The new governor, who has admitted using campaign dollars to pay for suits, furniture and possibly hotel stays with an ex-lover, has spent nearly $5,000 of his election war chest on flowers in recent years………and he hasn’t even started porking all the chicks in the governor’s office, yet….God knows how much that’ll cost taxpayers. Patterson’s flower budget includes at least 100 orders to 1-800-FLOWERS since August 2001, according to state campaign finance records. Paterson’s staff could not produce documents to explain the purchases. The Jan. 20, 2003, flower bills suggested former state Sen. Ada Smith received one order of flowers. Patrice Lamelle, an employee with the Department of State, got the other.

PATERSON’S EXCUSE IS SIMPLY INN-CREDIBLE
campaign charges at Tiffany and Bloomingdale’s

Gov. Paterson blamed his 13 tax-paid Albany hotel stays on disgraced Gov. Eliot Spitzer, for forcing him to attend early-morning meetings……despite owning a house just 20 minutes from the Capitol, and a state-funded driver, Lt Gov Paterson spent more than $2,500 on his state credit card to stay at nearby hotels. His excuse brought astonishment throughout the Capitol, with one legislative staffer derisively asking, “What if I had an early-morning meeting? Could I just crash at the Crowne [Plaza downtown hotel] and charge it to the state?”

………an extensive Post review of Paterson’s campaign filings back to 1999 found that, as a state senator, the Harlem Democrat spent $244.40 on Broadway tickets Sept 2002, when his extramarital affairs were allegedly going on……… $153.16 at Tiffany & Co. Feb 2005 and another $374.50 at Bloomingdale’s the day before Christmas Eve in 2006…….

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com …