Thursday, February 23, 2006

Looking After Rick

Rick Santorum, who earns a Senate salary of $162,000, has described himself as a man who lives “paycheck to paycheck,” often with the assistance of his parents “who are by no means wealthy.” However, the American Prospect has found that Santorum’s PAC regularly lists expenses including such "unorthodox items as dozens of trips to the Starbucks in Leesburg, a number of stops at fast-food joints, and purchases at Target, Wal-Mart, and a Giant supermarket in northern Virginia."

The mortgage on the Senator’s home in Shenstone Farms is currently financed by the Philadelphia Trust Company. A private bank that only loans to (very wealthy) “investment advisory clients whose portfolios we manage, oversee or administer.”

The Santorums do not have any investments managed by Philadelphia Trust, nor do they have the investment assets of $250,000 that would be the bank’s minimum threshold. Santorum has disclosed a mere $140,000 in liquid assets. Neither Santorum nor Philadelphia Trust will disclose the specific interest rate associated with the mortgage.

Curiously, the officers of the Trust are closely associated with the Pennsylvania Republican establishment and have given over $24,000 to Santorum’s PAC and campaign fund.

Any special or exceptional loan made to the Senator would be in violation of the Senate gift guidlines. A complaint has been filed with the Senate Ethics Committee over the Senator's unusual refinancing.

In other scummy news, Santorum’s Philadelphia-based charity, Operation Good Neighbor Foundation, has spent 57% of its budget on fundraising commissions, travel and other administrative expenses and only 36% in grants. The Foundation is not registered as an official charity, although it has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the $25,000 that would legally require registration.


- Eli Fishburne

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eli, you are a valued member of the Haverford College Democrats. My hats off to you, sir.

Anonymous said...

Who IS Eli Fishburne?

Anonymous said...

Eli Fishburne is the man who stopped the motor of the world.

-Adrian

Anonymous said...

Well it would be really easy to just loose sight of the budget on THOSE shopping trips. Can you imagine leaving starbucks with a double skinny decaf mocha latte and a Wal-Mart VISA card. Look out world, budget be dammed!