Posted on 04/10/2010 12:15:13 AM PDT by Brandonmark
She was a 25-year-old junior staffer when the Florida Republican Party gave her an American Express card.
Over the next 2½ years, nearly $1.3 million in charges wound up on Melanie Phister's AmEx — $40,000 at a London hotel, and nearly $20,000 in plane tickets for indicted former House Speaker Ray Sansom, his wife and kids, for starters. Statements show thousands spent on jewelry, sporting goods and in one case $15,000 for what's listed as a month-long stay at a posh Miami Beach hotel, but which the party says was a forfeited deposit.
The credit card records, obtained by the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald, offer the latest behind-the-scenes look at extravagant and free-wheeling spending by the party touting fiscal restraint. Not only did certain elite legislative leaders have their own party credit cards to spend donors' money with little oversight, but Phister's records show these leaders also liberally used an underling's card — without her knowledge, she says.
"I did not have the sole discretion to initiate credit card spending," Phister said in an e-mail statement. "Over that period of time, there were multiple instances when the card was used to make purchases that I had no knowledge of, and I did not regularly review the monthly credit card statements which I understand were sent directly to the Party's accounting office."
Even after a series of embarrassing revelations over profligate credit card spending by the likes of Republican U.S. Senate frontrunner Marco Rubio, Sansom and incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon — and pending state and federal investigations of party finances — revelations of the huge charges on Phister's card had veteran GOP fundraisers apoplectic.
"Oh my God. I can't believe it,'' said Al Hoffman, a top fundraiser from Fort Myers, when told of the $1.258 million on Phister's
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
Associations and non profits often have a card that is used solely for office functions. It may or may not be in the name of the organization.
The St. Petersburg Times is NOT our friend. Note the phrase “by the party touting fiscal restraint”. It illustrates clear bias and is evidence that there is a more (or less) to this story than the St. Petersburg Times is writing.
Yep, I’m that jaded about the MSM.
It doesn’t say it was just her. The hotel bill for the entire traveling party was probably put on her bill. Hotel and restaurant and room service tabs for how many people, and for how long a stay ?
Considering Nancy Pelosi spent $1.2 million on her trip to Copenhagen in November for the Climate Change non-event, a $40,000 hotel stay in London may not have been extravagant at all. Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn’t.
Of possible interest??????
WAKE UP FOLKS!!! YOU KEEP FALLING FOR THE MSM TRAPS!!!
This liberal rag hates anything remotely conservative, like most media outlets.
They are just trying to portray anyone with an R after their name as unreliable on fiscal policy.....just like those with a D after their name.
This is just another attempt to minimize the bloodletting coming in November.
“Surely Rats must be doing at least as badly if not worse.”
Probably so, but the rats control the media, and the repubs do not need more reminders to the public about corruption.
Regardless, I never give money to the party. Only to the candidate.
amen to that gesture. maybe it will catch on.
Republicans do it with donated money; Democrats do it with tax money.
Chicago style politics
You mean there’s a difference between $15,000 spent on an event and $10 TRILLION spent on nothing?
Michael Steele had nothing to do with this fiasco. Its a state GOP problem. I am not so sure the GOP can handle money any better than the Dems. Is there anybody out there in politics who knows how to hold on to a dollar bill?
Commies are out in full force, but their propaganda has no effect on the thinking.
When will we see the story about government employees uses of their government issued credit cards?
There is just too much money sloshing around everywhere in politics and government these days.
I doubt if there will be any reversal of this suicidal trend.
There has to be a way to somehow tie this to Michael Steele of the RNC. I’m trying to figure out how though.
The Florida RNC has major problems....and its just not Charlie Crist
Marco Rubio ran up nearly a million dollars on his RNC credit card.....so he is just as soiled as Crist and the rest of the GOP. I will not waste my conservative vote on Rubio in the primary....it will go to Bob Smith
Never contribute to the party...always to the candidate
FYI..
And I was hoping at last some of it was Soros money, on the Democrat side. Oh well... ;-)
I agree. I’d like to see about 85 to 90% of the government employees given the boot, at least in D.C.
“It doesn’t say it was just her. The hotel bill for the entire traveling party was probably put on her bill. Hotel and restaurant and room service tabs for how many people, and for how long a stay ?”
And I am sure that the thousands of dollars spent on jewelry was also justifiable,
For what?
'Bob Smith has dropped out of the Republican U.S. Senate primary in Florida. In a letter to supporters, Smith said that while he has run a grassroots campaign, he always knew he would need "some degree of major funding to succeed," and such'… New Hampshire Union Leader 4/6/2010
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