The cats regurgitated my homework

More on disbursements...


John Edwards
total disbursements reported: $6,457,032.42
listed by purpose: $6,457,028.42
listed by payee: $6,457,763.02
listed by date: $6,457,028.42

In a perfect world all 4 totals would be the same. I noticed that all the quarterly reports from all the candidates seem to be headed something along the lines of "Amended Report..." so I guess that covers them if the math comes out fuzzy. I'm not enough of an accountant to know or care if that's sufficient CYA, and this isn't a make-or-break issue for me, but as a citizen/voter/taxpayer I do find it reassuring when the numbers all add up.

So, all the numbers [in this particular post] are taken from various candidates' reports for the 2nd quarter of 2007. John Edwards' report has ~$700 perhaps that could have been better accounted for.


Some selected others...


Hillary Clinton
total disbursements reported: $12,763,905.50
listed by purpose: $12,762,183.45
listed by payee: $12,762,183.45
listed by date: $12,762,183.45
Or about ~$1700 that perhaps could have been better accounted for.


Barack Obama
total disbursements reported: $16,043,002.66
listed by purpose: $16,038,969.80
listed by payee: $16,096,635.60
listed by date: $16,038,969.80
Or $57,000+ that perhaps could have been better accounted for.


Dennis Kucinich
total disbursements reported: $717,653.23
listed by purpose: $731,019.74
listed by payee: $731,019.74
listed by date: $731,019.74
Or ~$13,000 that perhaps could have been better accounted for.


Ron Paul
total disbursements reported: $539,517.01
listed by purpose: $611,289.92
listed by payee: $611,289.92
listed by date: $611,289.92
Or nearly $72,000 that perhaps could have been better accounted for.


Being of a somewhat disorganized bent myself [ha!] I'm not about to fault Obama for his lack of organizational skills. And I agree with him completely about the vision thing:

... seem to think the job of the president is to go in and run some bureaucracy. Well, that’s not my job. My job is to set a vision of 'here's where the bureaucracy needs to go.'"

This whole government should be run as a business shtick that we've been fed for too many years now is a load of horsefeathers. Government most definitely should not be run like a business, though it is a good idea to try to at least keep an eye on where the money's going.

Anyways, I find it less interesting that the numbers don't quite add up and more interesting to see just what the candidates are spending their money on. I doubt this will provide any clues at all about what their spending priorities would be if they got elected, but I have fun speculating on this.