Earlier this week, Republican candidate Dan Maes was perfectly clear — emphatic, actually — about the nature of $300 in cash he received from party activist Freda Poundstone some time ago.
It was a campaign contribution, he told Post reporter Christopher N. Osher, not a gift to help him pay his mortgage, as she claims.
Trouble is, you’ve got to report campaign contributions, and Poundstone doesn’t seem to show up on Maes’ campaign finance reports. So if Maes’ version of events is correct, he has apparently once again broken campaign laws — and in a very dubious manner by accepting hundreds of dollars in cash.
Perhaps sensing the ethical quicksand, Maes later backtracked. On KHOW radio Friday, he said, “Honestly I don’t remember . . . I just don’t remember the conversation [with Poundstone] very well.”
Better for the public to realize he’s all but broke, in other words, than to recognize what a shambles his campaign finance operation has been.
The man is not ready for prime time. But we repeat ourselves.
On time, under budget. It’s not every day that you hear that government operations are coming in under budget.
But that’s precisely the news we got from the U.S. Census bureau this week, which expects to finish its work 22 percent under budget.
That’s a significant savings. Wonder if they’d be willing to take on some other part of government operations — say, Medicare?
The $1.6 billion savings the Census is sending back to the Treasury was realized because the bureau didn’t have to tap contingency funds set aside for disasters and emergencies, and higher worker productivity. Moreover, a whopping 72 percent of this country’s households mailed back the Census form, which meant fewer labor-intensive, door-to-door follow-up visits.
The surprising response rate is attributable to a targeted ad campaign, and, we think, Americans’ civic-mindedness. If you were among those who turned in your form promptly, give yourself a pat on the back.
Speaking of civic duty . . . Colorado is among a handful of states that have primaries late enough in the year that they are in jeopardy of missing a federal deadline for mailing ballots to military members overseas.
It would be unacceptable if those serving in remote areas of Afghanistan and Iraq were to be disenfranchised because of what is essentially a scheduling problem. The Colorado legislature, when it reconvenes in January, must take up the matter and consider setting primary elections earlier in the year.
Short Takes is compiled by Denver Post editorial writers and expresses the view of the newspaper’s editorial board.
