If there’s one thing the Republican Party is good at, it is talking about how good they are at all things money-related, more specifically, taking your hard-earned money and spending it on worthwhile things like strippers and smart bombs, not wasteful things like say, poor people or a year’s worth of rent for their Party Headquarters in Minnesota.
Republicans are so financially savvy in fact that when they are not destroying the nation’s economy by cutting taxes in the middle of two wars or duping Fox News viewers into buying fake gold coins and underground apocalypse bunkers, they save their cold-hard cash the old-fashioned way: by defaulting on their legally obligated debt.
Just look at deadbeat Illinois Tea Party Congressman Joe Walsh who is sooooo fiscally conservative, he lives in his office and refuses to pay child support (pull yourself up by your own diaper straps, son!). Or serial adulterer Newt Gingrich whose own unique brand of fiscal prudence includes showering his various (soon-to-be-ex) wives with Tiffany diamonds and establishing a colony on the moon, presumably to see how far his checks can bounce in 83.3% less gravity.
But until Newt’s ambitious lunar dreams come to fruition (as likely as his presidential ones), we humans are stuck here on boring old Earth, still forced to pay for the stuff we need, like food, clothing, and shelter. Unless, of course, you are the Minnesota GOP, in which case feel free to rack up a massive Chris Christie-sized debt in unpaid rent.
The debt-plagued Republican Party of Minnesota is getting kicked out of its party headquarters near the state Capitol.
Massachusetts-based Hub Properties Trust filed paperwork in Ramsey County on Wednesday to evict the state GOP for failing to pay more than $96,000 in rent over the last year.
“Tenant remains in default under the lease by failing to pay in full when due, rent from April 2011 through the present,” the court papers read. “As of April 1, 2012, the tenant owes landlord a total of $111,192.14.” (A security deposit on the property and several partial payments since June 2011 have reduced the total outstanding debt to about $96,000.)
Oooh, oooh, remind us again how good you are with money, Minnesota GOP, and why we should all elect Mittens Romney post haste for being a responsible fiscal conservative just like you?
The eviction action follows a series of revelations last winter regarding debts accrued by the party during the reign of former RPM Chairman Tony Sutton. In December, an internal review of finances revealed that the party owes $1.23 million to creditors, plus more than $700,000 in legal fees accrued during the 2010 gubernatorial recount, and is facing possible fines from the Federal Elections Commission for undisclosed debts. The party is also currently being investigated by the state campaign finance board.
So much for being too big(oted) to fail!
“We have a long and very expensive lease which still has twenty-one (21) months to run. As you know, we have more space than we need and our monthly lease cost is in excess of current, comparable market lease rates. When I was elected on December 31, 2011, the rent had not been paid since August 2011 and as part of our continuing financial issues and our effort to re-negotiate the lease, no lease payments have been made in 2012 to date,” RPM Chairman Pat Shortridge, who was elected to succeed Sutton in December, wrote in a leaked party memo.
“Rather than continue discussions with us, the landlord chose to exercise its rights and filed a notice of eviction in Ramsey County court. We’re not going to be evicted, and at the same time, are continuing to negotiate on the back payments as well as on a lease that better fits both our space needs and our budget. While this is a situation none of us wants, it’s part of the rebuilding process. No one ever said it would be simple or easy or without bumps along the way. But I wanted you to hear about it from me rather than from any other source.”
Of course! You know how inconvenient facts can be!
On the bright side, they could always relocate to Marcus Bachmann’s closet. He always makes room for a few good men!
[image via flickr]