Wealthy folks using their personal fortunes to buy a seat in Congress is an old American story. But Domenic Recchia has added a new twist: He’s trying to buy his House seat using your money.
Recchia represents parts of Brooklyn in the City Council, where he also serves as chairman of the Finance Committee. From that perch he is doling out more taxpayer-funded pork than any other member.
What makes Recchia different is where he directs his spending. Most council members send money to groups in their own districts. But Recchia has been throwing around millions in areas outside his City Council district. That’s because these areas lie within the congressional district he hopes to represent after the 2014 election.
As The Post’s Sally Goldenberg reported this week, “Recchia gave roughly $2.75 million of his $10.3 million in expense and capital money to Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn that comprise the congressional seat he plans to run for next year.”
Those taxpayer-funded gifts included $40,000 to the Staten Island Zoological Society, $5,000 to its Lighthouse Museum and $10,000 for Legal Services of Staten Island — but not a dime to its offices in the borough he actually represents.
The issue isn’t whether these groups deserve funding. The issue is a corrupt budget system that allows lawmakers to advance their private ambitions at public expense — in effect, a personal earmark from taxpayer funds that no one votes on.
Those who bought votes the old-fashioned way at least did it with their own money — and not yours.