Santorum slings the mud

Take a look - analysis from the Philadelphia Inquirer of Rick's latest. It's the attack ad about Bob Casey's "campaign team."

Coming from the Santorum camp, we can expect distortions aplenty - and this ad doesn't dissappoint.

According to the Inquirer, none of the men mentioned have any official connection to the Casey camp. None has given any money to Casey's Senatorian campaign (though one did give some cash to Lil Ricky - who donated it to charity) and none has been charged with anything.

One has even been dead for 22 months.

So if this is fair game, let's take a look at Santorum's "campaign team."

Item #1: Operation Good Neighbor. The Philadelphia Daily News reported in March of this year:

The Operation Good Neighbor Foundation — a charity that Santorum established in 2001 with the aim of helping faith-based groups and others battling poverty and social ills — is already under fire for spending considerably less on aid and more on expenses than the Better Business Bureau and other charitable watchdogs recommend.

By the way, the article describes how Preferred Real Estate, Inc, one of the "charities" largest donors, scored $8.5 million from the Guv-ment - with Rick Santorum's help. But that's beside the point.

And where was the rest of this "charity" money going? The Cincinnati Enquirer (the best chili is in Cincinnati, by the way) reported:

The Operation Good Neighbor charity of Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., is putting a crimp in compassionate conservatism.

According to the Better Business Bureau, the charity donated only about 40 percent of the $1.25 million it spent over the past four years to charity. The rest went for overhead, such as paying several hundred thousand dollars to Santorum campaign aides who are on Operation Good Neighbor's payroll.

The fact that the charity has the same address as the senator's campaign office raises question's about whose "overhead" is being covered. The charity is set up to provide grants to small non-profit groups.

The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance advises that well run charities should give at least 65 percent of what they spend to the needy causes they purport to be serving. People who dig deep to support worthy causes don't usually consider senatorial campaigns as "charity" cases.

The money was supposed to go for faith-based activities of non-profit groups. Instead it padded the salaries of some of Rick's campaign aides. Great ethics on display, here.

Up until March of this year, the treasurer of this "charity" was a woman named "Barbara Bonfiglio."

Check this out:

Barbara Bonfiglio, who was once treasurer to political action committees and other organizations for ethically challenged lawmakers Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) and others, just quit D.C. superfirm Williams & Jensen. She also stepped down from her post as treasurer of Rep. Richard Pombo's (R-CA) RichPAC.

Delay's under indictment and Cunningham's in jail.

And they're connected to Rick Santorum by way of Barbara Bonfiglio.

More to come.

Rick Santorum - he's got lotsa good friends.