Given its historic role in the earliest days of the United States, Philadelphia offers many educational opportunities. But since last week, Philadelphia has been providing another kind of education — a glimpse into the life of one of Pennsylvania's most powerful politicians, retiring state Sen. Vincent Fumo.

The Philadelphia Democrat, who is not seeking re-election, is on trial facing a 139-count federal indictment that alleges misuse of $3.5 million, including $2 million worth of improper services from Senate staffers, and the fraudulent use of about $1.5 million worth of assets of two Philadelphia nonprofit organizations with which the lawmaker had close ties.

Fumo's corruption trial began last week and the testimony paints a picture of what must be the pinnacle of the culture of entitlement in the Legislature in Harrisburg that was revealed to most voters by the infamous July 2005 pay-raise vote and its aftermath. The entitlement culture and arrogance of state lawmakers was revealed in the 2 a.m. pay-raise vote, but was evident in the earlier pension grab of 2001, and has since been seen in a variety of scandals.

The most recent example is the ongoing Bonusgate scandal in which a dozen people face charges related to $1.9 million in year-end bonuses paid by state House Democrats to staffers who performed purely political, campaign-related work and fundraising. Using taxpayer dollars for political campaign work is illegal.

A smaller story involved a former House Democrat, Rep. Frank LaGrotta, who pleaded guilty to two felony counts of conflict of interest for hiring two relatives to do little or no work.

The Fumo trial is revealing details of a political power broker who brashly used scores of state employees and the resources of two nonprofits for his personal benefit. The scope and scale of the Fumo story exceeds other Harrisburg scandals involving misuse of funds.

In testimony yesterday, Fumo's estranged son-in-law explained that while he was hired to work in the senator's legislative office in 1997, he actually spent 80 percent of his time overseeing renovation work on the senator's 10,000-square-foot mansion in Philadelphia.

Later in the trial, prosecutors will provide evidence to support the charge that Fumo had other staffers and people working under Senate contracts managing development of a 100-acre farm the lawmaker bought near Harrisburg.

Prosecutors also allege that staffers performed a wide variety of personal jobs for Fumo, such as cleaning his house, shopping for groceries, picking up dry cleaning, shoveling snow and driving his children to or from school.

Fumo's defense team argues that the senator has a dedicated staff, and that the line separating professional and personal life are blurred for a man who works 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week for his constituents.

Beyond using Senate staffers for his personal benefit, federal prosecutors also point to the substantial benefits Fumo received from two nonprofit organizations.

One, named Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, was run by a former Fumo staffer and based in his district. Fumo was instrumental in getting state grants for the nonprofit, and prosecutors say that Citizens' Alliance paid for $100,000 worth of tools, involving 3,500 purchases, that were given to Fumo to keep at one of his homes or his farm.

Lawyers for Ruth Arnao, the former head of Citizens' Alliance and a Fumo co-defendant, admitted that the nonprofit gave Fumo "gifts, favors and perks," but argued that it should have given him more, for all that he did for the organization.

Fumo was responsible for extracting, through a secret deal, a $17 million donation to Citizens' Alliance from PECO (Philadelphia Electric Co.). A 2003 investigation of the funding at Citizens' Alliance by the Philadelphia Inquirer helped trigger the federal investigation that broadened to include other aspects of Fumo's domain.

Last week's testimony included what prosecutors call a "perfect storm" of Fumo's "thievery" when Fumo's Senate staffers would drive a Citizens' Alliance van loaded with the lawmaker's luggage to Martha's Vineyard so Fumo would have it when he arrived by air. While on Martha's Vineyard, Fumo would be treated to the free use of yachts provided by the Independence Seaport Museum, a nonprofit on whose board Fumo sat. Leasing the yachts ordinarily would have cost $100,000.

The coordinated effort to enhance Fumo's summer vacation revealed how his three different sources of free labor or assets — the Pennsylvania Legislature, Citizens' Alliance and the Seaport Museum — were used for his personal benefit.

The Fumo trial is showing how a powerful state lawmaker was able to maximize his use of OPM — Other People's Money — a favorite Fumo strategy according to federal investigators and witnesses.

Evidence presented at the trial should be an embarrassment to the entire General Assembly, for surely more than a few people knew what was going on. And it also should be a lesson to taxpayers and voters to demand a long-overdue ethics cleansing in Harrisburg.