Baseball Crank: POLITICS: Kerry Campaign Busted Spending Limit

May 30, 2007

POLITICS: Kerry Campaign Busted Spending Limit - On Customized Jets

Dignity. Integrity. Duty.

Aw, heck, why not just blow it all on fancy airplanes?

Sen. John Kerry broke spending limits by nearly $1.4 million during his 2004 presidential bid, including some funds spent on customizing his campaign jets, a Federal Election Commission draft audit concludes.
The FEC could rule that Kerry's campaign must reimburse the government. Because his general election campaign was taxpayer funded, Kerry would have to pay back the U.S. Treasury.

Much of the disputed money was spent on customizing jets used by Democratic presidential nominee Kerry and his running mate John Edwards, according to auditors.

About $1.3 million was spent to reconfigure two jets before the general election. Kerry's primary campaign committee paid for most of the work.
Auditors found that the Kerry-Edwards general election campaign should have paid a larger share of the cost -- about $500,000 more. So by spending more from his primary campaign committee, Kerry broke the general election limit, auditors claim.

It cost more than $900,000 to customize Kerry's Boeing 757, including $63,103 for campaign decals on the plane's exterior.

The price tag for reconfiguring Edwards' Boeing 727 was $300,738, including $224,894 for a new telephone system and $27,659 for decals.

Kerry denies any impropriety. Interestingly, the Globe notes that "[t]he Kerry-Edwards campaign account has about $4.3 million remaining". I'm sure the campaign's donors are thrilled to hear that.

Comments

I don't care that he felt he needed a comfy airplane. I do care that any federal funds go to fund any of this silliness every four years. No more confiscated tax payer money used to fund campaigns! Politicians of all stripes have demonstrated zero respect for other peoples money.

Posted by: largebill at May 31, 2007 8:39 AM

Of course, the Bush Campaign was over $40 million over the limit according to one draft audit...no link to that anywhere on this site, I notice. And nice work citing to a draft audit as fact. You could be a Fox News reporter.

Posted by: AstrosFan at May 31, 2007 10:39 AM

Link? Not that I would be shocked at that (unlike Kerry & Edwards, Bush is (1) not a big fan of campaign finance reform and (2) doesn't pretend to be an economic populist).

It would spoil your narrative to say "Boston Globe reporter," eh?

Posted by: The Crank at May 31, 2007 10:53 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201861.html?nav=rss_politics

Here's the link to the news report of the final audit, which was deadlocked on the issue down party lines. Your Kerry-Edwards one hasn't even made it to the level of being voted on at the FEC by commissioners, it is a staff audit. I suspect these will all be footnotes too, but for much less $.

Posted by: AstrosFan at May 31, 2007 11:43 AM

Oh, and I don't get too many Boston Globe newspapers down here in Texas...can't comment on that...but I suspect all journalism today is subject to the same lack of logic, laziness, or agenda filled pomp...but I'll just say as an attorney you should know better, and I suspect you do know better but choose not to notice. You supply the filter, I supply the opposing view down here in these little old non-front page comments. But I gotta say...so long as your comments section is working, I appreciate the vine.

Posted by: AstrosFan at May 31, 2007 11:51 AM