322 charges totaling $36763.57 for gasoline & maintenance of personal vehicle.
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Democrat State Representative Patrick Rose has found a way to make ends meet during this tough economy by dipping into his campaign bank account. Beginning in March of 2005 Representative Rose evidently got tired of paying for his own gasoline in his 2003 Ford F-150 and began charging it to his campaign. Since that day Rose has billed his campaign approximately 322 times totaling $21340.90 for gasoline and $15422.67 for maintenance of his personal vehicle a total of $36763.57.
Rose has been passing these charges along to his campaign for approximately 65 months (or approximately 273 weeks). Typically a pick-up truck needs to be filled up weekly. Simple math shows that Rose may not have paid for a single tank of gas since February 2005.
Some highlights from Roses campaign finance report:
- $21340.90 for fuel a total of 322 charges
- $15422.67 for auto insurance maintenance and registration
- $19170.73 for food including countless breakfasts lunches and dinners for himself staff and a few for his fellow House members
- $7754.37 for gifts and flowers *
While families and small businesses have been struggling to make ends meet cutting back carpooling and brown-bagging it their state representative has been abusing the trust of his donors and constituents" said Jason Isaac the Republican challenging Rose in the November election.
Legitimate and occasional business expenses are common in any business or campaign. But Representative Roses spending is a clear abuse of his campaign funds. Donors contribute to a candidate to help them win an election or conduct officeholder business without expensing it to the taxpayers. Putting his donors on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars worth of food flowers gifts and gasoline shows Roses complete lack of respect for his donors.
The people of Texas are simply fed up with politicians gaming the system for their own personal benefit and Patrick Rose is no different. He should personally repay his campaign for these abuses immediately and find room in his personal budget to pay his own bills like everyone else" concluded Isaac.
* This total does not include flowers and gifts for funerals and memorials.
