We remain of the opinion that laziness was what caused La Socialista (a.k.a. The State newspaper) to originally drop the ball in investigating the story of S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford’s affair with his Argentine lover, Maria Belen Chapur.
You’ll recall that the paper was provided with exclusive documentation of Sanford’s affair six months before the story ultimately broke – and chose to sit on that information. Bad move? Probably, but The State at least managed to stay on the leading edge of the scandal once it did break – and its reporters have followed the story vigorously for weeks now.
Too vigorously, some say.
It appears now, though, that the steamy Sanford emails weren’t the only newsworthy items La Socialista wasn’t moving on … and this time the cost to the taxpayers is a lot more than $3,000 in refunded “executive travel” to Argentina.
Additionally, with the incessant coddling that the newspaper has been providing the University of South Carolina over the years – and specifically the journalistic fellatio its “reporters” have habitually performed on the Innovista “research campus” – it may not be as easy for The State to explain away this latest example of its failure to act on specific information that it was exclusively provided.
Which would be even more damaging from a credibility standpoint.
What, exactly, are we talking about?
Well, it’s obvious at this point that La Socialista is every bit as “invested” in Innovista as S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Columbia Mayor Bob Coble and USC President Harris Pastides – even if its editors weren’t the ones authorizing the expenditure of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on a bunch of empty buildings (and emptier promises).
It’s equally obvious that whenever the University asks The State to jump – on practically any subject – the paper’s response is invariably “how high.” Seriously, people. We thought the shameful subservience of La Liberbad (a.k.a. The Greenville News) and the Tin Foil Hat Times (a.k.a. The Anderson Independent-Mail) to Clemson University was bad …
But if The State were provided with specific, relevant information – say, like the sort of information that was included in a groundbreaking special report published by The (Columbia, S.C.) Free Times on Wednesday – then its editors would naturally be compelled to go with that story, wouldn’t they? After all, The Free Times discovered that the University hired a glorified con man with a shady past and sketchy financial track record to develop the Innovista campus – and that the school knew about his problems ahead of time.
That’s newsworthy, right? And given all the money that’s behind spent on Innovista, it would be in the public’s best interests to report on something like that, wouldn’t it? Especially at the The State, whose parent company claims that its papers are “advocates for the communities they serve,” right?
Wrong on all counts, at least as far as La Socialista is concerned.
FITS has learned that The State was provided with information documenting the Innovista con man‘s past over a year ago … and sat on the story.
That’s right, The State had detailed information about this guy over a year ago and chose to do nothing.
How many millions of tax dollars have been wasted on Innovista since then?
Seriously, thank God for The Free Times running with the story or else this thing could have gone on forever …
By Chris August 6, 2009 at 7:00 am
The State Suxs.
By liz shepherd August 6, 2009 at 9:13 am
The State La Socialista is right, refuses to acknowledge my materials.
They are covering up , selling you a story they themselves are writing.
The State is not covering the news . They are making it up.
** THERE IS ONLY ONE* TOO BIG TO FAIL* COMPANY IN AMERICA FOLKS>>>> FIDELITY MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH, 82 Devonshire, Boston Mass.
TARP Recipients
** ALL OF THESE COMPANIES ARE FMR – by statement of beneficial ownership. All TARP money paid to these companies indirectly went to FMR.
Citigroup Inc. (New York) — $25 billion
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (New York) – $25 billion
Wells Fargo & Co. (San Francisco) — $25 billion
Bank of America Corp. (Charlotte, N.C.) — $15 billion
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (New York) — $10 billion
Merrill Lynch & Co. (New York) — $10 billion
Morgan Stanley (New York) — $10 billion
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (Pittsburgh) — $7.7 billion
US Bancorp (Minneapolis) — $6.6 billion
Capital One Financial Corp. (McLean, Va.) — $3.55 billion
Regions Financial Corp. (Birmingham, Ala.) — $3.5 billion
SunTrust Banks Inc. (Atlanta) — $3.5 billion
Fifth Third Bancorp (Cincinnati) — $3.4 billion
BB&T Corp. (Winston-Salem, NC) — $3.1 billion
Bank of New York Mellon (New York) — $3 billion
Keycorp (Cleveland) — $2.5 billion
Comerica Inc. (Dallas) — $2.25 billion
State Street Corp. (Boston) — $2 billion
Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (Milwaukee) — $1.7 billion
Northern Trust Corp. (Chicago) — $1.5 billion
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) — $1.4 billion
Zions Bancorporation (Salt Lake City) — $1.4 billion
Synovus (Columbus, Ga.) — $973 million
Popular Inc. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) — $950 million
First Horizon National Corp. (Memphis, Tenn.) – $866 million
M&T Bank Corp (Buffalo, N.Y.) — $600 million
Associated Banc-Corp. (Green Bay, Wis.) — $530 million
Webster Financial Corp. (Waterbury, Conn.) — $400 million
City National Corp. (Beverly Hills, Calif.) — $395 million
TCF Financial Corp. (Wayzata, Minn.) — $361 million.
The South Financial Group (Greenville, N.C.) — $347 million
Valley National Bancorp (Wayne, N.J.) — $330 million
East West Bancorp (Pasadena, Calif.) — $316 million
Citizens Republic Bancorp (Flint, Mich.) — $300 million
Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. (Lititz, Pa.) — $300 million
UCBH Holdings Inc. (San Francisco) — $298 million
Cathay General Bancorp (Los Angeles) — $258 million
FirstMerit Corp. (Akron, Ohio) — $248 million
International Bancshares Corp. (Laredo, Tex.) — $216 million
Trustmark Corp. (Jackson, Miss.) — $215 million
Umpqua Holdings Corp. (Portland, Ore.) — $214 million
MB Financial ( Chicago) — $193 million
First Midwest Bancorp Inc. (Itasca, Ill.) –$193 million
Pacific Capital Bancorp (Santa Barbara, Calif.) — $188 million.
First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (Buffalo, N.Y.) — $186 million
Provident Bankshares (Baltimore) — $151 million
Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. (Boston) — $150 million
Old National Bank (Evansville, Ind.) — $150 million
Western Alliance Bancorporation (Las Vegas) — $140 million.
CVB Financial Corp. (Ontario, Calif.) — $130 million
Banner Corp. (Walla Walla, Wash.) — $124 million
Signature Bank (New York) — $120 million
Iberiabank Corp. (Lafayette, La.) — $115 million
Taylor Capital Group Inc. (Rosemont, Ill.) — $105 million * Bank of America holding
Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. (Melrose Park, Ill.) — $86 million
First Financial Bancorp. (Cincinnati) — $80 million
Wesbanco Inc. (Wheeling, W.Va.) — $75 million
Southwest Bancorp (Stillwater, Okla.) — $70 million
Superior Bancorp (Birmingham, Ala.) — $69 million
Nara Bancorp (Los Angeles) — $67 million,
Wilshire Bancorp (Los Angeles) — $62 million
Great Southern Bancorp (Springfield, Mo.) — $60 million.
Ameris Bancorp. (Moultrie, Ga.) — $52 million
Home Bancshares Inc. (Conway, Ark.) — $50 million
Capital Bank Corp. (Raleigh, N.C.) — $42.9 million
Heritage Commerce Corp. (San Jose., Calif.) — $40 million
Simmons First National Corp. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) — $40 million
Cascade Financial Corp. (Everett, Wash.) — $39 million
Peoples Bancorp (Marietta, Ohio) — $39 million
Porter Bancorp Inc. (Louisville, Ky.) — $39 million
Eagle Bancorp Inc. (Bethesda, Md.) — $38.2 million
Encore Bancshares Inc. (Houston) — $34 million.
Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. (Providence, R.I.) — $30 million
Severn Bancorp (Annapolis, Md.) — $30 million
Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corp. (Gladstone, N.J.) — $28.7 million
Intermountain Community Bancorp (Sandpoint, Idaho) — $27 million
LNB Bancorp Inc. (Lorain, Ohio) — $25.2 million
HF Financial Corp. (Sioux Falls, S.D.) — $25 million
Heritage Financial Corp. (Olympia, Wash.) — $24 million.
HopFed Bancorp Inc. (Hopkinsville, Ky.) — $18.4 million.
Bank of Commerce Holdings Inc. (Redding, Calif.) — $17 million
1st Financial Services Corp. (Hendersonville, N.C.) — $16.3 million
Community West Bancshares (Goleta, Calif.) — $15.6 million
FFW Corp. (Wabash, Ind.) — $7.3 million
Capital Pacific Bancorp (Portland, Ore.) — $4 million
I CANNOT FIND ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE THE CALL ON THE FOLLOWING ENTITIES> but I would call attention to the massive fall out that is occuring as a result of so many failures. Clearly this type of calamity will reach into businesses not associated with FMR at some point as well. Please remember , just because one piece is out of place, doesn’t mean the puzzle doesn’t work at all. It could mean someone put the wrong piece in the box on purpose, to throw you off!!!!!
I do believe you, the Special Inspector General of TARP ,can find the connection that is buried within the following entities if you’d look.
United Community Banks (Blairsville, Ga.) — $180 million
Sandy Spring Bancorp (Olney, Md.) — $83 million
Columbia Banking System Inc. (Tacoma, Wash.) — $76.9 million
Southern Community Financial Corp. (Winston-Salem, N.C.) — $42.75 million
Washington Federal Savings ( Seattle ) — $200 million
Wainwright Bank & Trust Co. (Boston) — $22 million *** MOST LIKELY FMR***
Indiana Community Bancorp (Columbus, Ind.) — $21.5 million
First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. (Chula Vista, Calif.) — $19.3 million
Broadway Financial Group ( Los Angeles) — $9 million
Saigon National Bank (Westminster, Calif.) — $1.2 million
Although I consider the total of the above amounts to be an total that I can bearly wrap my head around, it is actually quite small in the big picture, at least compared to the top companies total bail out.
FMR also has statements of beneficial ownership on GM and Chrysler claiming all the AIFP bail out money.
By Workin' Tommy C August 6, 2009 at 9:19 am
DER STAAT RULES! SIEG HEIL!
What do you expect from bunch of fascists and socialists?
I give them less than a year before declaring bankruptcy. They’ve already cut staff salaries back in addition to the more publicized surgical removal of dead flesh like Brad Warthen.
By Dude August 6, 2009 at 9:50 am
Under this theory you would never get another contract, ever, right?
By Sam August 6, 2009 at 11:19 am
The top guys at USC who hired this convicted felon should be immediately removed from office . The Innovista project should be halted and not another dime should be spent.
It seems like our state likes to hire shady characters where millions of dollars are involved. Sen. McConnell hired a guy with a criminal record to do his Hunley project. The State Ports Authority hired Al Parish, a convicted con man now serving time, to do their economic analysis.
I’m beginning to wonder if our officials feel more at home dealing with con men than with honest businessmen.
By Dude August 6, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Sam,
If you hire honest contractors and consultants, the chances increase dramatically that they wont follow orders and will listen to things like “law” and “science”. Since only a handful of these crooks get caught and go down, while the people that hired and instructed them stay put, it is worth it to get what you pay for (cooked books-Don’t bend over for the soap fatty, I mean al parrish)than to hire reputable people consistently and get varied, yet rationale, results.
Most consultants professionally resemble hookers, no matter what they consult on…. nature of the biz.