Claim: E-mail lists unpaid campaign debts incurred by Senator Joe Biden.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, August 2008]
I feel an obligation to honesty and truth to share with you some facts. My Father and Mother instilled in me the values and morals of treating people fairly and always being honest. If you purchase something, you pay for it. If you borrow something, you give it back. I have been "stiffed" three times in my refused to pay for those services even though they acknowledged the services and products were correct, were what they asked for, and were never challenged for not being correct. I am lucky in having only three, but those three hurt badly. Joe Biden was one of those people. I worked on his 1988 Presidential campaign financial disclosure engagement. I busted it for him and got everything right. He stiffed me for over $15,000 worth of work. He I am on the Board of Directors of a company that owns a majority position in a private jet management company in Northern Virginia. They manage jets for businesses and rich folks. They also charter planes to the public. This past winter John Thompson chartered over $250,000 worth of air time. He paid every penny. Joe Biden, in his latest unsuccessful run for President, chartered over $150,000 worth of air time. He PAID ZERO. He continues to refuse to pay stating his race is over and he is out of money. He never once complained about his flights. Joe Biden is a rich man. He could pay. Joe Biden is a liar and a cheat. I know it first hand. Character is what life is all about. Joe Biden is a man of bad character and sets a bad example for America. I feel compelled to share this dark side of a man who asks for your vote and trust. |
Origins: Immediately after the
above-quoted
A search of Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosure reports
shows that during 2007, the Biden for President campaign did receive services in the amount of $151,083.85 from International Jet Management (IJM), a Dulles, Virginia-based private aircraft management company which is presumably the "private jet management company in Northern Virginia" from which Biden "chartered over $150,000 worth of air time" referenced in
However, the campaign's 2008 monthly FEC disclosure reports show that this debt was subsequently retired in full through installment payments made in January, March, and July of 2008:
Thus, the claim that the Biden campaign did once owe such a debt is true, but the debt no longer existed by the time the
It is not uncommon for presidential and congressional candidates to run up millions of dollars in campaign debt, debts that can take (especially in the case of unsuccessful candidacies) many months, or even years, to repay
Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill., still owes $262,358 from her failed 2004 White House bid, while the Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, ran for president this year even though he still owed $459,000 from his failed 2004 White House race. Now he's in the hole for another One of Hillary Clinton's one-time rivals, telegenic former New York district attorney Jeanine Pirro, might want to avoid hearing any debt cases when she puts on a judicial robe in the new CW Network series, "Judge Jeanine Pirro," which debuts this fall. Pirro owes more than $500,000 from her aborted 2006 campaign for Clinton's Senate seat, records show. "We worked on that bill for a long time and got nowhere," said Angie McAtee, vice president of Southwest Publishing, a Kansas-based direct-mail company owed $34,099 by Pirro's campaign. "They absolutely would not talk to us." Then there is former Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, who was shadowed for more than two decades by nearly $3 million in debts from his unsuccessful 1984 presidential bid. His creditors included banks, lawyers, a bumper-sticker maker and 161 workers owed at least one week's pay each. "I regret that it is still there. I wish that it was not there," Glenn said in a 2002 interview. "We tried, and tried very hard, to raise money
For losing candidates, campaign debts can linger for years, enduring symbols of failures they would rather forget. At the same time, the unpaid bills can cause hardships for campaign workers and vendors waiting for payment. Some end up receiving just pennies on the dollar
That same article did state that Senator Biden was one of several 2008 presidential candidates still owing (as of June 2008) significant campaign debts:
Republican debtors include former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who owes Technically, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads all debtors with
On the Democratic side, in addition to Clinton and Kucinich,
After we completed this article, we received a subsequent
I have been bombarded with phone calls and I would appreciate you helping me share this with the world so it will die a natural death.
I sent a private e-mail to 6 family members some time ago about Joe Biden not paying his bills for services rendered. The
Last updated: 9 October 2008
Sources:
