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JoeDioGuardi

Ossining

About Me

Joined: March 12, 2010
Last signed in: November 8, 2010

The story of Joe DioGuardi’s life is the story of the American dream. Born to first generation immigrants from Italy who ran a grocery store in the Bronx, Joe worked his way up the ladder, studying in good schools and becoming a partner at the financial firm Arthur Anderson & Co. at the tender age of 31. Having moved to Westchester, Joe was persuaded by the local business community to run for Congress in 1984 and pulled off the impossible: an upset win in one of the most heavily Democratic districts in the country. He was the first practicing CPA ever elected to Congress and became known for authoring the Chief Financial Officer and Federal Financial Reform Act (the “CFO Act”) signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. During his two-term stint, Joe learned how the government indulges in wasteful spending, using similar gimmicks to those recently exposed on Wall Street. On the New York front, Joe distinguished himself with his no-nonsense, bipartisan approach, founding groups that secured substantial increases in federal support for working class New Yorkers while preserving a portion of the Port of New York. When he left Congress, instead of becoming a lobbyist, Joe kept working to educate others about what he foresaw as a gathering financial storm that could derail the country. He was right on the money. While later working in the private sector, he also formed the non-profit Truth in Government and authored a book, “Unaccountable Congress: It Just Doesn’t Add Up” which was recently reissued with an updated foreword that explains just how our federal debt went off the rails. Joe is also known for racking up an impressive human rights record over the decades, noteworthy for his devoted work driving the issue of independence for Albanians in Kosovo. He also raised a loving family that includes his young celebrity daughter, singer and television personality Kara DioGuardi, judge on the Fox TV smash hit, “American Idol.”

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Total viewer hours (all shows):
1 day, 7 hours, 33 minutes
Total unique views: 86