Here’s What Mike Ramone Did: Philly Daily News Covers The Scandal the News-Journal Wouldn’t
It’s sleazy, it’s a blatant conflict-of-interest, and it includes a couple of pals of, wait for it, the ethically-challenged Joe Biden. Maybe that’s why the News-Journal wouldn’t cover it.
Failure to cover this story is journalistic malpractice, which makes it all the more ironic that an alleged ‘reporter’ criticized this blog for covering it.
Anyway, here are key excerpts from the Philadelphia Daily News story written by Joseph Di Stefano:
A plan to build a small-company-focused, blockchain-enabled securities market in Wilmington’s flagging financial district has drawn interest from investors in China, Abu Dhabi, and Canada, but it hasn’t produced the hoped-for influx of securities traders, more than three years after the local government agreed to lend organizers $3 million…
DBOT’s biggest investment to date is from China, where media mogul Bruno Wu last winter swapped shares of his Seven Stars Cloud Group and its China Broadband Ltd. affiliate for a DBOT stake initially valued at $8 million…
Seven Stars’ financial reports since then have detailed the DBOT investors who traded DBOT shares for the buyer’s. There’s a strong local flavor: they include John Hynansky, millionaire owner of the Winner auto-dealership group, who once accompanied his friend Vice President Joe Biden to the Ukraine and got $20 million in U.S. government financing for auto dealerships there; Dennis Toner, a former Biden aide; and Delaware State Rep. Mike Ramone, a Republican from suburban Pike Creek. Ramone held the most shares in that transaction, worth around $3 million at Seven Stars’ trading price when the deal was announced.
Ramone recorded his investment in DBOT on his annual state financial disclosure form for 2017. In June of that year, he voted for a bill that would recognize blockchain-based corporate records, giving DBOT backers something to point to when promoting their Delaware location as blockchain-friendly. It passed by a wide bipartisan margin.
Ramone, a landlord, fitness-center, and swim-school operator when he’s not making law in Dover, didn’t recuse himself from that vote. In his brief response to my calls and emails, Ramone did not address questions about why he joined those Democrats investing in DBOT when Wall Street declined to invest, or explain his non-recusal. He did write, when I asked about DBOT falling short of projections, that “DEBOT (sic) has not closed and left Delaware.” Toner referred questions to Wallace. Hynansky didn’t respond to a message left at his Newark, Del., dealership office.
That is a legitimate news story. The bill in question was specifically sponsored to improve the fortunes of DBOT. The person who held the most shares in DBOT was a state representative who did not recuse himself from his self-interested vote. The person who perhaps most stood to benefit if DBOT took off.
Mike Ramone no longer belongs in the General Assembly. Whether it’s Stephanie Barry and the voters or the House Of Representatives as a whole, Mike Ramone must no longer be permitted to use his office to directly enhance his financial coffers.
Are you reading this, Scott Goff? Gonna write about it?
sorry el som. didn’t see your post. excellent job
Hey, we’re posting so much compelling stuff every day, it’s tough to keep up with it all…
Having worked at the NJ and still living in DE, DiStefano has a knowledge of Delaware business and politics that exceeds the total of the entire NJ staff.
Here’s a direct link to the DiStefano piece:
http://www2.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/blockchain-dreams-biden-gop-lawmaker-govt-loan-china-20181101.html
If Scott Goff writes about this we’ll learn about how Ramone is the victim of the Philly Daily News dirty tricks.
“Where are the jobs? Where is the local market center? They should give the money back” to New Castle County, Sloves concluded.”
Ramone got his, so all good.
news journal is too busy bravely attacking the Wilmington homeless and defending “tough on crime” to actually report on corruption. the Delaware Way goes beyond the statehouse, folks
More like reading ‘mouse droppings’ reports and printing those. Let a state agency do the work for them. Beats getting off their collective lazy asses.
OK. Here I go.
First, the restaurant closing articles are done because the info isn’t accessible quickly or easily on the state’s website. So reporting the closures for health reasons is a public service. Otherwise you’d have to go to Dover. It is also click-bait as well. I get that.
When did they disparage the homeless? When some shelters were near closure a year or so ago they covered it and help get temp funding. Actually my man Jerry Habraken took what I think was on of the best photos in the paper since Fred Comegys for one of the stories.
I personally got into it with Albright just yesterday on that Simpler endorsement because it was a pile of fetid trash, so I am very critical of them. But just to make boilerplate, vacuous criticisms in unproductive.
(Plus Scott Goss’ campaign coverage has be fucking terrible. And those critiques have been unpacked here in a constructive way.)
I may have spoken too harshly but I’m still peeved about a series they did regarding the bus hub being changed in Wilmington and multiple disparaging references to the residents without shelter who would be “in the way”. I emailed the writer to share my distaste and she gave a half-assed apology.
Fair enough. Honestly I’m still salty about the entire bus route thing. Carney, BPG, Mayor Mike and a few downtown attorneys brokered a deal for capital elites. They won’t release correspondence and they don’t care.
Scummy deal that one. And sometimes the reporters use the phrases in the press release. It is horrible practice. I’m glad you complained.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/06/14/wilmington-homeless-shelter-nearly-closed-stay-open-now/695403002/
Man oh man I’m still steaming of Scott Goss’ hackery. God I hope Ramone loses.
And El Som is right. You “democrats” who endorsed him for whatever stupid chess board move you think are making is bullshit.