Crawford Campaign Responds to Bankruptcy
Charlie Frago with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports on a story that has been floating around Republican circles for sometime now. As Frago reports, Republican candidate for the First Congressional District Rick Crawford filed for bankruptcy some 16 years old, for $12,611.67 of debts including $7,500 in credit card debt and $4,200 in medical bills.
Crawford campaign confirmed the accuracy of the story and said they felt it was fair.
“Rick made good on all his obligations but was struggling for a while. It was tough on him,” said Jonah Shumate, Campaign Spokesman for Crawford for Congress. “But, by the grace of God, he went on to start a small business and grow it in to a success that has created jobs for Arkansans in the First District and helped farmers.”
No official comment yet from the campaign of Crawford’s oppenent Chad Causey but his adviser Gabe Holmstrom is having a field day with on twitter. “How many current Members of Congress have filed bankruptcy?” Holmstrom asks.
Unfortunately, bankruptcy is fairly common nowadays but the point being raised by many is does this put a cloud over Crawford anti-deficit position. A major part of his campaign is the argument – which I agree with – that the country is engaging in too much deficit spending. The Crawford campaign says that it does not damage this position and actually argues just the opposite.
“Rick’s story is the story of many Arkansans in the First District and shows that we need a common-sense small businessman in Washington to get our country back on track. Rick certainly does not want our country to go through what he personally had to go through over 15 years ago,” said Shumate.
July 29th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Oddly enough, my first thought when I saw the story was that it was a great chance for Crawford to pitch that angle. Granted, I still don’t buy it with respect to the nation, but it’s a nice counter.
July 29th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Since Gabe is on Chad’s payroll, that sounds like an official comment.
Nothing like going personal in July. Looks like Chad’s poll numbers have gone in the tank and, in typical Gabe/DPA fashion, they decided to go negative.
Tsk, tsk.
I say Rick has more real life experience than Marion, Jr.
July 29th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
He filed for Bankruptcy. Fine. Going bankrupt over $12,611.67? Not so fine. Bankruptcy is a measure of last resort, not something you do to discharge small debts.
July 29th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
[...] Tolbert notes Rick Crawford’s response to news of his bankruptcy years [...]
July 29th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
This story has been in circulation for well over a year now. While this may be a fair point to bring this up I believe the focus should be that he has learned from it and gone on to build a successful business.
Mr. Causey’s advisor Gabe Holmstrom might do better asking himself, “How many current members of Congress have presided over bankrupting our nation?” That, Mr. Holmstrom, would be a more relevant question to ask.
July 29th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Seriously, Commie? What part of my statement was an attack? Warranted or not, it was much more a judgement than an attack.
I will grant that people sometimes encounter circumstances beyond their control that put them into debt way behind their means. Exorbitant medical bills are a great example of the same. A $4200 medical bill, however, is not. Plus, medical bills are often highly negotiable, especially if there is a risk that it might be discharged through bankruptcy. But, that is beside the point. The real issue is not his filing bankruptcy but his taking the easy way out instead of honoring his debts. It’s a political problem for two reasons: It sets a bad example for his potential constituents and it raises questions about his character and his fiscal abilities. Further, in my opinion, his statement defending his past bankruptcy is even worse.
July 29th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
If he tried hard to pay his debts and used every resource at his disposal to do so and still couldn’t pay them, I don’t see the problem with bankruptcy. The credit card debt may or may not have been something he could control. There are those people out there that charge everything just because they have a card, and then there are people who can’t afford to buy the things they need with either a check or debit card and have to resort to using their credit card. Medical bills are things that are unavoidable if you have a serious illness or a medical emergency that needs to be taken care of. So attacking Rick Crawford for his bankruptcy filing is petty, SAM.
July 29th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
It may have been the last resort 16 years ago.
July 29th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
There are a lot of very successful people in Arkansas who hae had to suffer through a Bancruptcy. No one on this post knows the whole story so why judge. It is better to try and fail than to fail to try. I do know that he seems to have a very successful business today. It easy to set at your keyboard and cast stones.
July 30th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Sam, are you saying that a $4200 medical bill is NOT exorbitant??? Perhaps you could afford to pay it, but there are plenty of people out there who can’t and obviously Rick Crawford at the time couldn’t afford to pay the bill. But attacking Mr. Crawford for doing what he had to do perhaps as a last resort is quite petty. I agree with Fred Ramey. It’s much more important that Chad Causey answer for his party’s bankrupting of this country and if he would continue in that practice should he be the next Congressman from CD-1.
July 30th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Sam C., I once considered bankruptcy over a similar debt. I was 19, made $5.85 per hour and was eating ramen every other meal. I survived on student loans until I made it out of college and got a job.
Ultimately, Crawford *did* pay all his debts, at least according to his campaign spokesperson.
$12,000 may not seem like much debt to you, but to thousands of Arkansans, it is insurmountable.
July 30th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Nick – Not to belabor the point but according to his spokesman he paid “everything he was obligated to pay.” I have been trying to nail this down but I don’t think this means he repaid the debt forgiven in bankruptcy.