How and When Will Hillary's Creditors Be Paid? Does the "Little Man" Get Stiffed?

[K Gardner]

The New York senator’s presidential campaign ended February with $33 million in the bank, according to a report filed last week with the Federal Election Commission, but only $11 million of that can be spent on her battle with Obama.

The rest can be spent only in the general election (??), if she makes it that far, and must be returned if she doesn’t. If she had paid off the $8.7 million in unpaid bills she reported as debt and had not loaned her campaign $5 million, she would have been nearly $3 million in the red at the end of February. It’s not just the size of Clinton’s debts that’s noteworthy. It’s also that her unpaid bills extend beyond the realm of high-priced consultants who typically let bills slide as part of the cost of doing business with powerful clientele whose success is linked to their own.

(By contrast, if you subtract Obama’s $625,000 in debts and his general-election-only money from his total cash on hand at the end of last month, he’d still be left with $31 million. )

Can someone savvy in campaign finance explain to me how Clinton pays her $8.7 million in debt (and growing) - especially those to the small businesses, schools, Fire Departments, mom & pop stores, etc.? I could care less if Mark Penn and Ann Lewis get paid, but I wonder how these other bills get paid.. and when. March bills/debt have not yet been released. March fundraising is rumored to be less than February's. She is behind in ad buys in PA. If she is so in debt when she finally drops out that the bills can't be paid, who is responsible? Can the $$ which was supposed to be spent in the GE be spent to pay debts? Has this ever happened before?

Anybody know?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

1. This is not uncommon...

I recall (living in Ohio at the time) that John Glenn had some pretty substantial debts from his campaigns in the 1980's. These debts are often settled (with vendors) for pennies on the dollar, which is why most vendors demand cash in advance. It really depends on who is owed the money. It it's a bank loan, then Hillary will have to write another book to pay it off.

[K Gardner]

3. I heard that this morning on MSNBC about Glenn. Thanks for the answer, Jeff !

[MercutioATC]

2. Ask John Glenn.

I remember a couple of Ohio small printing shops closing their doors after his campaign went broke (this was probably 20 years ago) because he never paid them.


Yep, the little guy gets stiffed.

[K Gardner]

4. They had to close?? Wow.. now THAT wasn't reported. Thanks.

[MercutioATC]

5. No link...solely based on my memories of a radio interview with a vendor.

I distinctly remember being appalled. I was driving and listening to the radio and the owner of a small print shop said that Glenn's campaign wasn't reimbursing him for something like $125k worth of work. He said that he was initially proud that his small shop was doing work for the campaign, but that he was going to have to close shop because of the loss.

[K Gardner]

7. I found this article.. very interesting..

I wonder if this is the Printer..and maybe he finally got paid. Had to picket, sheesh.

Glenn Campaign Debts

The Glenn presidential committee remains $3 million in debt all these years later, and its accounts payable swell by more than $8,600 a month as interest accrues.

It is a well-known woe in Ohio, and much on the mind of 76-year-old Mayo Drake, who spoke of nothing else when asked in Tiffin, Ohio, about Glenn's new status as the oldest man in space.


Hero status prevails

"I know how much money he owes, and he's owed for a long time, and now they're making a hero out of him," she complained. Her ideas broke with most of her fellow pinochle players at Tiffin's Allen Eiry Senior Center, who praised Glenn for exploding geriatric stereotypes.

Most people would consider Glenn, 77, a wealthy man; the last time he ran for the Senate, he released a financial statement estimating his net worth at $10 million, much of it tied up in stocks and property. He has houses in Vail, Colorado, and suburban Washington; a condominium in Columbus, Ohio; a boat; and a plane.

For years, he said he was frustrated because federal campaign law made it impossible to write personal checks to reduce the debt.

Eventually, after numerous fund-raisers failed to come close to attracting all the donors he needed, Glenn asked for a waiver so he could use more than $50,000 of his own money despite having accepted public financing for the 1984 race.

A printer who had not been paid for campaign signs picketed outside the Hart Senate Office Building in 1995, and Glenn's legendary self-discipline began to fray. He said he was getting "a little bit short-fused" and complained that he was not getting credit for putting more of his own money than was legally required toward debt retirement.

"I'm not taking all of the inheritance my family would get," he said at the time. "How about my wife? Would they like me to keep a few dollars out for Annie?"

The printer got his money, but other vendors are still owed.

[MercutioATC]

8. Damn! Might be.

I remember the owner of the shop being respectful, but saying that it wasn't right that a man worth that much money could stiff small businesses...

I hope it IS him. Like I said, the interview made an impression on me.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. Glenn's campaign might have been the catalyst...

Having worked on campaigns in recent years, I can tell you that almost NO small vendor works on credit (unless it's a credit card). It may have been the Glenn experience that caused them to get wise. I hope that Hillary's debt is a secured loan, so that no small business owners get burned.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

6. If Hillary can't even balance her own budget, how do you expect her to balance the Federal budget?

The answer is obvious. Hillary is a disaster.

[Devlzown]

10. I would say that if I were Obama.

She would definitely say that if the shoe were on the other foot.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

11. No question. It's a no-brainer.

[Debi]

12. Small vendors will pass the losses on to new/existing clients in raised costs

And schools, county fair grounds, community centers and colleges will just take it out of our property taxes.

All of these folks have had to pay their bills w/out receiving payment from Clinton (in Iowa for over four months now).

Any of us would be in collection now, Clinton is still running, still incurring debt and ignoring the very people she says she's running to defend.

http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00431569/328357/sd/12 Look at all the debt still owed in IOWA!


Garner Printing 1697 Northeast 53rd Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50313 12 48350.84 Media

How much will local Iowa campaigns have to pay thanks to the Clinton camp NOT paying their over FOUR MONTH OLD BILL?

[K Gardner]

13. Wolfson has been on teevee today saying the debts had been paid and were reported in ERROR. Right.

More lies.

[Debi]

16. We'll find out on April 20th

Debts have to be paid today to be shown as paid on the FEC report.

Also, we called a Clinton supporter about our county fair grounds bill that showed up unpaid in January - they told us it had been paid. Wowie, it's still listed as unpaid in her February reporting. We'll see if she finally paid a debt incurred in December during the month of March.

Smoke and mirrors - must be renting them on the cheap from somewhere!

[K Gardner]

19. Had the bill actually been paid or not, tho? Couldn't figure out from the post ..

[Debi]

20. Not according to her February reporting - so I think her supporter

'Clintoned' to me! ;)

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. Her campaign missed its goal by $800,000 Hillary Dollars today

so more bills will go unpaid.


http://www.ourrepublicblog.com/2008/03/clinton-well-short-of-fundraising-goal.html

[K Gardner]

18. Good find on that ! She only raised 2.2 million? Eeekk..

[rainbow4321]

24. Kick!

[gorekerrydreamticket]

15. Any bank/vendor who extends credit to a political campaign is stupid, imo....n/t

[snooper2]

17. Maybe Obama can pay her debts for her from the money we gave..

hmm...










NAH! :rofl:

[K Gardner]

21. Just kicking this because I can.

[mckeown1128]

22. kick. nt

[AZBlue]

23. k