The hubris of politicians never seems to exceed our expectations. The latest example: Liuyba Shirley, who is running for Congress in the NY 2nd district, is using campaign money for childcare [Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR]. She has now asked the FEC (Federal Election Commission) to approve this use of funds.
Here’s the argument: Since she cared for her children herself prior to running, and has only begun to incur child care costs as a result of her campaign, she should be allowed to use campaign funds for childcare. In her interpretation of FEC rules (and, apparently, the interpretation of her attorney), any expense she did not have prior to her running for office is fair game for campaign fund use. Unfortunately, they are wrong.
The FEC rules are clear:
Commission regulations provide a test, called the “irrespective test,” to differentiate legitimate campaign and officeholder expenses from personal expenses. Under the “irrespective test,” personal use is any use of funds in a campaign account of a candidate (or former candidate) to fulfill a commitment, obligation or expense of any person that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s campaign or responsibilities as a federal officeholder.
Ms. Shirley had children by her own volition, and has a legal and moral obligation to care for them – including the costs of child care – irrespective of her run for office. It does not matter that she chose to fulfill that obligation with her own time and labor prior to the campaign, or that she has only had to pay for child care since she began her campaign. All that matters is that the obligation exists independent of the campaign. As a result she should be barred from using campaign funds for child care.
This hasn’t stopped her from attempting to tug at the heartstrings and perceived (but real) bias felt by women. The NPR interview cited above points out that women generally do more child care and housework than men, even in dual income families, and this limits the availability of women to run for office. I get that – but the answer is not to use campaign funds for child care; the answer is to encourage men to accept their fair share of housework and child-rearing responsibilities.
I hope the FEC has the common sense to refuse her request, and that the voters see through her ploy and send her packing. We don’t need any more people in Congress who can’t read and interpret clearly-defined rules, attempt to bend the rules to benefit themselves, or pull at heartstrings like master puppeteers.