Man, the electoral scare of his life hasn't done anything to scale back Doolittle's public corruption.
Rep. John Doolittle's campaign committee reported Thursday that it owed the Roseville Republican's wife nearly $137,000 in fundraising commissions lingering from the 2006 elections, and that its year-end debts exceeded cash reserves by $166,000.
The consequence is that Doolittle now is soliciting contributions and planning fundraisers for his 2008 campaign that, in the early going at least, will be raising money largely to pay off his wife's company, which is operated out of the couple's suburban Virginia home.
"Instead of recommitting himself to his constituents as he promised, this means he will be recommitting himself to improving his own financial interests," said Naomi Seligman Steiner, spokeswoman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning advocacy group that has been a fierce critic of Doolittle's arrangement with his wife's company.
During the 2005-06 election cycle, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions racked up almost $224,000 in commissions from the Doolittle campaign. The standard congressional salary last year was $162,500.
Doolittle's wife was taking her "commission" on fundraising even from dollars that didn't seem to come from her efforts. It was quite simply a bizarrely legal effort to funnel contributor money into their own pockets. The $224,000 "commission" she paid herself supplemented quite nicely the congressional salary of $162,500. Congress can be a lot more lucrative if you don't let pesky things like "ethics" get in the way.
Fighting Dem Charlie Brown, has started raising money for an epic rematch. Despite the solidly Republican district at the foot of in the Sierra Nevadas, Doolittle barely held on for a 49-46 victory, with the rest going to a Libertarian candidate. And off the gate, Brown already has a fundraising advantage.
Out of the starting gate he begins with a $225,000 cash advantage over Doolittle, whose fundraising ability could be weakened by the fact his party no longer is running the Congress and that he gave up his leadership position to spend more time on his district.
And how many donors want to give money to pad his and his wife's pockets?
Let's hope Doolittle keeps it up. The more he embraces his inner Abramoff, the better our chances of giving CA-04 a congressman who looks out for the district's interests and not his own bank account.
Update: The good folks over at Calitics will be following this race closely.