September 24, 2006

Rinks Update

Ted Cook has sifted through the 2005 campaign finance disclosures filed by each of the members of the Tennessee state House of Representatives and found that Democrats reported far more in expenditures to pay "undefined" credit card expenses than did Republicans. Cook says state Rep. Randy Rinks "still leads the pack, by a bunch, at not disclosing credit card purposes."

UPDATE: Cook also has been sifting through Rep. Rinks' campaign funding sources, and finds that very little of his contributions come from people residing in his district, state House District 71. Cook has two posts on that topic, for 2005 and 2006.

A week ago I emailed and faxed Rep. Rinks seeking his version of the facts. He has so far not responded.

The newspaper in Rink's home county, Hardin County, is the Savannah Courier, a weekly published Thursdays. It does not appear to have a website, so I have no way of knowing if the paper has yet reported on Rinks' questionable and possibly illegal campaign expenditures, his use of campaign funds to pay his dues at the swank Nashville City Club, or the fact that very little of his campaign contributions come from residents of the 71st District - but far more of his money comes from contributors in the Nashville area, where Rinks used campaign funds to pay $439 in dues at the Nashville City Club (photo shows meal at the NCC). To encourage the Savannah Courier to include these facts in their pre-election coverage, please contact the Courier at 731.925.6397 or by mail at The Courier, 801 Main Street, Savannah, TN, 38372. The editor is Jim Thompson, or at least he was when the 2005 Tennessee Newspaper Directory was published by the Tennessee Press Association.

If the paper won't cover it, perhaps they might run a letter to the editor summarizing the facts surfaced by Ted Cook and also published here at BillHobbs.com, if a reader living in the 71st district were to write such a letter...