Campaign paid $135K to lease aircrafts from company Deal co-owns

[ccharles000]

Nathan Deal’s campaign for governor has paid a company in which the Republican nominee is a part owner more than $135,000 to lease aircraft — many times more than any other candidate for governor in this campaign cycle.

Since its launch in May 2009, Deal’s campaign has paid $6,000 a month for access to an airplane and a helicopter, as well as additional thousands of dollars a month in actual flight costs.

Deal’s Democratic opponent, Roy Barnes, has paid about $16,000 for aviation services since July 1, 2009. Deal’s former rival for the GOP nomination, Karen Handel, paid $6,325.40 in airfare in 2010.

State ethics laws bar candidates from using campaign money for personal benefit. It is unclear whether Deal personally benefited from the money paid to his company.

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/campaign-paid-135k-to-626245.html

[gateley]

1. It is unclear whether Deal personally benefited from the money paid to his company.

:rofl:

Nice pic, ccharles!

[Botany]

2. The Dick Cheney school of business ..... Cost plus contracts.

Since its launch in May 2009, Deal’s campaign has paid $6,000 a month for access to an airplane and a helicopter, as well as
additional thousands of dollars a month in actual flight costs.

snip


Deal’s campaign pays North Georgia Aviation, a company the former congressman co-owns with a business partner, Ken Cronan.
The company does not own an airplane or a helicopter. Instead, North Georgia Aviation is the partial owner of two companies that
own a helicopter and an airplane that ferry Deal to campaign stops throughout the state.

The payments to North Georgia Aviation are recorded on his campaign finance reports as the “fixed cost” for aviation or for “operating
costs” for aircraft. North Georgia Aviation is a subsidiary of Gainesville Salvage & Disposal, which Deal co-owns with Cronan.


snip

Deal’s campaign said its system is a “financial burden,” but it said having a plane and a helicopter on retainer
allows Deal “to get around the state frequently and cover more ground than in the car,” Riley said.