StopLouBarletta.com

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has, as many of you know, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regarding a $65,000 loan made to Lou Barletta. According to the DCCC, the loan was a “sweetheart deal” that required Barletta to pay no interest and make no payments, even though the loan was taken out in 2002. The Barletta campaign has said that this loan was a personal loan made to Barletta, not to his campaign, and that no laws or violations of ethics occurred.

However, the issue seems far from dead. One of the main reasons the story is still alive and kicking is that, as documented by the DCCC on its website, the Barletta Campaign has produced three very different explanations as to what the loan was for. The DCCC goes on to say…

“The fact is that Barletta has offered three different stories about this loan over the past 11 days. Mr. Barletta’s first story was, “that no money from any bank was ever loaned” [Wilkes Barre Times Leader, 2/9/08]. Mr. Barletta’s second story was that it was a “clerical error” [Citizen Voice, 2/15/08]. Now, Mr. Barletta’s third story is, “it was a personal loan” [Wilkes Barre Times Leader, 2/21/08]. Even Mr. Barletta can’t keep his story straight about this $65,000 loan, which raises more questions than answers.“

Ouch. Now, I have no idea what the real story is about this loan. The Lou Barletta Campaign’s (most current) story is that it was a “personal loan” and that no wrongdoing of any sort occurred. I’m willing to accept that, for now. However, what I find shocking is how sloppy Mr. Barletta’s campaign has handled this issue. If it was simply a personal loan, why all the confusion? It would seem Mr. Barletta has some issues in terms of managing his personal finances.

This whole situation may or may not be a political scandal in the making. As I said, for the moment, I’m willing to accept the Barletta campaign explanation. However, what all of this does reinforce is that Lou Barletta has some serious leadership issues. If he can’t keep his own campaign in order, how does he expect to serve as a US Congressman? Lou Barletta does not deserve to be elected to the United States Congress.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Lou's Leadership Flaws, The Loan Saga . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.