Whether he wins or loses his federal corruption trial, former state Sen. Vincent Fumo will be remembered here as a sharp strategist, a charmer and a bully, and a champion for his hometown of Philadelphia and himself."I always thought Fumo was the kind of guy who would step on his own mother to get ahead," said William G. Williams of Camp Hill, a former aide to the late Republican House Speaker Matthew Ryan. "I never trusted the guy."
Fumo, a former banker and lawyer who boasted about his membership in a high-IQ organization, leaves a legacy after 30 years in the Senate of secret budget deals, huge sums of money for Philadelphia, the legalization of casino gambling, and passage of Act 44, the multibillion-dollar transportation funding law, say former legislative staffers, lawmakers and political analysts.
A federal jury Tuesday is expected to begin deliberations in Philadelphia in the 139-count indictment against Fumo, which alleges widespread abuse of power. Four months of testimony about Fumo's personal and political world only underscored the veteran Democrat's legacy.
Fumo is definitely a smart guy, so the question is how he used those smarts. Seems to me that he used them to enrich himself and his friends, as well as direct taxpayer money to his own pet causes, regardless of who got hurt.