Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Clinton asks FEC for loan Date: Fri, 30 Oct 92 15:33:28 EST Message-ID: \SE A \HD Clinton asks FEC for loan \SH GOP: Campaign's in 'big trouble' \BY Ralph Z. Hallow and J. Jennings Moss \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES The Clinton-Gore campaign has asked the Federal Election Commission for a $1 million loan to tide it over until after Election Day. The Republicans quickly said the Democrats are broke because they mismanged the federal campaign subsidy. The Democrats retorted that the Republicans are desperate for an issue. The Federal Election Commission called the request "unusual." "This says to us that not only is Clinton fiscally irresponsible in the state of Arkansas, but he is acknowledging that his own campaign has run out of money a week before Election Day," Bush campaign spokeswoman Alixe Glen said. But Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Ginny Terzano said: "They're stretching. It's just a desperate move on the Republicans to try to divert attention from the fact that Clinton is still running strong going into the final days of this campaign." "Sounds like they're in big trouble," GOP campaign adviser John McLaughlin said of the Clinton forces. "Anybody who asks for money this late obviously needs it for advertising badly, probably to rebut the Bush ad on Clinton's record in Arkansas." Christine Varney, the Clinton campaign's chief counsel, yesterday told The Washington Times that the request "has nothing to do with current cash flow." In a letter dated Monday, Mrs. Varney asked the FEC to decide by Nov. 16 whether to allow the campaign to borrow $1 million from its compliance fund and transfer it to its general election fund. In the letter she said the Secret Service's "inability to provide timely reimbursement of any recoverable travel-related costs creates a serious cash-flow shortage in the 30 days after the general election." She said the campaign expects the Secret Service to pay $1.2 million owed to the campaign for travel with the Clinton entourage. But she said the campaign will have to pay creditors about $1 million before the reimbursement. The loan would be made after Election Day to pay expenses, she wrote. The candidates' compliance accounts are used for the legal and accounting expenses of FEC audits. They are separate from the $55.24 million in taxpayer money each major-party candidate receives for the general election. FEC spokesman Scott Moxley said he could not recall the commission receiving a similar request in past presidential elections. But he said the technical points raised in Mrs. Varney's letter came about because of legal changes the FEC made in 1991. "Basically, they're saying they managed their money so bad that they are asking the FEC for help," Bush campaign senior adviser Charles Black said. "They've applied for $1.2 million in reimbursement from the Secret Service, but what a campaign applies for and gets is always different," Mr. Black said. "The service never pays everything you bill it for, and so the Clinton campaign's collateral is bogus." Mrs. Varney said the request that the loan be made after Election Day is proof that the campaign is not cash-poor now. She said the two biggest expenses, the last week of media buys and the charter planes, are paid for. Bush campaign treasurer Stanley Huckaby said Mr. Clinton's request to borrow $1 million "would free up extra cash they can put right into media advertising." But Mrs. Varney said the request only has to do "with the fact that if the Secret Service does not get our reimbursements to us in a timely manner after Nov. 3, we're going to have keep postponing vendor payments. . . . We'd just as soon wrap this up by Nov. 30." Political campaigns typically keep several million dollars in reserve through the close of the election to pay for last-minute expenses. The Bush campaign has a reserve of nearly $8 millon, but a campaign official said no more expenditures are being made, even for new ads. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM