How hard can it be to get federal money?
Amateurs can do it. Ohio's former Attorney General Marc Dann was a crook and a philanderer. He was fired. Finally. But while in office he created a Washington job for Craig Mehall, a job unique among states' attorney generals, for $98,000. According to the Columbus Dispatch- No other AG had a Washington liaison
- Mehall had no Washington experience
- Mehall had never been a lobbyist
- He was a lawyer, not licensed in Ohio
- He had been a volunteer for Dann
- He was from Chicago
- He missed deadlines due to his lack of experience
- He leaked information
- He borrow a private plane from one of Dann's other political buddies
- He continued to work for Ohio after Dann was fired
Mehall was just let go--due to budget shortfalls in the state, although his boss is long gone. Still, the governor's office says "he did a lot of good" by getting millions in law enforcement grants and representing Ohio in consumer rights and debt-relief. He would have been successful in getting a regional crime lab on behalf of a consortium of institutions, but someone backed away from it. Not too bad for someone with no experience, hired by a crook, who wasn't even from Ohio. Why do lobbyists need to do this? What are our elected representatives doing if not bringing home the pork?