So the story in the AJC Erick aluded to yesterday is here. Basically, some insurance company owner setup a bunch of PACs in Alabama and donated the max to Oxendine’s gubnatorial campaign from each one of them.
A few things jumped out at me:
Campaign records filed with Georgia show Oxendine’s campaign received payments totalling $120,000 from 10 Alabama PACs in the fall and winter of 2008. The AJC traced all of those PACs back to either a post office box or the address of the Alamerica Bank, which is co-owned by Watkins.
No one noticed the fact that they got $12,000 ten times from the same PO Box?
I guess not:
Asked if he was concerned about legal ramifications, Oxendine said the law specifies that donors, not recipients, of illegal donations are punished under the law.
Recipients aren’t at fault, “as long as it appears to be an appropriate contribution on its face,” he said. “All we can go by is what the giver tells us.”
Glad to see you don’t want to ask the uncomfortable questions Commissioner Oxendine. You truly are the successor to George W. Bush’s legacy in the GOP.
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Jason,
Don’t believe there is a difference in objective between a PAC, and the company whose employees make up the PAC. It’s just a legal technicality.
Bill:
Once again, unless you are willing to say the Ox’s campaign is woefully incompetent; do you really think 1/10th of the campaign’s contributions came in without the candidate’s work or knowledge? You really think a benefactor in another state just wants to give $120K without any sort of recognition?
Rugby,
It is entirely possible that one person could have told the Ox and his campaign that “Hey! I know some guys in Alabama that’ll give you money as well. I’ll get on the phone and start calling.”
And, that guys goes out and does the setting-up of the PACs on his own, and gets the money to the campaign on his own…without ever, actually, notifying Ox of what he’s doing.
And…since he knew what he was doing was deliberately skirting the law, he likely did not wish to tell Ox until much, much later…like, when Ox would have actually achieved a position of more power, like being Governor.
Rug, go work on a campaign. Go work on several. Get some experience. Go talk to some candidates about some of the things that are pulled when the campaign or the candidate have no idea of what is going on.
That’s perhaps the weakest, least plausible defense I’ve ever heard.
Rugby,
You asked, I answered. Frankly, My Dear, I don’t give a damn what your opinion of it is.
Mr. Simon, you have not qualified your absolution of Team Oxendine at all. May I offer that perhaps “the OX has done nothing wrong” should be followed by … “based on what we know right now”.
There is a fair amount of smoke here, and we just don’t know what, if anything else, might turn up.
True, Bene.
My point in all of this is that it is quite possible that the identical thing could happen to the campaigns of all candidates. And, just as easy.
See, the way the state law is now, LLCs are not required to disclose who their primary members are. Corporations and partnerships must disclose these things, but not LLCs.
So, I suspect there will be the instances of several donors to this or that campaign who will be hiding who they are through numerous LLCs they personally own/control. Handel, Deal, Johnson,etc. will all be susceptible to it.
And, I’ve talked to a couple of people with the SoS’s office (as well as a couple of legislators) over the past few years about this glaring hole in the law. Nothing has even been attempted yet to bring this state up to being fair across the board.
SO…I suspect there will be duplication of the same theory of getting money to a candidate…and, it may not be Oxendine who is the recipient next time.
Is it true this insurance company and affiliates don’t do business in Georgia and are not subject to regulation by the Georgia insurance commissioner? If so, that’s a point in Ox’s favor.
Lobbyists and contributors seem to throw around a lot of weight in this state and get results that are not always consumer-friendly or competition-friendly. Maybe we’re in need of campaign finance reform with teeth, and further lobbying reforms.
No, they are Georgia companies, based up in Rome. They just set up their PAC’s in Alabama.
Nothing suspicious there.
List of admin’s for the John Oxendine for Georgia’s Gov facebook group. Found the creator very interesting, given the comments on Peach Pundit.
Jesse Tyler (GA Southern)
John Oxendine
Brian Laurens (Kennesaw)
Gabe Winslow
Jeff Breedlove
J.W. Oxendine (Greater Atlanta Christian School)
Jason Shepherd (creator)
Jason openly admits he supports Oxendine. Not a big deal.
Ready2rumble is clearly a candidate for the task of opposition research on a campaign.
Jeff Breedlove is a strategist for the campaign, and he’s married to the campaign manager. At first I thought this was possibly the root and also the end of the over-zealousness, but the comments coming from the candidate himself make me think there is plenty of over-zealousness to go around.
What? Jason supports Oxendine? I had no idea.
Last year at the July 4th Cobb BBQ when I saw Jason’s Ox t-shirt I thought it was some kind of toothpaste. LOL. Oxendine has been campaigning for a LONG time.
I think there is more than one campaign manager for Ox.
I heard that Jon Hodges is sleeping with Ray McBerry’s campaign manager and chief strategist.
I also sleep with a lobbyist.
Well, I’m sleeping with the GOP 35th House District chairman. Actually, right now I’m sitting in bed with him, and we both have laptops in front of us. Not quite as exciting.
Are y’all also playing Battleship?
Bill,
With that setup, and that is the best that you could come up with?
The sad thing is that the GOP House District 35 Chair and Ray McBerry’s campaign manager are sitting in bed together on laptops… on PeachPundit. I can think of a few things better to be doing in bed together on laptops, and some of them DO start with the letter ‘p’, but politics aint exactly among them…
Seriously though, just wish I could get *my* wife involved in politics. Of course, as different as our views are, if she were things would get EXTREMELY interesting around here!
Recently, someone asked Jon and me: “Do you guys discuss politics all the time?” To which we answered: “Yes.” And she said: “Do you talk about anything else?” To which we answered: “Not really. No.”
It is a HUGE advantage being married to my best friend, and having the same drives and interests. Juggling a household of six children, and full time jobs would be absolutely impossible without our relationship.
With that setup, and that is the best that you could come up with?
Doug, my “dirty mind” brain isn’t always engaged. Must have been the margaritas the night before that suppressed those neurons…
Jenny,
Now, you know that’s not true. You two talk about your “six kids” too!
Which, come to think to it, may explain why you two just sit in bed on computers.
Hey, Jon? By the way, if your laptop is actually in your lap…the heat it gives off kinda…depresses the “swimming” abilities of them…
Hahahahaha.
I see the Margaritas have worn off, Bill.
jenny:
Being married to my polar opposite in many ways is actually a great thing. We don’t stress about the same things, meaning in dang near any situation that comes up, at least ONE of us is typically decently calm – though maybe agitated that the other is so stressed/upset. I don’t know finances, and she doesn’t know geography.
Honestly, if I was married to anyone more similar to me than my wife, I’d probably be divorced already.
Jeff,
You appear to ALWAYS be stressed. Your wife must compensate that by being comatose.
Bill:
Eh, I’m actually pretty laid back in most areas. I just am on near-constant ‘warrior’ mode politically. 90% of the rest of my life though, I’m one of the most laid back people you’ll ever meet. Though I DO look forward to every other Thanksgiving/Christmas season when the General Election is over and the General Assembly has yet to begin.
Besides, this *is* my first rodeo on the vast majority of this stuff. I’m not the ‘seasoned political operative/activist’ that most of y’all are.
Do you have a “rest of your life”away from politics, Jeff?
haha Bill.
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