Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » The final insult
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
The final insult

Friday, Sep 30, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Sheesh

The unsuccessful 2011 mayoral campaign of Carol Moseley Braun has failed to file documentation on how $315,000 in campaign funds was spent, something that is required by state law.

Illinois Board of Elections officials told the Chicago Sun-Times and NBC5 News they have been unsuccessful in getting either Braun or her now-defunct campaign to explain how the money was spent.

Candidates are required by law to file quarterly campaign disclosure statements. In an April 15 filing, Braun reported raising $323,000 and spending $315,000.

In the report, the Braun campaign listed “Vendors Multiple” instead of itemizing expenditures over $150.

* And any remaining good will for Carol Moseley Braun should now vanish forevermore

Any fault, according to Moseley Braun, lies with her former treasurer, Billie Paige.

“If Billie Paige neglected to (detail those expenses), it doesn’t surprise, she is elderly and overwhelmed,” Moseley Braun said by phone this week.

First of all, Billie Paige resigned as Braun’s campaign treasurer on April 13th. If this reporting problem was her fault, Braun has had plenty of time to straighten out the books since then.

Secondly, Paige said she warned the Braun campaign about the problem

By phone this week, Paige told NBC Chicago she had raised questions herself about the expenditure omissions.

Thirdly, Billie Paige has been one of Braun’s best friends for decades. To make these accusations now is inexcusable. Paige has defended Braun through thick and thin, and there’s been plenty of both over the years.

And, lastly, Ms. Paige is not a senile old woman. Far from it. To suggest that this problem was caused by Paige’s age and lack mental acuity is just flat-out disgusting and wrong. She’s still as sharp as a tack. The real problem was a wholly disorganized and disjointed campaign apparatus created by Braun’s total incompetence. Nobody knew what was going on from minute to minute because Braun thought she knew best. She didn’t.

Carol Braun ran a terrible campaign, and these financial reporting problems are further proof of this fact. Thankfully, she has finally been exposed as the horribly disorganized, mean-spirited person many of us have long known her to be.

It was obvious to all of us who knew her that Paige realized early on that she’d made the biggest mistake of her life by convincing Braun to run for mayor. It weighed on her heavily, and probably broke her heart.

And now this. The final insult, and a total crock to boot.

Go away, Carol, and never come back.

       

41 Comments
  1. - foster brooks - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 6:31 am:

    Carol Moseley Braun never had any intention of being mayor, she just wanted to raise some money and have a good time.


  2. - Glass is half full - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 6:42 am:

    Who ran her campaign? carol was a plant from day 1


  3. - OneMan - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 6:52 am:

    Rich, Rich, Rich…

    Have some organic tea and mellow out man..

    A state election official said that’s not true, noting two letters were sent this summer to Braun and her most recent campaign treasurer asking them to provide details on how the money was spent. To date, no details have been provided.

    “There is no there, there,” Braun said by phone, defending her campaign and adding, “I am out of politics and not in your world anymore.”

    You can’t hide from this Carol as much as you would like to. One can only hope the book is tossed at her in terms of fines.


  4. - Wensicia - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 6:56 am:

    Just Carol’s way of living off he public dole. Run for office, squander the funds, blame discrepancies on someone else, usually the press for pointing this out. It’s sad that Ms Paige was targeted this time.


  5. - x ace - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 6:56 am:

    Inflation ? For the 1992 Election it was only $ 249,000 she didn’t properly document and got away with it. Blamed the ” bookkeeper.”


  6. - MCgone - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 7:02 am:

    Nothing “sad” about it. Billie Paige was just the same in her day. Karma, etc.


  7. - Stooges - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 7:48 am:

    Carol Mosely Braun has to be the most unqualified person to ever be electred to the Senate. And to think she actually ran for president and people paid attention to her is an indication of how messed up the system can be sometimes.


  8. - Dirt Digger - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 8:10 am:

    Awwww thanks for sticking up for the working folk in the campaigns Rich :)


  9. - wordslinger - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 8:14 am:

    –Carol Mosely Braun has to be the most unqualified person to ever be electred to the Senate.–

    She’s probably in the class picture, but there’s a lot of competition there. Sen. Bilbo of Mississippi comes to mind.


  10. - Cincinnatus - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 8:25 am:

    Rich said:

    “Go away, Carol, and never come back.”

    To jail.


  11. - amalia - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 8:29 am:

    staffers? consultants?


  12. - Dirt Digger - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 8:30 am:

    Wordslinger: definitely. The U.S. Senate is where incompetence goes to thrive.


  13. - Stones - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 8:39 am:

    Great idea Carol! Through the “elderly and overwhelmed” under the bus. Shesh….


  14. - Jim - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 8:48 am:

    You go Carol, throw Billie Paige under the bus. How about Victor Reyes and Mike Noonan, they’ve been around a campaign before.


  15. - Hi - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 9:02 am:

    I wonder how much money Victor Reyes was eventually paid for helping this mess run for mayor.


  16. - Dirt Digger - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 9:06 am:

    But seriously $300K is a LOT of street money. That could have bought her an ad on broadcast.

    Another case study in the uselessness of “Chicago-style” politics.


  17. - dupage dan - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 9:21 am:

    Ole “C”an’t “M”anipulate her own “B”udget should be held accountable. I agree with foster brooks and Wensicia - Braun likely used these monies to fund her own life. What else has she got going for her? Tea that no one buys? That great lecture tour? Her new tell all book? Consultant gigs? Wouldn’t look good for a former Senator to be slingin’ hash somewhere. What’s next, a run for gov? pres? dog catcher?

    GO AWAY. Preferably for a 3-5 stretch for fraud.


  18. - One of the 35 - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 9:36 am:

    CMB is an example of why the founding fathers saw the need to create a Senate in addition to the House. …….Oh, wait a minute, she was elected to the Senate! Our representative republic is in serious trouble!


  19. - Fed up - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 9:37 am:

    The whole campaign wasn’t for real it was just a chance to make money for Carol. I wonder how much campaign cash made it’s way to carols home loan or so called tea business. It’s criminal but in Chicago cook county it normal.


  20. - Robert - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 9:43 am:

    shouldn’t be too hard to investigate. pull bank statements, look at checks that were written.


  21. - mokenavince - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 9:48 am:

    Carol Braun has been in over her ski’s for a long
    time. Good riddance.


  22. - Barskittles - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 9:59 am:

    There is nothing in these latest revelations that could not have been truthfully said about CMB and her character in 1998. It just takes some people longer to acknowledge reality.


  23. - Doug Dobmeyer - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:05 am:

    Perhaps if state law called for a campaign to be suspended if filing wasn’t done would have addressed this issue. There is no reason to attack Carol, who was a great state and U.S. senator. She served us well.

    Doug Dobmeyer


  24. - frustrated GOP - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:13 am:

    So she hired someone for a job and that person wasn’t up for the task, according to her. Glad she didn’t win.
    not that she had a chance.
    Carol, don’t let the door hit you on the way out, thanks for playing.


  25. - Dan G. Ling from the 3rd Floor - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:22 am:

    Don’t hold back Rich, tell us what you really think. And dear Mr. Dobmeyer, please define “great”


  26. - Corduroy Bob - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:23 am:

    Carol’s classnessness is surpassed only by her sense of entitlement.


  27. - Baines 4 Prez - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:29 am:

    I was amazed when she decided to run, like some kind of bizarre political zombie out there running what was a comically horrible campaign.

    Now for all her funds to be unaccounted for (basically)…she deserves everything she has coming to her. She is finished for good, thank God. Bad senator, bad candidate, and given this story as well as plenty of other stories from the past - a worse person.


  28. - ZC - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:33 am:

    Let’s again give the Chicago electorate some credit, that they weren’t buying Carol’s act.

    Granted she ran a terrible campaign, but even if she had run a competent race, she wouldn’t have won. And it’s worth noting, for the insinuations sometimes made about African-Americans voting for Obama because of his skin color, that Carol did abysmally even in the African-American wards.


  29. - Aldyth - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:41 am:

    Back when she ran for the Senate, I was so excited to be able to vote for a woman for the office. That she just happened to be black made it all the sweeter. Then, she proceeded to demonstrate that she was incompetent, had horrible judgment, and was just plain an embarrassment to every single one of us who voted for her. She continues to uphold that proud tradition.

    Sheesh. Disappear, already.


  30. - Carl Nyberg - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:55 am:

    Braun’s Senate office was noteworthy for their incompetence when I dealt with them. I sent multiple pieces of correspondence and heard nothing.

    Finally I went there in person. Tempy Dandridge had been keeping all my letters in a folder.

    A veteran service officer from another organization mentioned that Dandridge was a problem for many veterans.

    Before the mayoral race I ran into a friend I respect on the “L”. He was working for the CMB campaign. I asked him about it. He talked about the campaign like he was ashamed of it. He said the campaign was poorly run. He said, “Carl, I’m doing this for the money.”


  31. - Hotel Ibiza - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 10:58 am:

    Can anyone please give Rod Blagojevich the same message?


  32. - Are Ya Kiddin' Me? - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 11:00 am:

    Doug D….Might want to check your facts? Don’t think she was a state senator? and she definately wasn’t “great” in any office she held.
    She was however the beneficiary of some good timing and luck, in that she got into the US Senate race after Dixon made a bad vote (Clarence Thomas) and Hofield spent a boat load of money beating Dixon up.
    She then went on to be 1 of the worst US Senators in our history.
    To use her words, she was “overwhelmed”.


  33. - Hotel Ibiza - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 11:01 am:

    Oh! And another thing, Carol Mosely Braun has been this way since day one. Why is this such a shock to everyone?


  34. - Boone Logan Square - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 11:16 am:

    What kind of fine might she get for this? A ban on seeking future office is possible, but in what hallucinatory fantasy would CMB ever run for office again?

    (Then again, I could have said that a year ago, so perhaps there are some teeth in that penalty.)


  35. - D.P. Gumby - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 11:32 am:

    CM-B always makes me sad. She was going so well until she hit the Senate and then it was like her common sense, political sense and grey matter was slowly sucked out her ears. I wonder if Jesse Helms didn’t insert some insidious bug. Now she’s become the Harold Stassen of Illinois. What a waste.


  36. - BigTwich - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 11:37 am:

    She was in the Illinois House and Cook County Recorder of Deeds before the US Senate. Anyway I begin to understand why we never hear from New Zealand.


  37. - Oh Really - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 11:40 am:

    No Carol should not go away from the State Board of Elections, possibly the Attorney General or the IRS. Her feet should be held to the fire. Did see pocket money without paying taxes on it? These and a number of other questions need to be answered.


  38. - shore - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 12:13 pm:

    Aldyth is basically what I think which is that while she wouldn’t have been my candidate there were a lot people who really were and could have been inspired by her and seen here as a role model and she let them down.


  39. - wishbone - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 12:16 pm:

    “Go away, Carol, and never come back.”

    Amen! A real piece of work.


  40. - Wumpus - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 1:50 pm:

    Rich, why are you racist and sexist? THat is the only reason you do not like CMB.

    lol


  41. - Lucky - Friday, Sep 30, 11 @ 3:28 pm:

    All of the people on her payroll(staffers, ministers and consultants) are probably pretty happy about the non reporting!!


Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


* Reader comments closed for the weekend
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* The Waukegan City Clerk was railroaded
* Whatever happened, the city has a $40 million budget hole it didn't disclose until now
* Manar gives state agencies budget guidance: Cut, cut, cut
* Roundup: Ex-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis testifies in Madigan corruption trial
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Live coverage
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............


Loading


Main Menu
Home
Illinois
YouTube
Pundit rankings
Obama
Subscriber Content
Durbin
Burris
Blagojevich Trial
Advertising
Updated Posts
Polls

Archives
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004

Blog*Spot Archives
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005

Syndication

RSS Feed 2.0
Comments RSS 2.0




Hosted by MCS SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax Advertise Here Mobile Version Contact Rich Miller