DeLeo = Hack

Despite his rhetoric as of late (which sounds more like a death bed conversion) Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo has been exposed as just another Beacon Hill hack who exists solely to get his family, friends, and donors jobs with the state, namely the Probation Department. The agency's reward for hiring DeLeo's flunkies? A huge budget increase while DeLeo was chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

The Globe reports today that under DeLeo's chairmanship, the budget for the Probation Department received MORE than it requested! This is because DeLeo had 12 friends and family hired in the agency (as well as other state agencies).

I loved this part:

DeLeo faced no opposition in his bid for a second term as speaker this month, and members did not openly question his plan to end patronage in Massachusetts government. But one ex-legislator who lost his reelection bid in November said many of his former colleagues are puzzled by DeLeo’s new emphasis on reforming Probation.

“It certainly has raised eyebrows,’’ said former Representative Matt Patrick, a Falmouth Democrat. “He’s claiming he didn’t know what was up [at the Probation Department]. It just raises questions: How is that possible?’’

Don't blame me. I voted Republican in 2010. Don't say we didn't warn you.

See the great Globe article here.