Posted by Old Ben, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Dec 5, 2012 at 2:03 pm

The penalty for defrauding the Food Stamps program is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Shirakawa should face similar penalties.

Posted by kman, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Dec 5, 2012 at 3:50 pm

The sad part of this is that this is just the tip of the iceburg. All government officials should be scrutinized more. Especially the workers in education.

It just goes to show, that in the coming years, there will be the ultra rich and the poor. The middle class will only be government workers.

One of my last paychecks, the government took out 39% income Tax on the following.

Social Security (FICA)

Federal Medicare

California Income Tax

California Vol. Disability

That is directly out of my paycheck.

Additional taxes:

Sales tax on the rest if i buy anything, except for food. That is a nice 8%

If you own a home, there is a yearly house tax, mine is 330/ month

If you live in a community setting like me, my dues are 375/month

If you own a car, you have insurance, which is like 100/month

Oh, i forgot the other bills, pg&e, Att, Comcast, etc.......

Not much left by the time everyone has taken there cut. 3/4 of the year i'm working for the government.

You don't have to be a republican to understand that taxes are way out of control.

Posted by Steve, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Dec 5, 2012 at 4:31 pm

Can you even imagine? A government official placing his own interests ahead of the people he represents? I'm glad nothing like that happens here.

Posted by Old Ben, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Dec 5, 2012 at 8:34 pm

This type of crime would best be deterred by the death penalty, and it is VERY easy to prove.

Posted by gcoladon, a resident of the Slater neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2012 at 9:43 am
gcoladon is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online

And this guy was just re-elected unopposed? Pathetic.

Posted by Old Ben, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Dec 7, 2012 at 3:13 pm

Keeping Princess Leia on a chain and freezing Han Solo in carbonite were his worst offenses. How come nobody's mentioning that?

Posted by Stan, a resident of the Jackson Park neighborhood, on Dec 8, 2012 at 11:08 pm

If George had used your credit card, made these same unauthorized purchases, and had been caught, I imagine he'd either be in jail, or have to make bail to walk the streets. But no, the county is moving like chilled molasses. Can't be too careful when confronted with hard facts of out right theft, um, WTF county of Santa Clara?