U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein’s husband Richard Blum won the first-phase construction contract for California’s high-speed rail.
I’m shocked, shocked I tell you.
If I didn’t witness the insanity and corruption in politics every day, I wouldn’t have believed this.
“The Perini-Zachary-Parsons bid was the lowest received from the five consortia participating in the bidding process, but “low” is a relative term,” the Laer Pearce, author of Crazifornia wrote. ”The firms bid $985,142,530 to build the wildly anticipated first section of high speed rail track that will tie the megopolis of Madera to the global finance center of Fresno. Do the division, and you find that the low bid came in at a mere $35 million per mile.”
“As this fiasco progress, remember that this $35 million per mile represents the best California can do on the section of track the High on Crack Speed Rail Authority selected to go first because it will be the cheapest,” Pearce said.
Read Pearce’s story here. And stop staring dumfounded at the computer screen. Yes, this is true.
(Katy Grimes is a longtime political analyst, writer and journalist, and CalWatchdog’s news reporter. Originally posted on CalWatchdog.)
Well, bend the taxpayer over and skip the KY…….it’s a miracle!
Why do these evil ugly lib HAGS live so damned long??
She’s a really good con-artist. I have watched her as she rose in power all these years. At first I thought it was ok -but learned more as the years passes. SHE NEEDS TO RETIRE! PLEEEEZE!
REALLY what good has Dianne Fi done???
…and how do they keep being re-elected? I know I didn’t EVER vote for her.
Dave… money makes miracles…
Wahl you all must have missed their time scoopin up all the “superfund” clean up sites around California in the 70s and 80s. They low ball their way in and find clauses to double the costs. So what is news here? J in Berkeley
Oh and to just to put the topping on this cake Diane Feinstein own’s most of the land the high speed is going to be build on…….
Then she needs to resign from the Sen.
David – You’re so full of BS. Feinstein doesn’t own most of that land or even a fraction of it. You completely made that BS up.
Mr. Blum was awarded the Airport equipment for screening passengers from the government, they are both on the take of the America tax payer. She also voted for small gun control Bill to be controlled by the UN, along with 46 others. Not the country that our forefathers built.
You mean the people that stole California away from the Mexican people? Are those the forefathers you are referring to?
35 million dollars per mile. Bend over is right. This area of California does not need high speed rail…unless it is to get illegals to work in the field faster. Mrs. Feinstein should be ashamed. Sticking it to the taxpayers once again.
Ms Feinstein has no shame.
Uneffing believable!!!! Oh, wait. That’s right, this is California.
And I love the last line of the article. I almost fell off the chair when I realized that I was staring dumbfounded.
Typical….read these – and they are just the tip of the iceberg: http://www.peterbyrne.info/feinstein_files/ (printed in a Silicone Valley Metro newspaper and others….)
Diane Feinstein,
I am interested to join in your Husbands Projects.
Gautam Chaudhury
babuni47@yahoo.com
they make me sick there so old decreped they need to clean house get rid old in with new
Can you say political corruption and conflict of interest? Sure you can…
I want to see a bill in the House and Senate calling for an audit of every elected person in the Federal government and if they object vote them out!
See The Two Minute Conservative via Google or: http://tinyurl.com/7jgh7wv When you speak ladies will swoon and liberal gentlemen will weep.
Good luck.
And who are you going to replace them with?
I sure wish they would use a photo of Dianne Feinstein other than her senior high school photo~~from 1916.
The low bidder was Parsons et al.
Is Mr. Blum attached to this firm? If so please let the public what percentage of the company does he control.
One of the comments below states Diane owns some of the land on which the Train will travel. Is this correct?
As well as reading and comprehending this corruption we need to organize and get her voted out of office in the next election. These people are nothing but criminals and should be prosecuted for crony insider maneuvering, which means that outsiders are eliminated from even being considered in the bidding process. $35,000,000 mile is an outrageous figure and if it is true that she owns the right of way on the land is criminally libelous.
This is out ragues a conflict of interest with Diane being a Sen. from California.
Check out some of the deals that Pelosi’s husband got. Especially Hawaii.
The ole hag needs to retire. Apparently she needs more $$$ for her family & her legacy!!! Can anyone spell CROOK? The emperial senator & her clones need to stop raping the paying taxpayers of California.
With radio contests, relatives of employees are not eligible to win. The same rules should apply. Politicians should not be permitted to hire their relatives for big state contracts. This seems like another way to sway voting. This is not representative of The People. This seems very wrong.
What a surprise!
It should be against the law that as a husband of any political member of any State be not eligible for bidding in any state they live in. This is corruption at it’s best. Besides, since she is leaving office, I can see her influence in the bidding having inside knowledge and connections to make a phone call, would love to have her phone records on that one to her husband and someone in the state senate of California, so she can have more money from the government paying for her retirement life style. What do you want to bet that they go over budget on this project, instead of putting it in the area of SF to Fresno, where it would be needed more. She has to push her corruptible behavior as long as she can.
Okay, We have a lot of friends from foreign countries who have moved to the US for a better life. What keeps these countries from succeeding–corruption. And it seems like California is becoming more and more like a third world country.
I agree the supper-train sounds cool, but does anyone believe that if it’s actually build we will not be subsidizing it for the rest of our lives? Looks like it’s being built so the Sacramento Fat Cats and their friends can reep the reward.
Feinstein is a real piece of work. This kind of thing should never happen.
Sure looks like a shady deal.
You’re kidding, right?
I wonder why I did’nt hear about this on CNN.
Ever since I heard that the first leg of the HSR was going to be laid in the middle of BF nowhere, I knew that the pork barrel politicos had taken over the project. Dang. We really need high speed rail, too. Watching Blum and Co. ruin it makes me want to cry, scream, and vote for a third party.
Addendum. Maybe this is Calif’s version of the bridge to nowhere. “The HSR to nowhere!”
I wounder if truly evil people even know there evil.
The rail authority made sure she was taken care of by changing the rules as to how the bids would be awarded and that wasn’t even done legally by their own rules. This woman is one of the most corrupt politicians around and the people wonder why this state is going the way of Detroit.
I think there needs to be an investigation on this .
they tried to investigate Nancy’s hubby, but she put a stop to it
Typical reich wing spin.
“Reich”
You mean Reich = Democrats?
Why, when a democrat appears to be involved in corruption, do liberals make it a R vs D situation. As long as we, the people, allow politicians to pit R against D, they will be able to get away with their corruption. In some states we can not be employed by the government if we have smoked in the past 12 months, yet a billion dollar contract can be granted to politicians husband, with land owned by the politician to be purchased for the project? I don’t care if you are a socialist or teapartier, a R of D, this is wrong. Stop giving the main parties a pass.
Lets get right to the meat of the corruption of Feinsteins husband Richard Blum’s company and their CRIMINAL activity in the past.
She should be thrown out of office immediately for this.
http://crazifornia.com/2013/04/16/dirty-business-as-usual-at-california-high-speed-rail/
http://www.examiner.com/article/high-speed-rail-bidding-practice-questionable
The Feds put together a task force to go after construction fraid, overruns and safety violations. Perini has been caught doing such things over and over again. They are absolutely ridiculous in California projects. It is like DBE fronting is a part of its business model. Overall fraud appears to be a part of that model also.
According to the Seattle News some of the Perini headlines read: “In February, Tutor-Saliba and Perini agreed to pay $19 million to settle racketeering and fraud allegations in a San Francisco airport project.” “In 2004, Perini agreed to pay the federal government $998,500 to settle fraud claims in the construction of an embassy building in Venezuela.” “The companies are embroiled in an 11 – year legal battle over $16 million in extra costs on a Los Angeles subway job.” “Perini sued for more than $170 million in cost overruns on three New York City projects during the 1990s before settling for about $22 million.”
When the Federal Government Embraces a Gangster Corporation
http://www.nationalbcc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1283:when-the-federal-government-embraces-a-gangster-corporation&catid=63:beyond-the-rhetoric&Itemid=8
sickening. and still we do nothing. when are we gonna throw these thieves out?
Who was it that said ‘crime doesn’t pay’? Guess she figured ”if Nancy can do, so can I”
This article is completely false. Feinstein’s husband had a financial link with the company in the 90’s. He has not had any dealings with the company since.
Three companies won the bid for the first segment. Three very capable companies. It wasn’t just one company working alone.
It is of course false. But that doesn’t stop the author of this idiotic article or the simpering whiners from posting their idiotic rants.
“Well, Gol-ly ! Suh-prize – suh-prize, suh-prize!”
Gomer Pyle
Corrupt corrupt corrupt piece of trash. That voters in California keep re-electing her is telling about how ignorant or blatantly stupid the voting population is.
She needs to recuse herself from EVERY issue involving MONEY. Maybe just be the Congressional mascot. She still has that dark Snow White beauty, if not the purity,
An arrest needs to be made.
wants are guns so she and her husband can steal more from the taxpayer
Both Diane Feinstein and Jerry Brown have made a small fortune with Capitalizing on products from China….currently, tankers of milk from China are being received in the Oakland Bay, after a 3 week journey. Where is it going? We get their pollution, hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides. I remember turning Diane Feinstein if for taking $25.00 out of Social Security checks from Senior to finance her Campaign to Congress. She has more money than God.
How about they are not allowed to indulge in any contracts for the state or the government at all ? Conflict of interest all the way to the bank . He got the USPS contract to sell off the post offices that have been shut down . Now this ? Fienstine should be jailed right along with her husband .
Who elects these people?
I live in California and have been voting since 1967 and I never ever voted for any Democrat. Except one time is all in a local election and that was it. And these old bats have been in office for as long as anyone ever was that I can remember. I am so disgusted with northern California that I hope they have bleed water dry and will die of thirst and lack of food. Why they have allowed these women and that Governor Brown to maintain their offices for this long, I have no idea. We tried term limits in our city and one woman was our mayor for two terms as we voted for in my city in SoCal and she decided to run as a write in candidate for her third term and she won and she leased off federal territory to the Chinese while serving as mayor. Yes Clinton closed the Naval Base in my city and then together they leased out part of our wonderful harbor area to the Chinese government–pretty sure mainland but remember Formosa or Taiwan….that is now China I guess. Nixon understood about the two China policy but very few in the rest of the world probably even heard of Formosa or Taiwan ….only Hong Kong-because the British lease of that island was up long ago and it is now “China” as well.
This is why we need desperately I, D. Voting. Without it it is called CORRUPTION! California is rampant with CORRUPTION. Everything these creepy politicians do is CORRUPT. They have to all. Dumped.
Diane Dearest has to stay in office and DO EVERYTHING OBAMA DEMANDS TO GUARENTEE THE 178 MIL THE FEDS ARE PUTTING UP FOR THE CHO-CHO TRAIN FROM MADERA TO FRESNO
I’m definitely not for this and know there gonna screw us with out the KY and its just a BIG waist of money… But BART costs 1 Billion per mile to construct now is some places….
sorry i forgot this… I think it should be illegal for politicians immediate family to be able to bid for any kind of government contract because its tainting the waters she had her hand it making sure he got the bid and no one else… If judges can’t own stock in businesses that they may end up hearing charges against in there court room I don’t think these low down dirty dogs that we unfortunately put in office should be aloud to profit at our expense in any way it bad enough they get paid outrageous salaries and get health benefits at no cost to them for life that are 1000% better than anything we can get that should be enough to burn holes in there deep pockets…
And there’s ” nothing wrong ” with this ?
You Californians kept this garbage politician in office, now you can pay the price for your stupidity.
P.S. Of course she made sure her husband get the contract. Shocking!
Politicians at the state and federal level at this point, go about their daily business with total transparency and total impunity regardless of how obviously corrupt they are. They do not care because they know their constituents are powerless, because it’s a rigged game man! They don’t give a fuck about any body. Not you, not your family, no one! You are just a bunch of useful idiots both from the left or right. It doesn’t matter what party you’re from, as long as they can hold on to their position, who cares at what means they employ to stay in power even if it’s naked corruption and traitorous behavior. It’s all about one thing and it ain’t you man! It’s all about self enrichment!
Richard Blum sold his stake in Tutor-Perini in 2007.
So maybe ya’ll need to try again to smear Senator Feinstein and the HSR project. OK?
Also, please learn
And there goes another bullet iinto the heart of state workers who haven’t received a raise in 17 years and offer us a contract where we lose another 2500 dollars in three years in disgusted at these politicians. Rich get richer while the rest of us sink into poverty.
why do you IDIOTS in Cali keep RE-ELECTING HER????
hahaha there you go go left and corruption will only grow cause they are for the people to make themselves rich lol
Probably the same shyster who built the one in Springfield
Remember to sign the repeal the rail referendum so we can vote on it in Nov. 2016. They are trying to repeal it because of how Jerry Brown and his agenda to pass that thing. No real surprise corruption starts at the top and filter down.
With so many other priorities in this state of ours, why Madera to Fresno for $35m per mile or for $1.00 per mile?. We do not need this rail system at all. Once again we, the people, get the ambitions of politicians & their cronies shoved down our throats.
This liar in the Senate just like Hillary Clinton , they both are total frauds , have been stealing taxpayers money for the last 30 years . However you will never get her removed from the Senate because she represents California , which is total communistic socialized state , which I can wait until the San Andreas Fault, takes the whole state off the map.
I shall personally address the corruption over and under this KICK BACK CITY DEAL. For help call me. I AM HERE TO HELP. 713-870-2084 or email: lewimethod@aol.com
HOW CAN CALIFORNIAN’S STOP THESE IDIOTS?
If this doesn’t look criminal I don’t know what does! WAKE UP CALIFORNIA BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE AND STOP THIS INSANITY STOP THE LIFE-TIMERS ON THE HILL WORKING PART TIME WHILE WE PAY THEM FULL TIME WAGES WITH HUGE BENEFIT PACKAGES. THEY ONLY WORK PART TIME, TAKE AWAY THE RETIREMENTS, MEDICAL AND THE HIGH WAGES, THEY THINK MINIMUM WAGES ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEIR EMPLOYERS THAT’S YOU SO IT SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM.