All politics are local

The players
• Salvatore F. DiMasi – Massachusetts Speaker of the House
• Richard D. Vitale – friend of DiMasi, newly registered Massachusetts lobbyist
• William F. Galvin – Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
• Massachusetts Association of Ticket Brokers (MATB) – people like us, but they all do this full time

MATB paid Vitale $60,000 in 2007 to work as a lobbyist. Vitale said he was a “strategist” not a “lobbyist”. In 2006, Vitale loaned DiMasi $250,000 at a very low rate for DiMasi’s condo. DiMasi could not have taken the loan if Vitale were a lobbyist.

In 2007 Vitale and DiMasi pushed through legislation that would deregulate the ticket industry. The bill has not passed the state senate yet. Galvin is investigating exactly who did what.

If one were to research the Vitale / DiMasi relationship, it would not take long to realize there was some back-scratching going on. It just happens to surface with the Ticket Broker Bill being at the forefront.

Bills like this are becoming more and more commonplace. They will continue to do so. The occasional Hannah Montana parent explosion and corrupted politician only slow the progress but do not stop it.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/17/ticket_brokers_paid_vitale_60000

To learn how to make money being a ticket broker, visit www.MyTicketBiz.com.