Abusing what is known as “the franking privilege”, Jim Moran has sent out thousands of campaign mailers to constituents in the 8th District with the following words written in fine print:
“This mailer was prepared, published, and mailed at taxpayer expense.”
Unbelievable. He’s campaigning with our tax dollars. The franking privilege allows members of Congress to send out informative mailers at taxpayers’ expense. These mailers are clearly not informative, they are advertising. These mailers can’t be cheap; it’s an eight page, glossy double-sided booklet explaining his stances on various issues, services his office provides, and all the things he’s spending our money on in Congress. Postage must be very expensive. His office may claim it’s a service to his constituents, but it’s obvious that it’s not.
The franking privilege is abused by members of Congress from both parties, and that’s another reason why the American people are so angry with out-of-touch incumbents like Jim Moran.
Below is a scan from the first page of the mailer. Click to see the full sized image.
Opening letter
This isn’t the first time Moran has done something like this. In early June, the popular liberal blog about Virginia politics Not Larry Sabato criticized Moran for using taxpayer dollars to campaign. He was referencing “Congressman Moran on Demand,” a series of videos made for “constituent outreach”. Here’s what he said:
Cable companies are now allowing Congressman to create infomercials to put on TV in the “On Demand” channel. Jim Moran has taken advantage of this first with some nice looking, well produced content. They are calling it “Jim Moran On Demand”. I think this is an absolutely horrible idea. Incumbents already have plenty of advantages, without getting their own channel for propaganda on local cable TV…
….These videos are produced at taxpayer expense from the office account, and paid for through the same account which they do mailings through.
(Source: Not Larry Sabato)
UPDATE: The mailer was printed in Maryland.
This is not at all a campaign mailer since it came directly from his Congressional office on Capitol Hill and each and every single Member of Congress sends out one of these mailer. These mailers are to inform the constituents as to the work being done and accomplishments achieved within the district by the Member. Hence the reason that all constituents, Democrats AND Republicans received the piece. Sometimes, actually most of the time, your attempts to attack Moran are just ridiculous and without merit as is the case hear. There is no valid complaint against him doing something that every single other Member of Congress does to inform the constituents of what is going on in their district.
In a time of major financial crisis, I do not want my taxpaying dollars spent on such an expensive brochure!!!! And what timing….just before the election! We could have spent that money on better things. How about road repairs or funding some of our food banks!!!! I volunteer at a food shelter and the demand for assistance is greater and the donations are less! All I can say for those who support Moran is “PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND”!
Aaron -
It’s no secret that members of Congress abuse the franking privilege. This is a clear example of such. How come I only get mail from Mr. Moran during an election cycle? Seems a bit odd.
The first thought that went through my mind when I received the oversized, glossy, multi-page brochure from Congressmen Moran — how much did this just cost us?? It is just plain offensive that he would spend OUR money on his re-election campaign. Yes, I have received flyers before from other elected officials but never one so expensive nor right before election. One word — offensive. One word for Moran in November — LOSER.
Aaron–”Not at all a campaign mailer”?
Respectfully, I think that is a bit naive especially considering the excessive nature of the brochure. If they really wanted to just inform us of accomplishments, we’d be subscribed to CQ not getting slick mailers. Also, just because it goes to all constituents does not make it any less of a carefully crafted election year pitch–in, fact, it makes it more so. Finally, in an economy such as this, he (or his staff) should have shown more judgement and retraint.
Adam
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