding state elective office if they were convicted of a felony that involved "dishonesty, deceit, fraud or a breach of the public trust."
"That wouldn't have anything to do with him holding public office," Cox said. "Traditionally, it's misconduct in public office or embezzlement or something like that."
[. . .]
This isn't Smith's first run-in with law enforcement, He was convicted twice in 2004 of drinking and driving — first in February of operating a vehicle while impaired by liquor in Lansing and in August of operating while intoxicated offense in Chelsea. His license was revoked because he had two or more drunken-driving convictions within seven years, according to the Michigan Department of State.
[. . .]
Prior to that, while in college, Smith was arrested twice in two shoplifting-related cases. In February 2002, when Smith was in his early 20s, he dropped a philosophy book down his pants at the Student Book Store in East Lansing, according to police records. He was caught while leaving the store and handed the book back but gave police a false name and birth date, according to the report. He was arrested on disorderly conduct and presenting a false identification, later sentenced to a $250 fine and probation.
Before that incident, he'd been arrested in July 2001 while trying to flee a Meijer store in Okemos with a bottle of tequila, hiding the bottle in his sweatpants. He pleaded guilty in that case to retail fraud, according to previous reports.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/05/11/smith-facing-aggravated-assault-charges/27112461/

Sen. Smith said firing shots stupidest thing in his life
By Gina Damron and Robert Allen,

Detroit Free Press

7:47 p.m. EDT May 11, 2015

Honorable Black Nebraska State Senator Compares Police To Muslim Terrorists, Says He'd Shoot Policemen If He had A Weapon

AP file photo
EQUATING COPS WITH ISIS: Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers says American police are the equivalent of ISIS, Islamic State terrorists who have beheaded journalists and executed Westerners in Iraq and Syria.
[From article]
A black Nebraska state senator compared American police to Islamic terrorists and suggested he’d shoot a cop if only he had a weapon.
State Sen. Ernie Chambers said during a legislative hearing Friday that you don’t have to go halfway around the world to find an ISIS mentality. It can be found in America because police terrorize blacks every day.
Meanwhile, in Cambridge, MA black racist police harass a 70-year-old white man after 45 previous years of similar criminal abuses of power.
[. . .]
KFOR talk radio host Coby Mach [asked] "How does anybody get away with something like this?” Mach said Monday. “I’m appalled by that kind of statement. Senator Chambers seems to be wanting to incite violence.”
Mach noted Chambers also has challenged his opponents to hit him in the mouth, has said we shouldn’t take care of military veterans and espoused that all whites are racist.

http://watchdog.org/207981/isis/

Nebraska senator compares police to ISIS, says he’d shoot a cop
By Deena Winter

March 25, 2015

Kentucky State Senator Exercises Elected Official Privilege After Bust For Drunk Driving

Kentucky State Sen. Brandon Smith (R)

[From article]
A Kentucky state senator is having no reservations about proclaiming his political privilege. In fact, he’s simply citing a section of the Kentucky constitution that claims politicians are in fact, above the law.
Sen. Brandon Smith (R) was charged with driving under the influence and wants the case dismissed citing that lawmakers are “privileged from arrest.”
His attempt to circumvent the hand of justice have thus far proven to be successful too. On Wednesday a judge delayed Smith’s arraignment after his attorney filed this request.
“(Smith) has raised a serious constitutional issue regarding his immunity in this case,” attorney Bill Johnson wrote.
[. . .]
The State Journal reports that according to the citation, Smith was stopped on Village Drive after he was seen driving 65 mph in a 45 mph zone on Leestown Road, near the intersection of Copperleaf Boulevard. The trooper described several failed field sobriety tests and said Smith blew a .088 on a preliminary breath test.
Once in the custody of police at the Franklin County Regional Jail, he refused an official breathalyzer. Under state law, refusing a breathalyzer is an automatic suspension of one’s license.
[. . .]
According to the Kentucky law, the senator could have also been caught breaking the following misdemeanor laws of pimping out prostitutes, possessed meth, stolen prescription drugs, used stolen credit cards, and received stolen goods and he would simply have to claim political immunity, and the charges are then rendered invalid. Seems legit.

http://www.dcclothesline.com/2015/01/23/senator-wants-dui-charges-dismissed-citing-lawmakers-privileged-arrest/

Senator Wants DUI Charges Dismissed Citing that Lawmakers are “Privileged from Arrest”
Posted on January 23, 2015
by Matt Agorist

Anti Gun Missouri State Democratic Senator Arrested For Illegal Gun Possession

Missouri state Senator Jamilah Nasheed, a Democrat

[From article]
Missouri state Senator Jamilah Nasheed, a Democrat who was sponsored several “anti-gun” bills in her state, was arrested Monday night during a protest outside of the Ferguson Police Department. However, it’s what police officers found on her that is raising eyebrows.
Nasheed was carrying a loaded 9mm handgun and extra rounds of ammunition, according to Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson. She also refused to take a breathalyzer test after officers determined she “smelled strongly of intoxicants,” sources told KMOV-TV.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/21/just-guess-what-ferguson-police-found-on-missouri-democrat-who-has-sponsored-several-anti-gun-bills/

Just Guess What Ferguson Police Found on Missouri Democrat Who Has Sponsored Several ‘Anti-Gun’ Bills…
Oct. 21, 2014 5:29pm

Jason Howerton

CA Democratic State Senator Jailed for Perjury

CA Democratic State Senator Roderick Wright 

[From article]
Democratic State Senator Roderick Wright was sentenced on Friday to 90 days in jail, three years of probation, and 1,500 hours of community service after being convicted on federal perjury and voting fraud charges in January. Wright is also banned for life from holding public office.
While running to represent California's 25th State Senate district in 2008, Wright lied about his residence to qualify for the ballot, according to the Desert Sun. He claimed he lived in an Inglewood apartment complex within the 25th District, but prosecutors were able to show that Wright's true residence was a Baldwin Hills home outside the district.

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/09/12/State-Sen-Rod-Wright-Gets-90-Days-for-Perjury

STATE SEN. ROD WRIGHT GETS 90 DAYS FOR PERJURY
by DANIEL NUSSBAUM

12 Sep 2014

Cambridge MA State Senator Advocates Misguided Policy

No one can deny that Cambridge politicians say what makes them feel good. But their proposals don't always make sense achieving their stated goal. Rep. David M. Rogers says he is a "supporter of any sensible steps that we can take to curb gun violence in our state." But he does not mention the Second Amendment which guarantees to law abiding citizens the right to bear arms to protect themselves and others from violence. John Lott's book, More Guns, Less Crime, shows that a society with more legal guns, is a sensible step to make the community safer.

Rogers expresses a misguided, irrational, offensive notion demonizing persons with disabilities. By suggesting they are more likely to use guns for violence, he advocates "sharing of records of adjudicated commitments for mental health and substance abuse with the National Instant Check System." Does he also want to share the medical records of rape victims, persons with STDs and leukemia? Do extremely normal people abstain from using guns for violence? Why not share their medical records too?

He recommends "Strengthen[ing] the provisions of school-based mental health services." Why not remove teachers and let psychiatrists run the schools? Psychiatrists are omniscient and morally superior to lesser beings, and have had their genes cleansed of mendacity, greed and sadism, unlike flawed teachers who need a union to protect their jobs.

Rogers wants to "Increase funding for mental health and substance abuse disorders resources in urban areas." Does the Human Services Industrial Complex (MA State Rep. Marie Parente's term) make large campaign contributions to Rep. Rogers? Taxpayer grants for human services corporations are over $2 billion per year now. Instead of state police why not hire psychiatrists. They can take freedom without Due Process protections. (Think Justina Pelletier.) The Constitution was written by dead white men, and not on an iPad. What good is it today? It is old!

Rogers states, "Given the ability to transport firearms across state lines, the hard truth is that we need national legislation." Isn't interstate commerce a mission of the U.S. Congress? If Congress refuses to act, why doesn't the Harvard Law School graduate in the White House issue an executive order repealing the Second Amendment? Who supports that ancient paragraph? Is that the soft truth?

Rogers proclaims he wants to move "toward a safer Massachusetts." But he refuses to recognize the essential role of a law abiding armed citizenry in order to achieve that goal. 90,000 patients die each year from medical negligence. Do guns used by persons with disabilities cause those deaths too?

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20140325/NEWS/140327880

COLUMN: Move legislation forward to curb gun violence
By Rep. Dave Rogers
Posted Mar. 25, 2014 @ 10:00 am
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

US Attorney Mole Allegedly Helped NY Pol Allegedly Steal Money

Posted May 6, 2013 7:14 PM ET; Last Updated May 8, 2013 3:21 AM ET

A diagram unveiled by the US Attorney and the FBI shows John Sampson's alleged embezzlement scheme.

Photo Gabriella Bass

John Sampson leaves court today.
Photo Gabriella Bass


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/sampson_pal_quick_papers_turn_mole_W3rFnt9ES9WrvQWLroGMTJ/0

Sen. Sampson pal in US Attorney's office quick to turn mole for corrupt pol: legal papers
By MITCHEL MADDUX and DAN MANGAN
New York Post
Last Updated: 8:52 PM, May 7, 2013
Posted: 8:44 PM, May 7, 2013


* * *
[From article]
Sounding more like a mob boss than a Senate minority leader, Sampson, 47, chillingly boasted to a close “associate” charged with mortgage fraud in 2011 that if his informant in the Eastern District US Attorney’s Office learned the names of federal cooperating witnesses against the pal, then “Sampson could arrange to ‘take them out,’ ” a nine-count indictment charges.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/sampson_is_man_of_steal_KTVDF2Wiwpphnb4DDFfQyI

State Sen. John Sampson indicted on embezzlement charges, faces 120 years
By MITCHEL MADDUX and DAN MANGAN
New York Post
Last Updated: 2:19 AM, May 7, 2013
Posted: 1:02 AM, May 7, 2013


* * *
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/state_probe_john_sampson_allegedly_RZ1gn4gmYfNFhQghuDtdpI

State Sen. John Sampson allegedly used US Attorney staffer to track embezzlement probe: feds
By MITCHEL MADDUX
New York Post
Last Updated: 4:50 PM, May 6, 2013
Posted: 1:20 PM, May 6, 2013

MA State Senate Campaign

On Thursday August 5, 2010 at about 4:15 PM a volunteer for MA State senate candidate Tim Flaherry called to ask if I was planning to vote for Flaherty. I asked if what Flaherty would do for me. The young man said Flaherty promoted rewriting the districts to make more sense. I observed that is a national problem of abuse by politicians. I asked him about addressing one-party government in MA. The young man said there were five Republican state senators and that was too many. There is no reasoning with a young man who does not support a two party political system. These are young people who are raised opposing dissent. That explains why there is so much intolerance in MA which promotes itself as the most tolerant. Yes, intolerance in the name of tolerance. That is like criminal abuse in the name of good.