Payday Lender Cash Express Covers Its Bets And Gives Generously To Steve Beshear And David Williams. What Say Ye, Phil Moffet And Gatewood Galbraith?
Cash Express donors back both Beshear and Williams
By Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Thirty-nine people — most of them out-of-state residents with ties to Kentucky's largest payday lender — have given $1,000 each to Gov. Steve Beshear's re-election campaign and that of his main Republican rival, Senate President David Williams.
The contributions are significant because the 2011 General Assembly is about to consider imposing strict limits on the amount of interest payday lenders can charge.
And they place the company, Cash Express, among the biggest financial backers of each of the two major contenders in this year's governor's race.
Of the 39 contributors to both candidates, 26 live in Tennessee. One of them is Garry McNabb, chief manager of Cash Express, which according to the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions has 124 outlets in the state, more than any other company.
Cash Express is registered to lobby both the legislative and executive branches in Kentucky. It retains the services of former state Auditor and Secretary of State Bob Babbage, the state's highest-paid lobbyist.
McNabb did not return numerous phone messages left at his home and offices this week. But in 2009, when he held a fundraiser for Beshear in Tennessee, he insisted it had nothing to do with his business in Kentucky.
“I can assure you there has not been the first hint of the fundraiser being tied to any kind of business,” McNabb told The Courier-Journal.
All but three of the contributions to Beshear, a Democrat, were made on Sept. 30, 2009, four days after the McNabb fundraiser. All but two of the contributions to Williams, R-Burkesville, were made on Nov. 18, 2010.
The amount each individual gave — $1,000 — is the maximum allowable to candidates for governor under state law.
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said such contributions to competing campaigns “are trying to assure access or a favorable legislative result, whichever candidate wins.”
“The only other conclusion is ridiculous — that all of these people from Tennessee have either met or read about both Beshear and Williams, fallen in love with both, and are willing to part with hard-earned money for both,” he said. ...
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By Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Thirty-nine people — most of them out-of-state residents with ties to Kentucky's largest payday lender — have given $1,000 each to Gov. Steve Beshear's re-election campaign and that of his main Republican rival, Senate President David Williams.
The contributions are significant because the 2011 General Assembly is about to consider imposing strict limits on the amount of interest payday lenders can charge.
And they place the company, Cash Express, among the biggest financial backers of each of the two major contenders in this year's governor's race.
Of the 39 contributors to both candidates, 26 live in Tennessee. One of them is Garry McNabb, chief manager of Cash Express, which according to the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions has 124 outlets in the state, more than any other company.
Cash Express is registered to lobby both the legislative and executive branches in Kentucky. It retains the services of former state Auditor and Secretary of State Bob Babbage, the state's highest-paid lobbyist.
McNabb did not return numerous phone messages left at his home and offices this week. But in 2009, when he held a fundraiser for Beshear in Tennessee, he insisted it had nothing to do with his business in Kentucky.
“I can assure you there has not been the first hint of the fundraiser being tied to any kind of business,” McNabb told The Courier-Journal.
All but three of the contributions to Beshear, a Democrat, were made on Sept. 30, 2009, four days after the McNabb fundraiser. All but two of the contributions to Williams, R-Burkesville, were made on Nov. 18, 2010.
The amount each individual gave — $1,000 — is the maximum allowable to candidates for governor under state law.
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said such contributions to competing campaigns “are trying to assure access or a favorable legislative result, whichever candidate wins.”
“The only other conclusion is ridiculous — that all of these people from Tennessee have either met or read about both Beshear and Williams, fallen in love with both, and are willing to part with hard-earned money for both,” he said. ...
Click here to continue reading.
Labels: Democratism, GOP, Kentucky politics, Republicanism
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:53 PM
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