Interesting data for nerds

Go to this site:

http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/expend.asp?ID=N00008072&cycle=2004&Sort=D&Page=2

It shows the Bush campaign expenditures for the current campaign. There is a lot of data here to scroll through, but if you scroll through to June 10, it looks like they are counting contributions as negative expenditures. Why would they do this? A cursory look at the same data for the other candidates does not show this same accounting.

There is also a transfer of $200,000 on 5/20 to “Bush/Cheney 04”, but it is shown as an expense. I believe this data is supposed to BE “Bush/Cheney 04”, so I don’t understand what they are transferring to. There are 2 more transfers like this on 5/19 totaling $471,000. It is listed as “transfer of excess funds” (and there are others at various dates). Could this have something to do with the “negative expense” contributions?

Other interesting and/or curious entries:

Olsen and Shuvalov, Austin, TX $392,000 5/19/2003 POSTAGE

BUSH-CHENEY 2000, INC., WASHINGTON, DC $95,509 3/6/2003 TRANSFER

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT, HYATTSVILLE, MD $95,509 3/6/2003 REPAYMENT

These 2 below are donations FROM the campaign:
CFNCR-FRIENDS OF CAMP DAVID, WASHINGTON, DC $211,782 6/12/2003
CHARITABLE DONATION

WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, DC $211,782 6/12/2003
CHARITABLE DONATION

CASH ADJUSTMENT $34,786 6/30/2003 ADJUSTMENT PER FEC AUDIT

CASH ADJUSTMENT $9,787 6/30/2003 ADJUSTMENT PER FEC AUDIT


One other question: Let’s say that you contributed to Bush/Cheney in 2000. But they had excess funds. The excess funds are transferred to the new campaign, but do they have to pick out certain contributors and count that transferred money as a contribution from them this time? Or is that “free money”? This applies to Gephardt and Kerry as well (who I am pretty sure had excess funds last time around) and maybe some of the other Dems too.

n/t