Don't overlook the Onorato/Corbett governor's race.

[Divernan]

I know the Sestak/Specter race, and now the Sestak/Toomey race have and will continue to have more national coverage. But looking at the PA forum, I see very little about the governor's race.

In that this fall we will have both a US Senate and a state Governor's seat at stake, the turnout will be high, particularly among the party faithful from both parties, who tend to be straight ticket voters. In that sense Sestak is running against both Toomey and Corbett.

In doing a preliminary review of Corbett's history, I found one honking big skeleton, in the form of his longtime association with and support by the mob-related Waste Management company. There are also some significant gaps in Corbett's official bios. He got his bachelor's degree from a very small college - but no one ever mentions what his major was. Given the small size of the college, about 400 in his class, why didn't he graduate with some kind of honors? He then taught 9th grade for a year and at some point had to go all the way to TEXAS to find a law school which would accept him.

The deal with law schools is that you want to go to the best one you can - either with a national reputation, or one in the state where you plan to practise. And of course, state law schools (if you are a resident in said state) are less expensive tuition-wise, than private law schools. So why did he go to an out of state private law school, instead of Pitt, Duquesne,Temple, or Dickinson? Extremely low SAT scores is my best guess. I don't see specific years in Corbett's bio, leading me to think there are years of which he is not proud. At some point after law school, he worked as an asst. DA. Then he was in "private practise", with no mention of even a small law firm as an employer. That indicates he was in solo practise, doing criminal defense work. That's bottom of the barrel, particularly decades ago, when there was not the present surplus of lawyers. And exactly WHERE in Pennsylvania was this "private practise"? Why be secretive about that?

Onorato's campaign staff should be researching Corbett's early years to find out exactly what types of crimes/criminals he may have defended in his little "private practise." What would be very valuable to find is the subsequent criminal activities of his clients. Did he plea bargain down/or successfully defend individuals who went on to commit heinous crimes against the citizens of Pennsylvania? How does a small-time lawyer with a Texas law degree hook up with Waste Management to the point of becoming one of their senior executives? Maybe the roots of that association are in his criminal defense work. Makes sense to me.
Here's the 2004 DU thread discussing Corbett and Waste Management:
rabid_nerd (1000+ posts) Wed Oct-27-04 02:48 PM
Original message
Eisenhower Launches "Toxic Tom" Website (PA, D for Atty Gen.)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT:October 27, 2004 Nicholas Pullen 215-545-0224Eisenhower Launches “Toxic Tom” Website to Educate Voters About Corbett’sRecord of Defending PollutersWaste Management Fined Millions of Dollars When Corbett was Senior ExecutivePHILADELPHIA: Democratic Attorney General nominee Jim Eisenhower todayannounced the launch of a new campaign website detailing the record of hisRepublican opponent Tom Corbett defending Waste Management, Inc. (WMI), thelargest importer of trash into Pennsylvania, during his tenure as a seniorexecutive at the company. The release of the new “Toxic Tom” website(www.toxictom.net ) comes days after Corbett began running negative adsattacking Eisenhower and distorting his record. During Corbett’s time at WMI, the firm was repeatedly fined forenvironmental and safety violations – totaling millions of dollars --including the illegal dumping of hazardous medical waste. Corbett has alsoreceived contributions from the trash giant in his Attorney General’scampaign. The new website allows voters to see exactly where WMI wascaught polluting while Corbett was there. Violations occurred across thecommonwealth. Voters can click on a garbage pail to see the details of theviolation and the fine WMI paid. The highlights of Corbett’s tenure at WMI – and his record ofvociferously defending them against infractions – include:o Waste Management racked up at least $3.7 million in fines whileCorbett was there. During Corbett’s four year tenure at Waste Management,the company and its subsidiaries were fined more than $3.7 million forvarious violations at its landfills.o Waste Management found to have the most unsafe trucks of any companyon the road in “Operation Clean Sweep”. In May 2001, the Pennsylvania StatePolice and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ran aweek-long campaign to crack down on unsafe and environmentally unsound trashtrucks. Of more than 40,000 inspected trucks, the state found more than11,000 safety and environmental violations. The biggest violator -- and theregion’s biggest waste hauler -- was Waste Management Inc., with 339environmental violations and 554 safety violations. The DEP said as much as65 percent of the Waste Management truck fleet was put off the road forrepairs.o Waste Management caught illegally dumping medical waste. On thefirst day of “Operation Clean Sweep’, a trailer truck owned by KephartTrucking was stopped for a safety inspection by state police at theMifflinville rest area on Interstate 80 in Columbia County. Police noticeda reddish substance leaking from the trailer, opened it and discoveredmedical waste hidden under a thin layer of municipal waste. The hospitalwaste -- which included syringes, bedpans and wound dressings -- had beenpicked up by Kephart at a Waste Management Inc. transfer station in theBronx and was headed to Shade Landfill in Central City, Somerset County.That landfill was not permitted to accept raw, unprocessed medical waste.o Corbett tried to fight Republican Governor Ridge’s attempts to limitthe nation’s wastehaulers. When Republican Governor Tom Ridge attempted tolimit the amount of waste coming to Pennsylvania, Corbett – who Ridge hadappointed as chair of PCCD (a post he still held) and as interim-AttorneyGeneral – fought him.

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Replies to this thread
good for him! Joy Anne Oct-27-04 03:24 PM #1
Waste Management...bunch of dirtbags bush_has_to_go Oct-28-04 08:31 AM #2
Joy Anne (830 posts) Wed Oct-27-04 03:24 PM
Response to Original message
1. good for him!
I know all about this, but most voters don't. BTW, Waste Management used to be a Mafia-controlled company. Is it still?
Joy
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durablend (1000+ posts) Thu Oct-28-04 08:31 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Waste Management...bunch of dirtbags
Edited on Thu Oct-28-04 08:32 AM by bush_has_to_go
I don't know about the inside operations, but the haulers themselves are assholes. Last winter it wasn't unusual for them to not show up in the area for 2 or 3 WEEKS to pick up garbage (everyone pays individually), and they got really POed when I dumped them for another company. Apparently another bunch of Bushites that don't appreciate it when you don't kiss their feet. Nowadays they come on schedule (neighbors that still use them) but it's like a Walmart operation...empty the trash into the truck and toss the garbage cans wherever they want (bushes, lawn, etc.). The local company we use is LIGHTYEARS better than they ever were (and the price is about the same)
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[Divernan]

1. Onorato is a CPA w/accounting degree from PennState, & has JD from PItt

Hoping all the Penn State & Pitt alumni turn out big for him in the Fall.

Also google Waste Management, campaign contributions and Tom Corbett to see the support he continues to receive from WM.

[JPZenger]

2. Corbett is a Target-Rich Environment, but..

There are plenty of legitimate reasons to criticize Corbett, but I think you need to direct your aim a little better.

No one cares where he went to law school, unless it was Pat Robertson's law school (which it wasn't).

Waste Management Corp. is a legitimate co., not a mob-run operation. Warren Buffett just invested hundreds of millions in the company this year.

A good place to start to learn about Corbett is at the CasablancaPA blog. Just type in CasablancaPA, Corbett and blog.

[Divernan]

3. Just checked with a close, very knowledgeable Italian friend.

He doesn't agree with you and rattled off multiple examples of "legitimate" and highly profitable enterprises and businesses in US and Italy as examples. However he did convince me to let this whole issue drop for my own protection.

[Cosmocat]

5. Yeah ...

I would say any campaign that focuses on where a candidate when to college ... is a campaign that is well of the mark ...

Onorato needs to bang home the executive experience, the lowering of property taxes, and punch at Corbett on things a little more substantive ...

[old mark]

4. We must concentrate on getting out Democrats to vote. Corbett would be a terrible

governor - he is an arrogane bastard who would run the whole state for GOP political gain at everyone's expense. Onorato would probably not be too much better, but he is at least a Democrat.

I am a very reluctant Onorato supporter, but I certainly will vote for him.


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