November 14, 2007
Carole and the Case of the $397,000
After paying up last year for disclosure violations, Senator Carole Migden is once again under investigation for not disclosing or itemizing credit card charges that total $397,000. According to the LA Times, she faces $60,000 in administrative fines if she's in breach, our Miss Migden has investigators looking all up in her credit card charging for over the past seven years. Yikes.
The main cause of concern for not keeping tidy books is that it could mean that money is being spent for personal, not campaign-related, use. Apparently, Migden's reports only list the amount spent and the name of the credit card company...and that's all. (Hey, she sounds better at managing her finances than us. But we digress.)
Oh, and the cattiest part of all, "[t]he Fair Political Practices Commission launched an investigation of Migden's expenses after receiving a formal complaint from Assemblyman Mark Leno...who is a candidate to unseat her in the June 2008 election." Oh, you two. Can't you hug it out over Grasshoppers at the Lex? Don't the gays and the dykes have an strained enough relationship as it is?
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I'm a long time Migden cheerleader. But I'm afraid Leno has a substantive complaint here.
"Can't you hug it out over VERY STRONG MEDS at the Lex?"
Fixed.
Come on let the sock puppets fight it out. That is most of the fun.
It seems like a pretty easy choice. Candidate A is clearly bonkers, bananas even. Candidate B is not bonkers, but is in all likelihood something of a well-groomed pothead.
Bananas vs. guppie stoner. Matchup of the century.
omg, he's a pothead? Whoa! Great gossip. I had no idea! Strange.
Well, I personally tend to side with the insane, so...
So did Midgen report Leno yet as revenge?
Any hidden camera bedroom shots surfacing?
Tapped phones? Telephoto lenses? Poisoned pets? Planted drugs?
Murder threats?
I'm fine with insane as well, Brock. One can be barking mad and still be a effective public official (see Pete Stark). Integrity and lunacy are not mutually exclusive. (In fact, I see some correlation between the two.)
What cannot be tolerated is corruption. And that's what is at issue here.
Legislators are obligated itemize expenditures. Otherwise campaign contributions can amount to what is little more than a bribe. It's that simple.
Even more disturbing to me is that Migden has been a repeat offender in this regard.
I don't think Carole Migden is insane. To the contrary, I think she's a savvy political operator. That's why these recurring allegations are so disturbing.
Well, I DO think Carole Migden is off her rocker and a complete disgrace. And I have absolutely no dog in this race whatsoever. However, I am not suggesting Migden is a dog, even if she is completely barkers.
As for Leno being a stoner, its a joke based on Leno pushing to get a bill passed that would legalize hemp.