Glass houses

State Representative Irv Slosberg just proved he deserved last Friday's Knucklehead award.

Exactly how far Democratic state Rep. Irving Slosberg opened his personal checkbook to finance his seven-figure bid for a state Senate seat remained a mystery on Saturday after Slosberg failed to file his final pre-primary campaign finance report on time.

A report of contributions and expenditures through Aug. 31 was due Friday, but Slosberg said it wasn't ready Saturday afternoon.

"We're not handing it in until it's 100 percent right," said Slosberg, the only state legislative candidate on the ballot in Palm Beach County whose report was not available Saturday.

A candidate who misses the final filing deadline before an election faces a fine of $500 for each day the report is late.

Slosberg is running against attorney Ted Deutch in Tuesday's Democratic primary for the District 30 Senate seat.

Through Aug. 11, Slosberg's campaign had spent $1.5 million — most of it his own money. No candidate for a state House or Senate seat had put that much personal money into a race in at least the past 10 years.

Slosberg wouldn't estimate what the contribution or expenditure figures would be on his latest report.

He said the report would be filed electronically with the state Division of Elections late Saturday or today. It hadn't been posted on the state's Web site by 11 p.m. Saturday.

First the $500 dollar fine per day is a joke. Disqualification from the race you are running for should be the penalty.

Secondly, Slosberg must be nuts to be spending all of this personal money on an election he is not certain of winning. Even if he wins, he gets to be a minority member of the state senate with little influence. Is that worth spending a half million or million dollars on when term limits will cause him to give up the seat in less than 10 years?

Thirdly, Slosberg as I said proved he earned the title of knucklehead. Thursday of last week he was filing an ethics complaint against his opponent, while he himself can't get his own financial reports in order. Go away Irv, Palm Beach County residents need someone to serve them, not a hypocrite who serves himself.

Linked to- Assorted Babble, Bright & Early, Basil's Blog,