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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Herseth Sandlin Fined Staffer Ten Times Court Penalty

If I'm reading the court record properly, the court slapped drunk driver Tessa Gould with a $516 fine ($136 suspended) and $220 in court costs, along with a month's revocation of drivers license, three months of DUI classes, and a year's probation.

And what punishment did her boss dish out?

Gould's arrest came two days before Noem won the Republican House nomination. She started working as Herseth Sandlin's state director in 2004 and became chief of staff in 2007, according to congressional data published by Legistorm.com. She was paid $121,000 in the last fiscal year.

Herseth Sandlin put Gould on unpaid leave until her case was resolved June 28, said Russ Levsen, Herseth Sandlin's senior campaign adviser. The congresswoman, he added, took the issue seriously and sent a message that it was unacceptable [Jonathan Ellis, "Driving Records Hit Campaigns," that Sioux Falls paper, 2010.09.01.

Do the math: Legistorm reports Gould received $29,499.99 from her boss in Q1 of this year. In Q2, Gould got $22,944.43. The suspension without pay Levsen mentions appears to have cost Gould $6555.56. Yeah, I'd say the Herseth Sandlin campaign takes such infractions seriously.

So Gould's bender cost her over $7000. That must have been really good beer.
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Bonus audio: Listen to the boss explain the situation herself. Of course, expect the Republican spin machine will criticize the good Congresswoman for sounding intense and "not taking any crap" on this issue.

15 comments:

  1. Cory,

    While you might be right with regard to the lost pay, you might not be. You have issues of pay periods. And you have the issue of whether or not she is a contract employee where reimbursed expenses get added to the total paid by your source and the second quarter she was slower getting in expense reports.

    Just being the numbers guy I am, you have to have more information to make this inference and be confident it is accurate. Rather than guessing, you might be able to get this direct from the campaign.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder how much the Thune staffer with the DUI got whacked by his boss? Any info on that?

    Does Kristi want HIS head on a platter?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is there suppose to be an audio clip here somewhere?

    *blaraf*

    ReplyDelete
  4. These "word verifications are sometimes just hilarious. I see the very next one is *ackheil*.

    I can almost hear the jackboots clicking. :^)

    ReplyDelete
  5. *ousnob*

    See what I mean? I'm on a roll!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Herseth has no family values and she has been contacted about a person using her kid's idenity for over 5 years. December 2009 a credit card was applied for at First Premier Bank in Sioux Falls. Even with a credit block a credit card was issued and maxed out but the parent. Then the bank was notified the account was opened fraudulently. Applying on line, using someone elses name, fake social security number and brith date is a federal crime. Yet identity theft, a federal crime, goes unpunished. First Premier just eats the loss and passes it on. Credit is hard to get, well not really if you are willing to commit a felony to get it, knowing you will get away with it. Herseth says more laws need to be passed to prevent this. No one enforces the laws on the books so new laws are just illogical.

    southdakotagov weblog

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oops! Sorry, Bill—I forgot the link! I've fixed that above so you can listen to SHS law down the law on KJAM.

    [Michael Wagner, a.k.a. "southdakotagov,," please keep your family issues out of our politics. What has any candidate done for you lately? Can you show me Kristi Noem or B. Thomas Marking doing anything to satisfy your vendetta?]

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bill, how is being baited into Pat's hell good for you?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Larry, have you read George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant?" If no, give it a read, and you'll see what I'm up to. (Sometimes... on good days...)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Here's a pretty good summary Larry:
    http://www.nlpconnections.com/forum/7116-book-summary-george-lakoff-dont-think-elephant-framing.html

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you, Bill. That is very helpful. Troy is a smart guy; so is Thad. Maybe peace has a chance after all.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'll never give up on it, Larry. I don't want to live in a world where we do that.

    ReplyDelete
  13. One voter at a time? Josie Wales would have said, "Dyin' ain't much of a livin,' Boy."
    Did you catch this?

    ReplyDelete
  14. I recall his saying something similar in his "Brief History of Time." Something like "so far there doesn't really seem to be any job for God to do."

    ReplyDelete

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