Long-time political writer Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel -- the state's best newspaper -- reports that Gov. Phil Bredesen typically remains most concerned about himself when it comes to the use of old campaign funds.
Meanwhile, former governors Sundquist and McWherter have donated their funds to other candidates and in building a local library.
So why is Bredesen different than other Tennessee governors? Beyond his obvious me-first outlook to public service, Bredesen is repaying multi-million dollar loans he made to his gubernatorial campaigns in 2002 and 2006. His 2006 loan was against the state law, which prohibited such multi-million contributions by candidates to their own campaigns.
Bredesen has never been indicted because a state attorney general's opinion says the state law is illegal. But it remains on the books as the preference of the representatives of the people of Tennessee. That point, however, means nothing to Bredesen.
The governor has contributed a few thousand dollars to Democratic candidates. But his main cause remains himself.
Read more at: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/sep/22/leftover-funds-disclosed/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment