PHILADELPHIA – Twenty-four hours before the start of the Democratic National Convention here, convention fundraising chief Jason O’Malley revealed the DNC is $2.5 million short of paying for the festivities.

The revelation was buried in the 26th paragraph of the Sunday “brunch edition” of Politico’s Playbook, which is billed as the “must-read briefing on what’s driving the day in Washington.”

O’Malley explained he now needs to go out and essentially beg for money to cover convention costs:

“I think at the end of the day we will fully pay the $46.5 million, which is in our contract. That will be paid. We have in-kind contributions (not completely finalized) [of] at least $15 million to $16 million. And then there is the host committee budget of about $11.5 million to $12 million depending upon if any additional expenditures that come on. I’m pretty confident we are going to hit all those numbers. Right now I’m just chasing money in – I’ve got to collect another $2.5 million.”

O’Malley added he is “99.9 percent confident” the DNC’s finance committee wouldn’t need to resort to tapping into its emergency reserves.

The DNC’s inability to cover its own expenses so close to the start of the convention seems a poignant commentary on the massive costs of the party’s own big-government policies. Hillary Clinton is running on a platform of largely continuing and even enhancing many of President Barack Obama’s fiscal policies at a time the gross national debt exceeds $19.1 trillion.

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.