Chris Peden's Cash Redux

True to its monthly cyclical expectations, the herd over at the Church of Dan has been flopping all over itself for the better part of the day in a self-feeding frenzy of hits on Presidential long-shot and favorite KSEV punching bag Ron Paul. They range from the usual innuendo in which Paul is said to enjoy the company of "racist/bigotted/anti-semite/homophobic/(your ad here) scumbags" to this critique wherein a commentator expresses an inordinately bitter offense at the loins that produced an obscure anti-tax pamphleteer who has recently aligned with the Paul camp. The most amusing by far though is an unusual attempt by the Lone Star Times crowd to promote the reputed fundraising prowess of The Honorable Chris Peden, the boy genius of Friendswood City Council who seems to believe that he can unseat Paul from his congressional seat by singlehandedly purchasing hundreds of dollars in banner ads on...well...the Lone Star Times.

While ostensibly undertaking a correction of the mathematically inept Houston Chronicle, author David Benzion has another purpose in mind - to show, as he puts it after repeatedly reminding his readers that Peden first attained his Honorability with the backing of KSEV, that

Peden has twice as much money Cash-On-Hand as Paul, no?

He is referencing, of course, the $143,949.92 that Peden reported "on hand" at the end of last year's 4th reporting quarter. This figure naturally seems like an impressive haul, and numerically it is considering that Peden finished the prior quarter with a stunning $363 in the bank. So where did this sudden cash influx come from? Another pundit from Dan-Land attempts to explain:

Read Peden's report yourself, and you can see exactly where the money came from. I’m sorry to say you’ll be disappointed, unless you consider people like a CPA, an orthodontist and a pastor to be “corporate masters.”

It’s also interesting to note that all of Peden’s money is local — it comes from towns like Houston, Friendswood and Crosby.

This intriguing take appears aside a critique of the Chronicle's shoddy reporting standards, but a closer look reveals much more in common than a simple coinciding placement. You see, the majority of Chris Peden's cash haul from the last quarter, and to be specific $150,424.49 out of $174,750.80 raised (of which $143,949.92 remain unexpended on banner ads), did not simply come from "local" addresses in towns like Friendswood. It came from one single address in Friendswood: 1878 Flat Rock Street, as in the abode of the candidate himself.

One "William Chris Peden" of 1878 Flat Rock Street, as in the Honorable Mayor Pro Tem of Friendswood, also happens to be the aforementioned CPA who keeps donating to the Chris Peden for Congress campaign. Let's take a look at what this "man of the people" has managed to give himself:

Donor:
William Chris Peden
Peden & Associates, LLP
CPA

Carry-over loan balance - $14,428.02

4th Quarter loans from Chris Peden to Chris Peden -
10/01/2007 - $129.33
10/04/2007 - $21.61
10/06/2007 - $99.86
10/11/2007 - $1,000.00
11/29/2007 - $12,000.00
11/30/2007 - $18,000.00
12/07/2007 - $59,875.00
12/10/2007 - $20,000.00
12/31/2007 - $25,000.00

Grand Total: $150,424.49

Of the remaining actual donations from persons other than the Honorable Chris Peden himself, approximately half came from his relatives, Messrs. Bill Peden, also of Peden and Associates, and Greg Peden, of the Alvin Chevron station each gave the maximum allowable donation of $4,600. Ellen and Lois Peden, co-managers of the Hope Village Tea Room. similarly maxed out, bringing the Peden Family's self contributions to a total of $16,100 for the quarter.

That places just over $166,000 of Peden's claimed total haul of $174,000 "in the family."

The moral of the story: when you can't raise more than a couple hundred bucks for your lousy candidacy from the common folks, it never hurts to cut yourself a couple of $25,000 checks. It also helps when the primary recipient of your advertising budget is willing to portray your attempt to buy a seat in Congress as an outpouring of neighborly support for your cause.

UPDATE

Lest there be any doubt about the Lone Star Times' intent to promote Chris Peden's artificial fundraising prowess, an astute reader informs us of the following original title to their article from its placement on google cache:

CHRIS PEDEN, CONGRESSIONAL CHALLENGER TO RON PAUL, REPORTS TWICE AS MUCH CASH ON HAND