You would think that after former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. was convicted, sentenced and served a 30-month federal sentence for diverting about $750, 000 in campaign funds for his personal use, that politicians would clean up their acts.
But, apparently, Illinois state Senator James F. Clayborne feels that campaign funds are an entitlement to be used at his discretion.
When KTVI Fox 2 reporter Elliot Davis recently confronted Clayborne about his campaign-funded extravagances, the politician dismissed Davis as engaging in “trash journalism.” He added, “Campaign dollars are donations. They’re not public dollars.”
Not so, according to Kristina Rasmussen, executive director of the Illinois Policy Institute, who said, “Campaign money should go towards campaigning.”
Let’s look at how Clayborne kicked it utilizing campaign donations.
During the years 2003-2014, Clayborne rode in style, spending nearly $43,000 with Book-A-Limo, a New York-based company, utilizing their services at least 236 times for speeches, golf outings, meetings, funerals and even for the impeachment hearings for then-Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Clayborne spent nearly $88,000 on domestic and international travel to places like Egypt, England, Japan, China, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Jordan, Turkey and Vietnam, upgrading his tickets at least 62 times, but only reimbursing costs on one occasion (how generous of him).
Is Clayborne’s spending and globetrotting with campaign funds illegal? Maybe not, but it’s as unethical as hell. But since when have ethics ever stopped Clayborne or any other professional politicians from being self-serving “public serpents”?
Why should Clayborne care that representing a poor community like East St. Louis (where median income is less than $20,000 per year), while living a lifestyle of the rich and infamous funded by campaign donations, is inappropriate?
Given the fact that Clayborne barely won re-election last November (with only 51.8 percent of the vote) running against a little-known Republican by the name of Katherine Ruocco, he might want to spend a little more time in America, specifically Illinois, or next time he might not be so lucky.
But if he does lose next time, the good news is that he’ll have a lot more time on his hands for international travel and limo rides … at his own expense.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
