The website PolitiFact.com is a project from the St. Petersburg Times created to help us common folk find the truth in politics. Impossible you say? Maybe not with PolitiFact’s help. Each day reporters and fact checkers from the Times review statements made by politicians, TV commentators and the like, review their statements and rate their accuracy. If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time you know that we think bad politicians are the worse kind of bosses. They’re pushy, power hungry, manipulative liars. PolitiFact’s goal is to shake out the truth tellers and encourage more transparency. Here’s a list of a few of the politicians reviewed on PolitiFact with the worst rating – Pants on Fire!

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y

Ed Schultz – “Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu received almost $1.8 million from BP over the last decade.” Truth: $1.8 million? More like $25,200. Ed Schultz is the host of the Ed Show on MSNBC.

Bill O’Reilly – “We researched to find out if anybody on Fox News had ever said you’re going to jail if you don’t buy health insurance. Nobody’s ever said it.” Truth: Apparently, the research wasn’t thorough enough. Bill O’Reilly hosts “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News.

John McCain – “I never considered myself a maverick.” Truth: Except for all those times he called himself a maverick.

Charles Rangel – “I’m glad for the wording of it (an ethics report on corporate-sponsored Congressional trips) because clearly the wording exonerates me. Truth: Not according to our dictionary. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Scott Brown – “The stimulus bill “didn’t create one new job.” Truth: Despite grim employment numbers, the stimulus has created jobs. Scott Brown is a Republican U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

See more PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter ratings here.

While his state faces an $11 billion budget shortfall, Texas Gov. Rick Perry lives in a massive rental home that, to date, has cost $600,000 to rent and maintain. The 6,386-square-foot rental home in the hills, where Perry resides while the Governor’s mansion is under repair, costs $10,000 a month to rent. Other expenses to maintain the governor’s house-on-the-hill rental lifestyle include:

• $18,000 for household supplies and cleaning products
• Over $1,000 in window coverings
• A $700 clothes rack
• Grounds and lawn maintenance $44,000
• Heated pool maintenance $8,400

This spending comes at a time when Perry has asked state agencies to reduce their budgets by 5 percent.

In fairness to Perry, his staff claims he has cut back on luxuries and now has only one housekeeper and one and half (part-time) chef. They also go onto explain blah blah blah blah… If you care to read why yet another politician is overspending on luxuries while his constituents beg for unemployment extensions, click here.

Move over Mark Sanford. Kwame Kilpatrick take note. Despite media coverage to the contrary, American politicians do not hold the market on licentious, really bad political boss behavior. Last week, this old coot to the left, 86 year old Gov. Narain Dutt Tiwari, resigned after a tape allegedly showing him in bed with three women was released. Tiwari cited health reasons for resigning, apparently not realizing the irony in being too weak to govern, but well enough to romp in bed with three women.

As is par for the course in these kinds of cases, Tiwari is denying his involvement in the tryst. His aide in a written statement claims “The news channel report is fabricated, false and malicious to tarnish the image of the governor.” After the tape was shown on television, women’s groups protested, demanding Tiwari’s resignation. As if the tapes weren’t salacious enough, the women seen on the tape were said to have been brought to the governor by a fourth woman who was reportedly promised a mining lease by the governor in return for sexual favors. The woman said she exposed Tiwari through a sting operation when he failed to keep his promise.

It’s not customary for the Indian news media to reveal these kinds of indiscretions amongst their politicians, but this one apparently riled someone enough to break with standard practice. Personally, we think it has something to do with the shock value involved in seeing an 86 year old in bed with 3 women. Read more about the 86 year old stud at the Daily Mail.

For the next couple of weeks, Really Bad Boss will be reposting our most popular and commented on bad boss stories of 2009. Today, we’ll highlight some of the best bad political boss stories of the year. From Mark Sanford to Kwame Kilpatrick, some politicians went to great lengths to unsuccessfully cover up secret lives…

Text and the City – Embarrassing text messages between Kwame Kilpatric (Detroit, Michigan mayor) and former mayoral chief of staff Christine Beatty (not his wife) were made public yesterday.  We are really big fans of Kwame Kilpatric.  Why?  Besides the fact that he gives us so much to work with,  the only thing worse than a really bad boss is a really bad boss who doesn’t know when to sit down and shut up.  After weeks of vehemently denying the affair, perjuring himself in court  and refusing to resign even though EVERYONE KNEW HE WAS LYING, prosecutors revealed the existence of  the text messages that would ultimately seal his fate.  Now that the messages have been made public, they reveal quite a few salty exchanges between the two. Nice mayoral conduct Kwame and yet another example of bosses behaving badly.  To read the nastiness in detail, click here.

Don’t cry for me Argentina – Well, as we reported yesterday, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was indeed in Argentina, trying to get his groove back.  In an emotional, tear filled press conference, Sanford (ironically tanned) apologized to his wife, his children and, it seems, to everyone else in the world.  Sanford, unlike many other of his ilk didn’t deny having the affair and came clean about it before evidence surfaced that would prove he was lying (think Kilpatrick, Edwards).  We can argue ad nauseam about whether or not unfaithful politicians should continue to be trusted by their constituents, but in Sanford’s case, what’s unarguable is his M.I.A  routine. You can’t just go AWOL because you feel a sudden urge to get your groove on.   Abandoning your office – even temporarily – without alerting your staff or your family, is inexcusable and cause for serious questioning of your mental stability.

I’m not a South Carolina resident, and ultimately the decision lies with them.  But in our opinion, Sanford’s disappearing act is a surefire sign of a Really Bad Boss.

This is happening waaaay too often – These politicians are keeping me busy. Last week while I was lollygagging about up north minding my own business, yet another Senator admitted to having sexay times with someone other than his wife, practically begging me to write about him here.

This time the senator was 47 year old Paul Stanley (R-TN), and his “indiscretion” was with a 22 year old intern.  The conservative Republican (of course) and abstinence only supporter (of course, of course), admitted to having a sexual relationship with his intern.  After much soul searching the senator decided to come clean because his conscience wouldn’t allow him to continue with the hypocrisy.  NOT.  What really happened was the intern’s boyfriend got a hold of some nudie pictures the senator took of his girlfriend and tried to blackmail him.  It was only then that the Senator saw the light and fessed up about the affair to local authorities, stopping the blackmailer in his tracks.  The boyfriend is now charged with trying to extort $10,000 from the senator.  And the senator has joined our growing list of political Really Bad Bosses.

As if the whole sordid tale wasn’t bad enough, guess how Stanley met his current wife? You guessed it, she was once his intern.  Read the entire hot mess of a story here.

Tomorrow: Affairs weren’t the only deception by politician’s in 2009

I have no idea what I'm doing...

It seems as though politicians are falling all over themselves to display tool-like behavior.  If we could unilaterally present the award to the architects of the birther movement and the healthcare town hall showdowns, we would.  But, in keeping with tradition, we’ll give the award to a single individual who’s recently displayed very tool-like behavior.

This week, it’s a toss-up between Blagojevich puppet, Senator (we use the term loosely) Roland Burris and Governor Mark “don’t cry for me Argentina” Sanford.  Sanford’s personal use of his state’s plane has rightfully fallen under scrutiny. Pickups from his son’s games and flights to get discount haircuts, all funded by taxpayer dollars, deservedly put Sanford in the running. 

However, Burris gets the award this week for announcing a change of heart and declaring that he might run to retain his senate seat.  He then provided further proof that he’s operating solely on fumes when he declared “people all over the country” were urging him to run.  When pressed, Burris could not specify what country or clearly define what he meant by “people.”

The Burris Side-eye

A couple of weeks ago, Roland “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing” Burris, hinted at not running to retain the senate seat Blagojevich tried to sell him gave him.  We all breathed a collective sigh of relief.  At least I thought we did. Burris now says he might still be in the running because he’s being urged by “people all over the country” to run.  What country? Which people? And by all over does he mean all over his house?  Caus’ we’re not buying it. 

That said, Marion Barry proved that some people could do anything and get reelected. And I guess being caught on tape negotiating the purchase of your senate seat, when compared to being caught on video smoking crack, is no big deal.  Nevertheless, right now most people, besides the ones in his basement encouraging him to run, just think he’s an idiot.  If by some miracle he’s actually elected to the position, we fear he’ll open his mouth one time too many and prove once and for all that he is.

Actually, more like flying dirty.  Most people involved in clandestine activity do everything they can to fly under the radar – pun intended.  Not South Carolina’s governor.  Turns out, the governor, who refuses to resign even after going AWOL  to hook  up with his non-wife soul mate in Argentina, has been misusing the state aircraft.

Providing additional fuel for our Really Bad Political Boss files, the Associated Press is reporting that the governor used state planes for dozens of personal trips for himself, his wife and family during his tenure.  Some of the fun trips include: 

• A pick up from Myrtle Beach and return to Columbia, at a cost of $1,265 for “personal time” at Sanford’s favorite “discount” hair salon. Does anyone else see the irony in that?
• A pick up from his son’s football game in Bishopville and then on to a commercial flight to a Texas lake house for a gathering of Republican donors.
• A book signing in Mount Pleasant and then a 65^th birthday party for a business owner and supporter.
• On five of the last six Thanksgiving weekends, Sanford used a state plane to fly himself, his wife and their four sons from the family’s home in Beaufort County to Columbia for the state Christmas tree lighting.
• First and business class flights on commercial airlines at taxpayer expense, despite a law requiring lowest-cost travel.

Sanford with pigs

What makes Sanford’s behavior even more aggravating is that he’s made a career of appearing thrifty, demanding state employees use both sides of Post-it notes and attempting for months to block federal stimulus money for South Carolina schools.  

The governor, who’s grown fond of quoting scripture and likening himself to biblical figures, is now facing increasing calls to resign.  We’ve got one question for the spiritually minded governor, WWJD?  Thoughts after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »