|
I lost respect for Ryun when, a few years ago, I learned that he believed in an 'arranged marriage' for his daughter. He's not gained much in my approval since. Now this courtesy of the Parsons Sun:
Wednesday's editorial
Ryun's mailing
Congressman Jim Ryun made a gross error in judgment when he used $38,000 in taxpayer money to send a mailer out to constituents. As an incumbent with a very aggressive Democratic opponent, Ryun certainly should be campaigning to keep his seat, but it's distressing that the mailing was sent out through the congressional franking process, not with campaign funds.
Ryun may be allowed to use tax money to inform constituents about his actions in Washington but this mailer doesn't begin to pass the sniff test of integrity.
First of all it says nothing. There is not one line on it saying that Ryun supported, voted for or initiated action to help keep oil and gas prices within reason. Instead it uses phrases like "the House passed" and "Congress has done." What people really want to know is what Jim Ryun personally did, and that is the intent of the franking privilege.
So what is franking? In a nutshell it is the ability for congressional delegates to keep their constituents informed about what they're doing in Washington. First established by Congress in 1775, at a time when the only way to communicate was via mail, it was important that elected "citizen representatives" be able to communicate with constituents at the government's expense during the early days of this new nation.
Franking has gone in and out of favor since that time, with periodic modifications to the process, but what it clearly was not intended to do was to provide a campaign platform for an incumbent - that's why there is a 90-day pre-election limit on mass mailings.
If Ryun really wanted to brag about what he was doing to control gas prices, why didn't he do this last spring when people where screaming? Instead, he waited until the last minute, then sent out a shiny red, white and blue post card that looks, smells and reads like campaign material. In fact, the headline couldn't sound more like a campaign slogan: "Congressman Jim Ryun, Lower Gas Prices & Energy Independence for America and Your Family."
Knowing that oil and gas ranks in the top 10 industries feeding his campaign war chest should make it particularly difficult for voters to swallow this abusive spending. Maybe the mailer meets the letter of the law, but it certainly doesn't meet the intent of the law.
- Ann Charles
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(55 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
