Just because the Relentless for Progress PAC is quitting doesn’t mean we have
to stop talking about how shady it was.
The PAC’s chairman, Miami Beach Commissioner Jonah Wolfson, said last week that he was going to dissolve the shady political action committee, which raked in close to $1.5 million in contributions from lobbyists, contractors, developers, vendors — all people with special interests before the city commission.
Wolfson said he would return the donations. But the PAC has already spent $800,000 that he’s unlikely to refund out of his own pocket. Maybe Levine should. He spent $2 million of his own money to buy his seat in 2013.
Anyway, the cat is out of the bag. The horse is out of the gate. The trigger has been pulled. In other words, Wolfson and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine can’t undo the stink that they raised when they embraced the conflict of interest and made calls to shake down these contributors for checks of up to $114,000.
Read related story: Jonah Wolfson shuts down Miami Beach PAC — $1.5 mil later
But simply because you realized you were wrong and are putting an end to it, doesn’t mean you weren’t shady to begin with. Just like you can’t be half pregnant.
That’s what our friend Stephen Cody trying to say in a new video because he has nothing better to do.
“Pregnancy and political corruption. Both have something in common. You can’t be a little pregrnant. And you can’t be a little bit corrupt. You are or you aren’t,” says the message while a soft lullaby version of Having My Baby plays.
It comes complete with baby cartoon versions of the Levine slate: Betsy Perez, John Elizabeth Aleman and Ricky Arriola.
“Now they’re giving half the cash back,” says the video message, though it’s a little less than half that the PAC has to dole out to contributors. “It’s a nice gesture. But half corrupt is still corrupt.”
The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust is still looking into the PAC’s contribution, to see if any of the donors were promised any quid pro quo.
Read related story: Now challenged, Philip Levine also sheds shady PAC
And it should still be part of the campaign — the question of how a mayor made phone calls to people who need his vote and solicited donations for his political muscle. Levine wants to shed the shady PAC, alright. But that doesn’t mean we should let him.
Because you can’t be half pregnant.
And just because the Relentless for Progress PAC relented, doesn’t mean the corruption is gone or didn’t exist.
Video: Miami Beach PAC’s demise = can’t be half pregnant added by Ladra on
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