Blackburn has raised huge amounts of money from lobbyists and then funneled this campaign money to her family. As the Commercial Appeal reported, “The company, Political Concepts LLC, was founded by Paul J. Ketchel III and operates from his and Blackburn’s daughter’s home in suburban Nashville. It received $46,935 for campaign work leading up to Blackburn’s 2004 victory, in which she didn’t have an opponent in the primary or general elections.” Since that report, she has gone on to funnel over $120,000 in PAC and campaign money to her family.
Incumbent Blackburn exceeded the federal limits for transferring money from her PAC bank account to her campaign bank account. She was also caught under-reporting contributions by over $61,000 and failing to accurately report over $50,000 in disbursements. She has been fined at least $1,500 by the Federal Election Commission.
The pattern continues. According to recent FEC filings, Blackburn’s campaign failed to report over $100,000 in contributions, over $280,000 in expenses, and over $50,000 in book-keeping errors. [article]
While the incumbent was trying to rise in the ranks of Congress, deficits were rising to record levels: from $6.2 trillion to $9 trillion. She was not an observer of this rise; she was a contributor. Blackburn sponsored and supported earmarks and pork-barrel spending from the Appalachians to the Houston Zoo.
Incumbent Blackburn has allowed special interest to “privately finance” over $100,000 of travel during her tenure . . . trips to the sands of Ft. Walton Beach, to the ski slopes of Aspen, to Las Vegas, Chicago, California and more. This is another way that special interest groups gain influence in Washington.
As Governor Don Sundquist’s appointed director of the Film, Tape, and Music Commission, Blackburn took state funded trips to France, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and other locations. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported that after one trip, she “was asked to justify her travel expenses” after they were questioned as “excessive”. Blackburn apparently became upset about having her reimbursement request questioned, burned her travel-related receipts, and turned in the ashes in a baggie with an attached note, “Copy of LA expense report as requested”.
Wow—if these items are true, she is a major disappointment.
I’ll withhold judgment until there is an independent justification of the facts—maybe some TN Freepers can add their insights.
But,man, is there any politician left who thinks that public service does not equal self-service?
I'm sure there are a lot of Congresspeople who hire family members to run their campaigns. I'm sure they think they can be trusted more than others.
Leatherwood is not making himself look good with his attacks on Blackburn, nor has he gotten any traction. His real issue is that the Memphis suburbs don’t have a Congressmember, but that’s the fault of the rodent gerrymanderers here in Nashville, not Blackburn.