One of the lesser publicized news items of the past couple days is the release of new campaign finance reports that remarkably demonstrate how terrible some of the Republican presidential candidates are with money. In fact, the campaigns of four major candidates – Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman – have hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign debt:

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum reported raising more than $700,000 during the quarter, spent nearly $750,000 and owes about $70,000.

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Gingrich owes the most among all candidates who have filed so far, with more than $1.1 million in debts for expenses like office supplies, direct mail and outside experts — including $5,250 for a “Hispanic outreach consultant” and $724 for a “social media consultation.” His campaign raised about $793,000 this period, about a third of which came from small donors.

Bachmann, a favorite among social conservatives and the low-tax, small-government Tea Party movement, reported nearly $550,000 in debt after raising $3.9 million. Her expenses included more than $130,000 spent on chartered flights with Moby Dick Airways of Virginia. She also owes former campaign chair Ed Rollins about $30,000.

Perhaps during the ninth Republican Presidential Debate that will take place tomorrow, CNN’s Anderson Cooper should ask almost half of the candidates participating why they think they can tackle the nations debt when they can’t even control their own?