Eliot Spitzer’s Hypocrisy

Section One:

Campaign Finance Reform

What Spitzer has called for:

• Calling for a ban on contributions from LLCs;

• Limiting individual contributions to Statewide candidates to $15,000.

• Claims he will limit contributions to his campaign to $10,000.

Stephen Hoersting, Executive Director of the Center for Competitive Politics;

“Capping campaign contributions empowers incumbents and wealthy candidates.”

Hoersting said he believes Spitzer’s motives are political.

Daily Gazette, May 20, 2007

What Spitzer Does:

• Accepts his father financing his 1994 & 1998 campaigns and never repays the loans.
• Accepted $1.7 million from LLC contributions in 2006

Common Cause

Governor Spitzer’s Birthday Fundraiser, June 7^th, 2007:

• $100,000 pledge – “Chairs” get 4 seats at a private dinner
• $25,000 pledge – Those who raise get invited to the private dinner
• $10,000 pledge – “Sponsors” go to VIP reception

Newsday, May 16, 2007

Silda Wall Spitzer – June 12th Fundraiser for State the Democratic Party:

• Minimum $250 donation up to $94,200 from individuals and LLCs.

Newsday, May 16, 2007

Get a Grip, Governor:

…Well, which is it, Governor Spitzer? Zealous advocate for campaign finance reform? Or calculating fundraiser for a re-election campaign that's still three years away? Sorry, governor, but this is no time to be trying to line up contributors -- for the 2010 election, yet -- and turn them into fundraisers in their own right…

Albany Times Union, May 1, 2007

Fundraising for 2010 in California During Session:

…Spitz Jets Off to Chase Calif. $$ With the state Legislature in session, Gov. Spitzer headed to California yesterday for a mysterious fund-raising trip, drawing the ire of Republicans and even raising some eyebrows among Democrats. Spitzer held private fund-raising meetings in Los Angeles and San Francisco yesterday and is due back in the Albany area today…

New York Post, May 02, 2007

Spitzer Trip to Raise Cash Questionable:

“Governor Eliot Spitzer needs to be a lot more forthcoming with information about his whirlwind trip to California earlier this week because what little is known about it makes him look a bit hypocritical.”

Utica Observer Dispatch, May 5, 2007

Eliot's Unmaking:

When Gov. Spitzer told New Yorkers last year that, if elected, he'd "change everything," most folks thought he meant for the better. We sure did. We were wrong.

New York Post Editorial, May 14, 2007

Double Speak:

Bruno has a point. How can Spitzer - who was on a fund-raising trip to California Tuesday, the details of which were kept secret - push for campaign reform while offering special access to people who give him the most money? Isn't that the kind of thing he was supposed to be against?

Syracuse Post-Standard, May 02, 2007

Spitzer Sends Wrong Signal:

…When he travels across the country to California in order to raise political money—although his next campaign still is four years away—that rightly leaves voters scratching their heads...

Buffalo News, May 5, 2007

Spitzer’s Ill-timed Letter Hurts Campaign-Reform Effort:

Governor Eliot Spitzer might have picked a better time to go fundraising in California.

Binghamton Press Sun Bulletin,

May 5, 2007

Supporters Buying Time with Spitzer:

Governor Spitzer is granting special access to supporters - called "Trustees" - who raise a $1 million for his 2010 campaign, The Post has learned.

The New York Post, April 26, 2007

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