It appears Attorney General Patrick Lynch has some questionable campaign expenditures.  Last year, Lynch spent several thousand dollars on "campaign expenses,"  even though he wasn't running for office.  To any logical person, using campaigns to pay for restaurant bills in the middle of a four year term is questionable.  It does not appear Patrick Lynch violated any campaign finance laws, but the expenditures are still inappropriate.

     The criticism being leveled against Patrick Lynch is well-deserved, but he is far from being the only person to seemingly abuse campaign funds.  Whether you look at campaign finance reports of candidates for local or state-wide office, Republicans or Democrats, you will see reports riddled with questionable purchases.

     You would expect to see items like signs, bumper stickers, or other advertising, but a close look at the items and timing of other expenditures make those expenditures seem questionable.  Over the years, I've checked many campaign filings and seen some questionable purchases.  For example, most of the officials I have checked pay cell phone bills out of their campaign funds, which raises questions.  First, is this the candidate's only cell phone?  If it is, they probably would have had it anyway, and likely use it for mainly personal business..  Is it really appropriate for donors to be paying these bills?  If the candidate happens to have one specific phone line dedicated to the campaign this is understandable, but how many people would do such a thing?

     Another expenditure I see often are restaurant bills.  On occasion, this is understandable since a candidate might meet with campaign workers or advisers.  It doesn't appear to be the most prudent use of limited funds, but including it as a campaign expense is understandable.  What seems suspicious is when I see officials in the middle of 2 or 4 year terms that are writing off several meals each month.  Are all these meals some how related to a campaign that happened a year ago, or one that might happen in 3 years?  It doesn't seem likely.  Although, it does seem like a very easy way to use campaign funds for personal expenses.  Maybe a candidate or official didn't discuss politics at all, or very little.  Where is the proof that this wasn't a political meeting?

     One other interesting expenditure are all the campaign contributions you see donated from one politician to another.  Campaign funds are supposed to be used on expenses related to running for office.  If someone is running for state representative, then how does donating $500 to another state representative or senator help their campaign?  It would probably buy them favor with the receiver of the donation, but it won't directly affect their own campaign.

     Everyone who is concerned about government and politics should check their local politician's campaign filings.  Officials are not supposed to benefit financially from their campaign funds.  That money is supposed to be used solely to secure public office.  Yet, if campaign funds are being used to pay cell phones, and pay for meals, isn't that in affect additional compensation above the pay and benefits legislators receive?  Just look at some of the massive amounts of money spent by officials when campaigns are still far off in the future.  These individuals might not be breaking the law, but they certainly illustrate the weakness of our campaign finance system.