Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Just can't give it up


SuperPAC money to a politician is like crack to a junkie, you know it is bad for you but you just can't turn your back on it. A case in point is alleged 'progressive' Democratic candidate for Florida Senate, Patrick Murphy. Despite his voiced opposition to SuperPACs, he can't help taking money from one run by his family.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Murphy consistently expresses disdain for super PACs — even while being a shareholder in a family business that recently dumped $300,000 into a super PAC supporting his bid for higher office.

The Jupiter congressman owns between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in his father’s company, Miami-based Coastal Construction Group, according to financial disclosures Murphy has filed with the U.S. House of Representatives since his first election in 2012.

Coastal gave a $300,000 donation to the pro-Murphy super PAC, “Floridians for a Strong Middle Class,” at the end of March. That was on top of a $200,000 donation that Murphy’s father and Coastal’s chairman and CEO, Thomas Murphy Jr., gave in December.

Thomas Murphy’s and Coastal’s donations account for more than half of the super PAC’s reported income to date, according to Federal Election Commission records.

But “I hate super PACs,” Patrick Murphy told the Palm Beach Post on Monday after a campaign event in West Palm Beach. “ I think Citizens United was one of the biggest mistakes in our country’s history.”

Super PACs are not bound by campaign contribution limits, but they are prohibited by federal law from coordinating with a candidate’s campaign.
Can you ever divorce yourself from your family to accept SuperPAC money when that SuperPAC, set up to support you, is in part funded by your family's company of which you are a major shareholder? Someday we need to strip all the conflict of interest laws from the books because it is obvious we aren't ever going to enforce them.

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