Austin TV Station Does Story On "Money In Politics"

I just happened upon this, switching channels Saturday night, CBS 42 Investigates Campaign Contributions. I recommend it:

Running for office is not cheap. Politicians spend a lot of money to get each and every vote.

If you contribute to a candidate, how do you know if the money was spent to get that candidate elected? Investigative reporter Nanci Wilson found out.

Yes, it takes a lot of money to run for office, but---wait a minute-- does it all go to get people elected?

"To run a headquarters, do mass mailings, to run an office you have to have a headquarter it's like a business office, to operate it, they have volunteers and all. They hire professional personnel like, public relations people, people who do the legwork and people to do the management. Also the money is used for press and commercials and advertisement," voter Susie Labry said.

Some is spent paying for TV and other advertising, but a surprising amount is spent in other ways. CBS 42 Investigates analyzed the campaign expenditure reports of a number of local and statewide officeholders.

Investigates found they spent thousands of dollars in campaign contributions living the good life--lavish meals, expensive trips, private planes and luxury hotels.

There's plenty more, click the link to read the rest or watch the video too.