At the end of every casino advertisement there’s a note
saying “If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-I’m a Degenerate
Gambler”.
Ok, so it doesn’t really say that but you know what I mean.
Political ads should have the same disclaimer except we
already know what problems they have.
In the case of Jefferson Parish Councilman and Kenner Mayoral
Candidate Ben Zahn he has two main problems: Zahn is a pathological liar and he
has a spending problem – he likes spending other people’s money.
The “news” on Nola.com that Zahn is outspending his runoff
opponent, Kenner Councilman Gregory Carroll, by a 30-1 margin came as no
surprise.
Ben is just following the Minister of Propaganda Greg
Buisson’s playbook: raise hundreds of
thousands from contractors; inundate the
unsuspecting public with splashy mail pieces; put signs up everywhere (and have
folks take down your opponent’s signs or intimidate businesses that have signs
for your opponent); put out BS polls and spoon feed the media; get as many fake
endorsements as possible; and discourage the public from supporting your
opponent with your overwhelming signs, direct mail pieces, robocalls and lies.
Of course, Zahn, like most political candidates, doesn’t
spend any of his own money so what does he care?
As long as he wins, Zahn can reward his campaign
contributors with lucrative no-bid contracts.
Essentially, Zahn uses campaign contributor’s money to win
and then pays them off with OUR money.
Over the past 10
years, Zahn has approved Hundreds of Millions of dollars in no-bid contracts
for his campaign contributors.
Since Zahn has no “real” money himself, it’s a perfect
scheme.
Mike Yenni, Aaron Broussard, and thousands of politicians
through the years have followed the same scheme: get campaign contributions –
hand out contracts to contributors.
Of course, to hear the Times-Picayune extoll the virtues of
Zahn the “businessman” in their ridiculous endorsement of Zahn, you would think
that Lyin’ Ben was Kenner’s version of Donald Trump (instead of Lyin’ Hillary).
Calling Zahn a “businessman” is an affront to anyone that
has actually started or managed a business.
The T/P says that Zahn owns “Zahn’s Decorating”..
Ok.
We all know that Zahn is, or was, an unlicensed florist who
lived off his disabled Father’s florist license for years so, since that scheme
has been exposed, Zahn started another business as a “Decorator”.
Can’t call himself a “florist” anymore so Lyin’ Ben is now a
“Decorator”.
So, what exactly does it take to be a “Decorator”.
Nothing at all.
In fact, if you or I were so inclined, we could open up a “Decorating”
business.
It really is that easy.
Of course, the T/P doesn’t tell you that nor do they tell
you that Lyin’ Ben took over $50,000 from Aaron Broussard’s campaign account
(again, other people’s money) for “flowers” or that Zahn, while unlicensed and
a Kenner City Councilman, had a contract with Jefferson Parish to provide
flowers for the Parish-owned Alario Center and a backdoor deal to provide
flowers for events at the Pontchartrain Center (which was in Zahn’s Council
district).
And, while it was extolling Lyin’ Ben’s business acumen and
economic development abilities, did the T/P mention how many non-family members
that Zahn’s Decorating employs?
Of course not.
Did the T/P divulge how many businesses and jobs that Zahn
has recruited to Kenner during his tenure on the JP and Kenner Councils, or his
connections to other business groups like Envision 2020 (we’re almost in 2017
so what exactly did Envision 2020 accomplish again?)?
The answer to those questions is the same as how many
non-family jobs Zahn has created.
ZERO.
But, the T/P did mention that Lyin’ Ben is going to focus on
Economic Development.
Of course, they said the same thing about our Sexual
Predator-In-Chief, Mike Yenni.
Just as the T/P Editorial claimed that Zahn served two terms
on the Kenner City Council (wrong again), Zahn continues to prove that the more
times you tell a lie, the more people actually believe you.
BTW, for the T/P Editorial Board and those interested, Zahn
was re-elected to the Kenner City Council in 2010 and quit on his constituents
to hop to the JP Council in 2011, just as he was re-elected (without
opposition) to the JP Council in 2015 and is quitting on his constituents yet
again in his attempt to hop to Mayor.
Is it any wonder why
the public doesn’t trust the mainstream media when the vaunted T/P Editorial
Board can’t even get simple facts correct? Or were they trying to intentionally
deceive us yet again?
So, the reality is that Zahn hasn’t served two terms at any
elected position.
Must be nice spending other people’s money to move from job
to job despite being woefully inadequate.
The fact is, Lyin’
Ben makes more money on the JP Council than he ever did as an unlicensed
florist or as a “Decorator”.
When you add in the
money Zahn skims from his campaign account (other people’s money) to pay for
his meals, gifts and other items, and the money that Lyin’ Ben makes for
supplying flowers to Mike Yenni’s prom dates, Lyin’ Ben is living the high
life.
Sorry Ben, Mikey this year’s Prom scene, unless he goes
incognito or hangs out in the Little Boy’s Room as he is known to do.
Over the past few months, whenever I’ve encountered a Ben
Zahn supporter, I’ve asked them the same question:
“What specifically,
besides try to double your property taxes, triple your sewerage fees, attempt
to close playgrounds and approve the largest debt in Kenner’s history without
voter approval has Ben Zahn ever done for Kenner?”
I have always been met with a blank stare.
“Well, uh, I’m sure he’s done something.
”
A clown does “something”.
So does a Sexual Predator, but we won’t go there (although
the T/P Editorial Board also endorsed our Sexual Predator-In-Chief no less than
3 times).
In 2011, when I ran against Zahn for JP Council, Lawrence
Chehardy did a robocall for Lyin’ Ben. Chehardy bashed me and said that Zahn
was the “low taxes” and “small government” candidate.
Ok.
So, answer this
for me please.
In 5 years on the Kenner City Council and 5
years on the JP Council, please point ordinance where Zahn tried to lower your
taxes or reduce the size of government.
I’ll save you the
time because you can’t.
But, I digress. We were talking about Lyin’ Ben’s spending
problem.
f you look through Zahn’s campaign finance report, you can
see how much money Lyin’ Ben has spent from his campaign account (other people’s
money) to finance his own lifestyle.
Thousands of dollars in expensive meals (allegedly with
constituents although I don’t believe that Lyin’ Ben has any “constituents” in
New Orleans or on the Northshore), gifts, giftcards, holiday meals, and more.
In fact, if you eliminate the money that Lyin’ Ben pays the
Minister of Propaganda Buisson, he probably has spent more money on
non-campaign items than on the elections themselves.
One other quick point to illustrate Lyin’ Ben’s spending
problem.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, Zahn sued me twice and lost.
He offered to settle his suit attempting to ban me from
telling the truth about Zahn’s conflict of interest with the now-defunct Kenner
Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.
After the Attorneys worked out the details, there was one
final detail that Zahn insisted on:
The money that he paid to settle the lawsuit had to be paid
from – wait for it – his campaign account.
That’s right.
Even when Lyin’ Ben knew he was wrong he couldn’t man up and
pay the bill himself, he paid it with other people’s money.
If you think there are too many lawsuits now how many do you
think there would be if you could sue someone and use other people’s money like
Lyin’ Ben to pay when you lose?
Let’s summarize: Lyin’
Ben uses other people’s money to hop from political job to political job; uses
other people’s money to finance his lifestyle (c’mon Ben – buying your kids
Slushies with other people’s money is rich even for pond scum like you); and
when he sues people and loses, Lyin’ Ben uses other people’s money to settle
the lawsuits.
For the record, I didn’t receive a penny or personally
profit from the settlement. The last thing I wanted was money from Zahn’s
campaign.
Besides, I can buy my own meals.
Isn’t it time that YOU made Lyin’ Ben pay for his own meals
too?
