Culture of corruption - Democratic Party

A Democratic two-fer First from the Chicago Sun-Times:

15 members of Joe Berrios' family on county, state payrolls
For Joe Berrios, the Cook County assessor who is also the county Democratic Party chairman, government is the family business.

That got him in trouble with the county ethics board, which called for Berrios to fire three family members who are on his staff and fined him $10,000 for violating the county?s anti-nepotism ban by hiring two of them -- his son and sister -- after he was elected assessor in 2010.

But the Berrios family's presence on government payrolls goes far beyond that. In September, his nephew Stephen Berrios got a job working for the Cook County judiciary. That made him the 13th member of the powerful politician's family on a county or state payroll, a Chicago Sun-Times examination of government records shows.

And two of Berrios' siblings have recently retired from government jobs and now get public pensions. Count them, and that makes 15 members of the Berrios family who receive a total of more than $1.05 million a year in wages and pension payments, records show.

And under the No Shit Sherlock -- this:

Berrios declined an interview request for this story.

Second, from Florida's The Palm Beach Post

Murphy declares victory when St. Lucie board misses noon deadline; West considers challenge
Patrick Murphy�s campaign declared victory Sunday afternoon after recount totals showed him defeating U.S. Rep. Allen West by 2,146 votes, while West�s team refused to concede and contemplated its next challenge to the results in the District 18 congressional race.

�It�s time for Allen West to do the right thing and concede,� said Eric Johnson, Murphy�s senior adviser. West, however, has no such plans.

�As usual, Murphy�s people are full of garbage,� said Tim Edson, West�s campaign manager. �This is something the secretary of state and governor will have to sort out.�

And buried in the thirteenth paragraph of this story is this little gem:

Edson had his own questions. Among them: Preliminary totals showed 900 voters cast ballots in Precinct 93, where only seven voters are registered, Edson said.

Looks like a clear case of voter fraud and the classic quote is this from West's opponent:

Murphy said the campaign has convinced him of the need for election reform.

Pot meet kettle...