Philadelphia's retirement leech jackasses: Krajewski, Tartaglione, Johnston, Brady, Street, Abraham

Philadelphia, as we know, has been run by a cabal of self-serving leeches for decades. This has come into sharp relief with recent news of the "one-day retirement" scam being pulled by Councilwoman Joan Krajewski and City Commissioner Marge Tartaglione.

The two will "retire" from city government for one day in January in order to collect a one-time "retirement" payment averaging $300,000 each. The next day each will be "rehired" at their $110,000+ jobs with their city cars and numerous other perks. That's a $600,000 transfer of wealth from the citizens of Philadelphia to two useless, slow-witted old women for staying away from work for one day.

Outgoing, equally inept Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnston has already collected a "retirement" package from the city of nearly $400,000 - only to be rehired at a six-figure annual salary without having to repay a penny. Mayor John Street will be collecting over $450,000 and District Attorney Lynne Abraham over $410,000 in "retirement" despite the fact that both would be ineligible for re-election owing to term limitations. All of this in a city where poverty is common. In other words, it's like paying Miss America "retirement" money, and making orphans pool the cash from their milk money.

Clearly none of these people give a flying crap about this city or its inhabitants, beyond what they can wring out of us. Keep in mind that the budget cuts that have been made to pay for these people's hubris have ended in death. We close libraries and firehouses so Joan Krajewski, a multiple-decade do-nothing machine legislator from a working class neighborhood who has primarily served the billboard industry instead of constituents, can buy muu muus and stuff her face with Malomars.

Don't expect the head of Philadelphia's Democratic Party to do jack shit about any of this; Congressman Bob Brady has collected almost $9,000/year in Philadelphia "retirement" money (over $180,000 and counting) from a largely ceremonial clerk position - itself a joke - he held for a handful of years a few decades ago. He's collected this money from a city which can't afford it while earning over $165,000/year as a US Congressman (a position to which he essentially appointed himself, facing no challengers in a few elections), and a comparable salary before that from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (to which he also named his son). If you're wondering why the city's Democratic machine works harder at getting reelected than they do at doing their jobs, look no further than scams like these.

These people are bloodsuckers, and should be treated as such.