December 9, 2009, - 10:39 am
How Liberals “Help” the Homeless: Shelter Gave Fed $ to Democrats
People have the faulty impression that only liberals care about the homeless. Wrong. It’s just that conservatives have a different way of doing it.
And liberals . . . well, some of them “help” the homeless by using federal dollars for the homeless to fund Democrat political candidates and office holders. That’s exactly what Jon Rutherford, director of Metro Emergency Services, a homeless shelter, and his bookkeeper, Judith Bugaiski, did. They were indicted in 2006, and yesterday, pleaded guilty. And–shocker!–Detroit’s embattled former Mayor Kwame “The Kingpin” Kilpatrick is involved, as is failed Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.
Liberal Democrats Kwame Kilpatrick & Jennifer Granholm:
Got Tax $ From Homeless Shelter
The two top officials of a homeless shelter accused of funneling $750,000 in taxpayer dollars to political causes associated with officials ranging from Kwame Kilpatrick to Gov. Jennifer Granholm pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal tax evasion charges.
Jon Rutherford, director of Metro Emergency Services, and bookkeeper Judith Bugaiski were indicted in 2006 on a combined 22 counts. They both appeared Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani and pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to evade federal taxes, in exchange for dismissal of the other charges.
Prosecutors allege Rutherford, 60, of Orchard Lake, a major contributor to Michigan Democrats, created a shell company to collect rent from the shelter, then channeled that money to political causes. As a nonprofit, the shelter would have lost its tax-exempt status if it made political donations.
According to documents the Free Press obtained, IRS investigators said the shell company “spends virtually every dollar it receives” from the shelter “on either so-called charitable contributions, political contributions, political action committees and to individuals.”
The IRS said recipients of thousands of dollars included the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, Kilpatrick’s Next Generation PAC and Granholm’s 1998 inauguration party.
The IRS probe stems from a 2001 Free Press report that revealed Rutherford gave $50,000 to the nonprofit Kilpatrick Civic Fund during Kilpatrick’s 2001 run for mayor. Kilpatrick, then an influential state representative, subsequently wrote a letter to the Detroit-Wayne County Mental Health Board, recommending it give Rutherford a multimillion-dollar contract.
Tags: Democrats, Former Detroit Mayor, homeless Shelter, Jennifer Granholm, Jon Rutherford, Judith Bugaiski, Kwame Kilpatrick, liberals, Metro Emergency Services, Michigan Governor
I hate to say this, but this is done with ACORN all the time and no one with the exception of some “talking heads” at FOX seems to care. I would LOVE for someone to prove me wrong.
I_AM_ME on December 9, 2009 at 11:20 am