From the Clarion Ledger:
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker has raised more than five times the campaign cash raised by his Democratic rival, former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Wicker raised about $2.5 million in the first three months of the year and Musgrove raised about $447,000, according to summary pages of Federal Election Commission filings released by the candidates Tuesday.
"I am grateful for the wide range of support from thousands of donors throughout Mississippi and the rest of the nation who have chosen to invest in our campaign," Wicker said.
Gov. Haley Barbour appointed Wicker to fill former Sen. Trent Lott's seat until a special election in November.
Musgrove campaign spokesman Tim Phillips said Wicker raised campaign cash by "doling out pork" to contributors.
Wicker's campaign said 77 percent of the donors are Mississippians. But the senator's FEC report showed nearly a third of the money came from political action committees, which usually represent industry or other special interests.
Wicker's FEC report shows he transferred $545,000 from his House campaign account to his Senate account. After spending nearly $300,000, his campaign reported about $2.8 million in cash on hand on March 31.
Musgrove's campaign ended the reporting period with about $337,000 in cash.
From a Musgrove press release:
From 2002-2007, Wicker never opposed a single appropriations bill while they were being loaded with $122 billion in pork barrel spending, and he doled out a whopping $39 million in earmark goodies for his campaign contributors—attaching them to appropriations bills with no Congressional hearings or debate. Several earmarks, which Wicker slipped into appropriations bills, are directly linked to campaign contributions.
Pay To PlayIn 2007, Wicker Obtained $6 Million Defense Earmark for Aurora Flight Sciences: In March 2007, Wicker requested an earmark for the company Aurora Flight Sciences “to develop a high altitude UAV to meet urgent national requirements for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, beyond line of sight communications, and assist in further development of key technologies needed for long-term operations in near space.” An Army spokesman said that the Army did not request the appropriation. The final FY08 Defense Appropriations Bill then included $6 million for Aurora’s Orion High Altitude Long Endurance UAV. (Wicker Appropriations Letter, 3/22/07; Taxpayers for Common Sense Earmarks Database; “Wicker’s earmark elicits crititcism”,Washington Post, 1/16/08
In 2006, Wicker Supported $11 Million Earmark for Aurora Flight Sciences: In June 2006, Wicker touted the FY07 Defense Appropriations Bill, which included $11 million for Aurora Flight Sciences. (Wicker Press Release, 6/21/06)
In 2005, Wicker Supported $5.2 Million Earmark for Aurora Flight Sciences: In December 2005, Wicker touted the FY06 Defense Appropriations Bill, saying that Aurora Flight Services “will benefit from a $5.2 million project that includes production of an Orion-class UAV as well as flight testing, sensor installation and related activities on the vehicle.” (Wicker Press Release, 12/20/05)
Wicker Has Received $17,500 From Aurora Employees; They Were Top Donor in ’06 Cycle: Over the years, Aurora Flight Sciences have contributed at least $17,500 to Wicker’s campaigns. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Aurora Flights Sciences was the top donor to Wicker’s 2006 election, with employees contributing $13,000 that cycle. (Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 1/7/08)Wicker Obtained $4 Million Defense Earmark for Miltec Corp: In March 2007, Wicker requested an earmark for Miltec Research and Technology, to develop sensor technology. The final FY08 Defense Appropriations Bill then included $4 million for Miltec. (Wicker Appropriations Letter, 3/22/07; Taxpayers for Common Sense Earmarks Database)
In 2006, Wicker Supported $2.5 Million Earmark for Miltec: In June 2006, Wicker touted the FY07 Defense Appropriations Bill, which included $2.5 million for Miltec Corporation. (Wicker Press Release, 6/21/06)
Wicker Has Received Over $24,000 From Miltec Employees: Over the years, Miltec employees have contributed at least $24,500 to Wicker’s campaigns and his leadership PAC, Responsibility & Freedom Work PAC. (Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 1/7/08)
Wicker Obtained $1 Million Earmark for Rite Kem: In March 2007, Wicker requested an earmark for Rite Kem to develop and produce an aircraft corrosion protective compound. The final FY08 Defense Appropriations Bill then included $1 million for Rite Kem. (Wicker Appropriations Letter, 3/22/07; Taxpayers for Common Sense Earmarks Database)
Less Than One Month After Requesting Earmark, Wicker Received Campaign Check From Company Exec: Less than one month after requesting the earmark for Rite Kem, company President Mark Lovil contributed $2,000 to Wicker’s campaign committee. (Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 1/7/08)
Wicker Obtained $1.2 Million Earmark for Radiance Technologies: In March 2007, Wicker requested an earmark for Radiance Technologies “to develop and demonstrate capabilities such as man-portable radar systems, reduced power consumption, greater target detection ranges, increased target discrimination, and lower operating cost.” The final FY08 Defense Appropriations Bill then included $1.2 million for Radiance Technologies. (Wicker Appropriations Letter, 3/22/07; Taxpayers for Common Sense Earmarks Database)
In 2006, Wicker Supported $2.5 Million Earmark for Radiance Technologies: In June 2006, Wicker touted the FY07 Defense Appropriations Bill, which included $2.5 million for Radiance Technologies. (Wicker Press Release, 6/21/06)
In 2005, Wicker Supported $3.1 Million Earmark for Radiance Technologies: In December 2005, Wicker touted the FY06 Defense Appropriations Bill, which included $3.1 million for Radiance Technologies. (Wicker Press Release, 12/20/05)
Wicker Has Received Over $5,000 From Radiance Tech Employees: Over the years, Radiance employees have contributed at least $5,500 to Wicker’s campaigns. (Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 1/7/08)
In 2006, Wicker Supported $2.5 Million Earmark for Planning Systems Inc: In June 2006, Wicker touted the FY07 Defense Appropriations Bill, which included $2.5 million for Planning Systems Inc. “to develop advanced reconnaissance technology for military aircraft to transmit real-time information to troops on the ground.” (Wicker Press Release, 6/21/06)
Wicker Has Received $8,000 From Planning Systems Inc: Over the years, Wicker has received at least $8,000 from Planning Systems Inc. PAC and employees. (Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 1/7/08)
Having a talent to state both the unpleasant and the obvious, let me point out that this fundraising pace won't cut it. Mississippi may very well be winnable for Democrats in 2008, but not on a shoestring budget. I can appreciate Musgrove's populist themes and keeping the national party at arm's length, but nowadays, any Senate campaign (much less a Democrat's campaign in Mississippi, of all places) run on less than several millions of dollars is a fool's errand.
ReplyDeleteBringing jobs to Mississippi...
ReplyDelete$22.2 Million
Keeping our country safe...
$11.8 Million
The DSCC producing hilarious clips while Musgrove's Campaign and liberal Democrats cry all the way through November...
Priceless!!
I wonder if those Bay Waveland voters will continue to give after seeing the numbers?
With all do respect, our nation is no safer than it was seven years ago. On top of that, these out-sourced military contracts have been proven to be an absolute waste of taxpayer dollars when reliable weapons and/or technology and/or security have not been produced. That's not liberal propoganda, that's what is occuring right now.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not really sure what jobs Wicker helped create here in Mississippi. In fact, I'm certain he's done very little for the furniture industry in Northeast Mississippi since he's been in office. Please give examples if I'm wrong.
And you know this how? Produce some incite Jake? Opinions don’t count. I feel safer knowing we are producing state of the art tools to help tame and counter threats to our nation and troops rather than sitting on our hands.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever heard of the unmanned drone spy planes that are used in Iraq and other places? Yes, those are made in Mississippi and they do keep our troops safer in hostile areas. Some troop transports are made in Mississippi with armor that protects against IEDs. Yes, those are made in Mississippi. They are used every day and have been in the news of aiding troops by protecting them. These don’t poof out of thin air. It takes men and women to produce them, Mississippians. It takes people like Roger to lure them here. All congressmen help bring jobs such as these to Mississippi, so yes, Roger has had a hand in bringing home the bacon in jobs.
The Governor doesn’t do it all alone when helping Mississippi get to work.
The furniture industry is a constantly evolving one. One man can’t make China raise the price on the lazy boys they make. America can make China raise the price on anything for that matter.
The flight science field in east Mississippi is a good example of state of the art technologies coming to our state and we must get smarter to obtain companies that offer such high paying jobs. Like it or not, the furniture industry is on its way out in Mississippi and no man can help that China is doing it cheaper. Jobs are going overseas and instead of Mississippians making furniture, shoes, or whatever why do we start making the machines that make the shoes and furniture. What can anyone do to keep the furniture industry in Mississippi?
Think about it.
First, Watch Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers. I only watched part of it with my brother, who is a huge Republican. After he saw that documentary, he changed his mind about a lot of things. (For the record- he's still not a Democrat, though, just very skeptical.)
ReplyDeleteThe bigger problem I have is that there is not a lot of accountability/transparency when these companies get the money. I would feel more comfortable if I saw figures that said this money created this many jobs in Mississippi. It just says- we gave you money, and it went to "creating" something or other.
And, while I 100% agree that we should be transforming our industry in Mississippi, we're still not giving Mississippi students the education they need to get these jobs. Also, what happens if we actually do find a way out of Iraq? Can we really justify giving millions of dollars to these companies. In the meantime- everyone needs furniture.
I grew up in NE Miss, and it's hard to see what's happened to some of my friends and their families. They've been in the furniture-building industry for years, and oftentimes, they don't have the knowledge or money to move their families and start a high-tech job. Really- what do you do when you're 40 with a high school diploma, two kids in high school, etc.?
Like most of things Bardwell has to say, I enjoy his incite. Cooper you are becoming more irrelevant than Weepy Leek.
ReplyDeleteBardwell, one source of disagreement on the facts (not the politics of course.) Musgrove "keeping the national party at arm's length." With the DSCC doing youtube videos for him (I won't even comment on whether they are good or not,) this isn't keeping the national folks at arms length. He obviously let them follow him around for several days.
Also, I can't find a decent copy of his (or Wicker's for that matter)campaign finance report, but I'd bet it is full of National Party Money.
No need to argue the politics of it, I know you don't like Wicker. I'm just saying, this isn't the same ole Ronnie. He HAS to have the National Party.
For the record, personally, I do not like or agree with many things Musgrove has done - enough to admit on this blog and to anyone who asks me. I don't care if he's a Democrat or not. I've mentioned that before on other postings.
ReplyDeleteThe war in Iraq is not irrelevant to America or Mississippians - or to a US Senate race.
For the record: I'm not talking about the War being irrelevant. Your opinion becomes irrelevant when you blindly defend/post failed press releases and talking points. Frankly, I think you're smarter than that. We differ, I get it, no big deal, but don't allow yourself to be pimped out for something that isn't working.
ReplyDeleteFor the record: you just backed down.
Bardwell, one source of disagreement on the facts (not the politics of course.) Musgrove "keeping the national party at arm's length." With the DSCC doing youtube videos for him (I won't even comment on whether they are good or not,) this isn't keeping the national folks at arms length. He obviously let them follow him around for several days.
ReplyDeleteFair enough, although I think there's a difference in letting the DSCC send down a camera crew and, say, showing up at a fundraiser with Ted Kennedy and Howard Dean. Either way, for the moment at least, he's sure not raising money like a candidate with a national backing.
Very true Counselor. He certainly didn't show up on stage with the Clintons or Barack. Very True.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you’re saying Jake, but I would rather us get the jobs than Alabama or some other state. Wouldn’t you? We are going in the right direction in obtaining higher paying jobs and thats just in one area. This is just a stepping stone and I feel others will follow. Transparent or not we still want to say that we make high tech things in Mississippi. Beggars can’t be choosers.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe that we are short changing our students. The state could dump billions and billions into education and it still wouldn’t be enough. We cannot depend on the government to make schools better by pumping in more money to provide quality educations. No state has ever been socially or economically stable by flooding programs with money. Ronnie Musgrove once talked about the Federal government flooding Tunica County with money for education during his administration. He went on to say that the schools are doing better tenfold or something to that effect. Take a look at the Tunica public schools and tell me what the result really was. Ronnie blows just as much hot air at Ole Miss as anywhere else. It is up to the individual and the family to make it happen. Money is not the answer. College funding is another ball game and college loans float many students through. I had to get loans and if I were to bet you do or did use loans.
Governor Barbour touts workforce training and there are many community colleges around the state that provide programs for people like your family to enroll and further their education for higher paying jobs. Believe you me, I'm positive that no one wants to see the furniture industry leave our state and Roger being from Tupelo understands that completely I'm sure, but we got to look at the future. The time for sitting back and complaining is over no matter how long people have been in the industry. Give the industry credit for it staying as long as it has. This is 2008 and we still have people hand crafting furniture and that’s impressive. We see the end drawing near and the only thing leaders can do is slow the evolution enough for Mississippi workers to adjust and take on other higher paying careers.
This is way off topic of the blog but wanted to comment.
1. The fundraising discrepancy is concerning. A few years back that would have been impressive, but my doubts are growing.
ReplyDelete2. The word y'all are looking for is INSIGHT (to enlighten), not INCITE (to cause problems).
3. The variations on my name are endless and I congratulate our commenters for adding to an ever growing list. My favorite was the only creative use of a new middle name deciding it should be "tooka." Y'all can figure that out.
4. It'd be nice if we could get jobs here without having to bribe companies with public money.
5. Homegrown businesses large and small employee far more employees than companies that we attempt to beat out other states in getting. We should focus on building the future here instead of buying it from other places.
I'm planning to vote for Musgrove despite my reservations about him, but this fundraising gap is not promising, to say the least.
ReplyDeleteBut on some level it's kind of inevitable. He's positioned himself as a Mississippi independent who happens to be a Democrat, while Wicker has positioned himself as a Republican's Republican. The latter position is going to generate more money.
I see nothing wrong with PAC money, but even without the PAC money he'd be swamping Mugrove right now.
One thing to it: It's becoming clear why Barbour wanted the election to be in November. If this is the best Musgrove can do, this is not going to be a close race.
Leek,
ReplyDeleteYou are exactly right. When they invent a spell check that is idiot proof, I'll be good to go. Incite: I guess I'm just always starting a fight, even when I don't mean to.
Tom Head,
I sure wish you were posting like you were last year. You always make me go hmmmm. Question: why is Musgrove different for you than Eaves? They both claim to have the same beliefs. Beliefs that if I remember correctly differ greatly from yours.
Chuck,
You talk too much.
All,
The larger issue here is that fundraising is a direct result of support. With Musgrove's lack thereof, does he have any support in the state, or has the Beef Plant stuff, etc. stopped all that? I still can't find his or Wickers finance reports, but that will tell the tale. Where is their money coming from?
Being in Mississippi and raising that much does show support. It only looks bad compared to Wicker who has done amazingly well.
ReplyDelete