Bush Owes You $40 million

The Bush campaign owes the government $40 million for FEC violations during the 2004 election.

From the Washington Post...

The three Democrats on the Federal Election Commission revealed yesterday that they strongly believe President Bush exceeded legal spending limits during the 2004 presidential contest and that his campaign owes the government $40 million.

Their concerns spilled out during a vote to approve an audit of the Bush campaign's finances, which is conducted to make sure the campaign adhered to spending rules after accepting $74.6 million in public money for the 2004 general election.

The reason you haven't heard about this sooner is because the majority of the FEC commisioners are Republicans and they don't think this is a big deal, such as longtime Bush backer Hans von Spakosky.

What the Bush Campaign did was run ads that also promoted Republican Congressional candidates and they split the tab with the Republican Party.

As a result, only half of the cost would count toward spending limits imposed on the campaign when it agreed to take public funds. Weintraub said the spending limit is an essential part of the agreement candidates make to accept public financing. "Bush-Cheney 2004 took the $74 million, and then they broke the bargain," she said.

Do you think they will ever pay up?