Paper knocks Rubio on 'lavish' spending

The St. Petersburg Times digs into Marco Rubio's spending during his rise to political prominence and finds some problems:

...Rubio did what many aspiring Florida legislative leaders do — he created a political committee, Floridians for Conservative Leadership, to "support state and local candidates who espouse conservative government policies," according to IRS records.

But for 2003, the committee spent nearly $150,000 on administrative and operating costs and $2,000 in candidate contributions. Over 18 months, only $4,000 went to candidates other than Rubio, while similar political committees gave tens of thousands of dollars to candidates.

Rubio spent the biggest chunk of the committee's money, $89,000, on political consultants, $14,000 in reimbursements to himself, and more than $51,000 in credit card expenses. Records show those expenses were for food, lodging and airfare but do not detail who was traveling or where expenses were incurred.

The thrust of the piece is that Rubio used political donations and taxpayer money to fund a lavish lifestyle, using both his PAC and taxpayer money to pay for expensive dinners, for example.

It's not a bombshell, but it still helps the Crist campaign advance their narrative about Rubio's spending habits.