Mark B. Cohen Still Reading A Lot, Comparatively

Mark B. Cohen might be billing trips to a fancy soirée in New York to the taxpayers, but he has cut back a bit on the book habit. As you may remember, back in 2006 the Inquirer reported he had spent $28,200 in books for the past two years, including AOL for Dummies and The Zen of Gambling.

Well, Cohen’s book bill was just $3,200 last year, only purchasing a mere 63 books, all of which I’m sure he’s read and used to better the legislature.

Of course, Cohen is attempting to do anything he can to stop you from finding out about it.

Cohen spent $100 in January for the latest edition of the Open Government Guide, a detailed look by the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press at the nation’s varied state laws dealing with public access to records.

A month after buying the book, Cohen became the only member of the new Speaker’s Reform Commission - a panel studying how to make Harrisburg more accountable - to vote against a proposal to provide expense records electronically.

If you dare to question Mark Cohen’s free-spending ways, he’ll pretend his free trips to New York and thousands and thousands of dollars of books is somehow good for me, average taxpayer.

The Pennsylvania Society is not much of a party either. There is no dancing, no romantic music and no mood of hilarity. It is considerably more staid than many, many Christmas parties. [...] Once again, the Inquirer has documented that I engage in legislative-related activities not only five days a week, but also on weekends, not only in Philadelphia but in other places where people relevant to the legislative process gather. This is a grasping, overreaching search for scandal where there is none.

Ha ha! Get it? His free tips to New York weren’t all that much fun, so it’s okay that we paid for it. Now where’s my fucking book report on What a Party!: My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators and Other Wild Animals by Terry McAuliffe and Steve Kettmann? It was due last week.

3 weekends in N.Y. billed to Pa. taxpayers [Inquirer]
Bookworm turns over new leaf; tab is down to $3,200 [Inquirer]
Mark Cohen…charging vacation to taxpayers [Phillyblog]