Writing this not as a fan of Crist but as a good laugh at an incredibly conservative and arrogant young Republican whom I believe has his eye on the White House.
News reports have been listing some pretty interesting credit card charges - apparently totaling $100,000 - on an Amex card [whose statements were possibly leaked by the Crist campaign] that was provided to Rubio by the Republican Party of Florida which according to IRS rules for tax-exempt organizations, are meant to cover only expenses directly related to influencing the outcome of elections.
One article, A Closer Look at Rubio's Credit Card Use, listed a few charges as:
$1,000 for automotive repairs to Rubio’s personal vehicle and $765 at Apple’s online store. Rubio also billed the party for various expenses in Tallahassee during the legislative sessions in 2007 and 2008. Those bills included nearly $4,100 in restaurant tabs
My favorite item was found in another article - a charge of $130 charge at a Miami salon - for waxing his back - Eeeewwww!!!
On the other hand, I kinda like that bigwig Republican donors will have to explain that back hair removal constitutes electioneering - hah!
Here's another articlewith earlier details. Sadly, I note that these are found mostly from a few places such as Jacksonville, and NBC, etc. Fox News, on the other hand - is apoplectic - at Charlie Crist [flr the leak]
And here's another delicious item:
The former Speaker has also come under fire for booking a half-dozen plane tickets for his wife to travel with him.
"My wife was the first lady of the Florida House of Representatives, and it is absolutely appropriate for her to accompany me to official events and party functions," Rubio told the media.
Mark Murray of NBC News addressed that remark in his daily online column: "First lady of the Florida House of Representatives? Have you heard Harry Reid, Denny Hastert, etc. refer to their wives that way?"
Rubio's Response:
"During the two-year period in question, I made $16,052.50 in direct payments to AMEX to cover non-party related expenditures.[***] To the greatest extent possible, I made sure the Party never paid for any personal charges." [***]
[***] NOTE - Apparently the remaining $184 thousand in personal expenses constituted 'electioneering'
Here's an article in The Hill which downplays these credit card charges quite a bit and has zero humor. [I admit I've mostly been reading the Florida articles as they are just so funny...]
I will not link to the Fox articles but of course recommend teh Google for those of you who wish to compare and contrast the cited reports with those of our erstwhile "fair and balanced" News source...
So this is short diary, but hope the links provide some fun reading!