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What prompted Harper's Magazine to publish a somewhat detailed analysis of the origins of Jeb Bradley's supposed wealth is just a tad puzzling. But, perhaps the political fortunes of the scions of wealthy families were of particular interest in 2006. Or, perhaps it was in connection with the provisions in the Campaign Finance law which sought to "compensate" candidates whose competition was self-financed by letting them collect more from individual donors than the $2300 cap allows (a provision which the Supreme Court found to be un-constitutional last month).
Since it is well known that I'm less than enthusiastic about tracking political campaigns by how much money the candidates collect and spend, let me observe that it's the "much" I disdain, not the "how." Which is why just a cursory review of Jeb Bradley's FEC report, which reveals that of the $$475,348 cash on hand he owes $200,000 to himself and another $150,000 to someone else, has caught my attention. That doesn't look like prudent or frugal fiscal management.
And then there's that letter from the FEC about the Amended Quarterly Report his campaign filed on April 17, 2008 for the first quarter, which asks for additional information to comply with:
--Commission Regulations define the term "purpose" to mean a brief statement or description of why disbursement was made. Examples are "dinner expense," "media," "salary," "polling," "travel,"....
Unacceptable descriptions, which require additional clarification, include but are not limited to "advance," "consulting," "political consulting," "commission," "contract labor," "retainer," "election day expense," "expenses," "invoice," "support," "expense reimbursement,"....
Please note, you will not receive an additional notice from the Commission on this matter. Adequate responses must be received by the Commission on or before the due date noted above to be taken into consideration in determining whether audit action will be initiated....
All of which strikes me as rather straight forward and, considering that Mr. Joseph Bradley, III is not a novice public servant, rather surprising that it wasn't complied with.
Perhaps it's just a matter of not having read the regulations. But then, we've identified the failure to read as a pervasive problem in the Congress--one that accounts for all kinds of ill-advised legislation being passed--haven't we?
Another reason why law makers having to waste a lot of time begging for money is a bad idea. Besides, if an analysis in today's Boston Globe is to be believed, more money spent on advertising depresses voter participation at the polls.
