Too Big to Open: Bernie’s 300K-Page April Campaign File Not Accessible

[Her Sister]

There’s a variant on the “Too Big to Fail” meme. It’s called “Too Big to Open.” If you try to view the April 2016 campaign fund-raising report for Bernie 2016, you’ll see this:

ORACLE error– ORA-00257: archiver error. Connect internal only, until freed. :

Originally filed on 20 April, and labeled as a “Quarterly” report, this is a whopping 312,982 pages. This report was still being processed by the FEC (and not accessible) when the committee submitted an Amended version two days later.

Attempts to open the Amended report also produce an error message from the FEC:

?w=640&h=398

What Should Be in the April Report and April Quarterly Report

The April Quarterly should contain details of all campaign finance for January, February and March 2016. The single report for April should contain a breakdown of all activity during 1 March – 31 March 2016.

However because of previous RFAIs (Request for Additional Information) by the FEC, the monthly and the quarterly reports will also include corrected data for at least one prior month possibly more.


Summary of April 2016 Report
The summary page for the April report does yield some info for the period.

Total Contributions: $44,746,787
Total Disbursements: $45,715,173
Beginning Cash-on-Hand: $17,211,636
Ending Cash-on-Hand: $17,460,961

https://gobling.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/too-big-to-open-bernies-300k-page-april-campaign-file-not-accessible/#more-7597


http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do

[Treant]

1. A dumb question?

I don't get campaign financing, I'm sure, but how can you receive contributions of $44.7 million, spend $45.7 million, and end up with $0.2 million more at the end of the month on-hand?

(Unless they get phenomenal interest rates, of course, but I doubt that).

[Her Sister]

2. Not sure! Others into accounting may answer

BUT in the meantime I cannot wait to know what's in these filings!!!

[KewlKat]

3. That was my question.

The "filings TAB" download only contains 3 pages and it showed the information was HAND DELIVERED on 30 Apr.

Guess it's wait and see. I want to see the cost of the Vatican trip.

[Her Sister]

7. These last ones are til end of March.

Vatican trip was days before NY primary which was April 19th so we won't know about the filing for that for another moth, I think.

[George II]

4. More Bernie Math. No wonder they've gotten at least four letters from the FEC asking for...

...clarification of now over 750 pages of questionable contributions.

It's math like this that convinces them that they still have a path to the nomination. I think that path is the yellow brick road.

[Treant]

5. I wondered.

I mean, I'm not an accountant, but I can do basic math (even calculus). 3-2 does not equal 2. Except for larger values of 3*, of course.

* I had a boss who got very annoyed by that statement and wouldn't believe that algebraic renormalization was actually a thing. Until I explained it as the "broken ruler" adjustment...

[George II]

6. Actually, if anything, they should have a discrepancy in the other direction because they were....

...required to make several hundred refunds for improper contributions.

[kjones]

8. Bernie is an elite member of an exclusive club...

The number of people in the world who have blown 45 million bucks in a month must be
exceedingly small.

[jmowreader]

9. I can't get those four numbers to reconcile no matter what I do

BCOH = Beginning Cash On Hand
TC = Total Contributions
TD = Total Disbursements
ECOH - Ending Cash on Hand

(BCOH+TC)-TD=$16,253,250
(BCOH+TD)-TC=$18,180,022
(ECOH+TC)-TD=$16,492,575
(ECOH+TD)-TC=$18,429,347

Difference between claimed ECOH and claimed BCOH = $249,325
Difference between claimed TD and TC = $968,386

Let me guess: In exchange for Hillary's speech transcripts he'll tell us how the fuck he did this.

[Her Sister]

10. Report Summaries: FINANCIAL SUMMARY - 2016 APRIL MONTHLY From: 03/01/2016 To: 03/31/2016

FINANCIAL SUMMARY - 2016 APRIL MONTHLY
From: 03/01/2016 To: 03/31/2016
I. RECEIPTS $45,964,498
Federal Funds $0
Itemized Individual Contributions* $20,427,229
Unitemized Individual Contributions $24,319,559
Total Individual Contributions $44,746,787
Party Committees Contributions $0
Other Committees Contributions $0
Candidate Contributions $0
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS $44,746,787
Transfers from Authorized Committees $0
Candidate Loans $0
Other Loans $0
TOTAL LOANS $0
Offsets to Operating Expenditures $1,217,710
Fundraising Offsets $0
Legal and Accounting Offsets $0
TOTAL OFFSETS $1,217,710
Other Receipts $0
TOTAL RECEIPTS $45,964,498
II. DISBURSEMENTS $45,715,173
Operating Expenditures $44,926,621
Transfers To Authorized Committees $0
Fundraising $0
Exempt Legal and Accounting $0
Candidate Loan Repayments $0
Other Loan Repayments $0
TOTAL LOAN REPAYMENTS $0
Individual Refunds $788,051
Political Party Refunds $0
Other Committee Refunds $0
TOTAL CONTRIBUTION REFUNDS $788,051
Other Disbursements $500
TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS $45,715,173
III. CASH SUMMARY $17,460,961
Beginning Cash On Hand $17,211,636
Ending Cash On Hand $17,460,961
Net Contributions $180,630,234
Net Operating Expenditures $164,626,628
Debts/Loans Owed By $0
Debts/Loans Owed To $0
* To view itemized transactions associated with this line select the Two-Year Summary tab at the top of this page and click on the itemized link. Note that the link will display transactions for the two-year period to date rather than just a particular reporting period.

http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do