Charity apparently has no boundaries as we learned recently when state Rep. Garth Everett announced that he was raising money as a holiday present for his predecessor, Brett Feese, who is .serving a state prison sentence on public corruption charges. Perhaps no one more than Garth Everett has the obligation to be thankful to Brett Feese for all that Feese has done for him.
After all, when Feese declined to run for re-election in the 84th Legislative District after the scandalous midnight pay raise vote in 2005, it paved the way for Mr. Everett to win his seat.
Since the donations are to go into Feese's inmate account, which are most likely used for personal items, a small donation will likely go a long way. Most of a prison inmate's expenses are picked up by taxpayers, such as food, clothing, medical care and a place to stay.
Elected state officials in Harrisburg have long been known or at least suspected of engaging in the same or similar activity that Brett Feese had been convicted of for decades. And many have probably gotten away with it. That might explain why many former colleagues have made sympathetic inquiries about Feese's well-being. I have no grievance with Mr. Everett's charity work on behalf of Brett Feese.
But after Rep. Everett is finished passing the donation basket for prison inmate Brett Feese's inmate account among the state's Republican caucus, perhaps he can pass the basket again among the Republican caucus. This time to help raise money for Brett Feese to pay off the $1 million in restitution to the state treasury Feese had been ordered to pay as part of his sentence. I just don't see Brett Feese coming up with $1 million to satisfy the court's judgment. After all, it was Mr. Feese's work for the Republican Party to win and retain political positions in the state that got him caught up in criminal conduct for which he was convicted.
Robert Kibler
Williamsport
