 |
 |
|
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer and Times Herald, John Fichter has now, quite belatedly, reversed his position on his unconstitutional, immoral and fraudulent grab at collecting his undeserved raise a year and half earlier than allowed by the Constitution. After his midnight vote to increase his own pay on July 7, Fichter had immediately filed for "unvouchered expenses" which violates the explicit requirement of the State Constitution that pay raises are not to be collected in the same term they are voted upon. Not to mention that seeking reimbursement for expenses he didn't occur amounts to lying and fraud. Apparently, when caught with his hands in the public till by angry taxpayers- it became hard for him to explain how these "unvouchered expenses" jibed with a pledge to uphold the Constitution, and a promise to represent the public interest above his own, and manage the public treasury responsibly.
John Fichter, by initially claiming unvouchered expenses in the amount of the pay raise, committed a fraud against the taxpayer, and violated his oath to uphold the state Constitution, by seeking and obtaining funds for expenses he did not incur, in amounts that would have added up to tens of thousands of dollars. I don't care about reports that a self-interested judge, who benefited financially from his own ruling, may have ruled that such unvouchered expense payments are "legal". Fichter's claimed "expenses" represent no real expenses whatsoever.
If anyone in the private sector sought reimbursement for expenses that they did not incur, they would be summarily fired! Why did John Fichter think it was OK for him to steal the public's money this way?
It is also obvious to everyone that Fichter's attempt to collect the pay raise this year, by whatever name he tried to hide it under, contradicts the explicit directive of the Constitution. Fichter showed his pure greed and lack of respect for taxpaying voters and our Constitution by his money grab.
Fichter has accomplished absolutely nothing of note in his 7 terms- He continuously drags his feet on economic revitalization, open space preservation initiatives, and property tax reform legislation, and has introduced not a single initiative of his own to address these matters. But he is amazingly quick to take action when it comes to stuffing his own pockets.
How can we trust such a person as John Fichter to manage our budgets and policies fairly, and in the public interest? We need to thank legislators Mike Gerber, Josh Shapiro, and John Rafferty for voting against the pay raise and for refusing the "unvouchered expenses" ruse. We also need to acknowledge Connie Williams for doing the right thing by refusing, from the beginning, to collect immoral and unconstitutional "unvouchered expenses", even though she voted for the pay raise.
The fact that Fichter has now reversed his position- only when his constituents loudly demanded it, and when he couldn't hide the stench of its dishonesty- doesn't change the fact that Fichter's first inclination was to screw the taxpayer, screw the Constitution, and grab our money. He should be impeached, fired and certainly not re-elected in 2006. Shame!
|
 |
