Friday, September 24, 2010

 

"First" of the Day: new campaign spending record

Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for California governor, has surpassed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the highest personal contribution in American campaign history.

Whitman's campaign reported another $15 million contribution late Tuesday, bringing her personal donation to $119 million.

—Juliet Williams reporting in "Meg Whitman breaks US campaign spending records"

And to think, before her run for governor Whitman seldom voted. Why bother to vote when you can just buy any office you like? She may have a point. We'll see in November.

In another story, Williams captures the irony of Whitman's campaign—

For Meg Whitman, there is at least one problem in government worth throwing money at: getting elected.

The billionaire former eBay CEO is using her personal fortune in her campaign for California governor like no other candidate in U.S. political history: $119 million so far on months of wall-to-wall advertising, private jets, dozens of six-figure consultants and other expenses to spread her message of government austerity.
...

Her open wallet is in contrast to her austerity plans for California. She is promising if elected to dramatically cut state spending, eliminate 40,000 state workers, scale back pension benefits and cut the welfare system, which she says is bloated and unaffordable.

Whitman blames her spending spree on the unions, which have spent a miserly $12 million against her $119 million. Austerity, it seems, is expensive. 

Related posts 
Hire your own judge; you'll help the system and save in the long run (6/15/2005)
Conservative Acknowledgment of the Day (7/19/2010)

Labels: , ,

Atom feed

Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com
Blogarama - The Blog Directory

Blog Search Engine

Politics
Blog Top Sites

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?