Posted: December 22, 2010 at 5:54 pm

Rehberg’s GOP Colleagues Decry Wasteful Congressional Mail

A little while back, we discussed Dennis Rehberg wasting taxpayer money by abusing his franking privileges. This week Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn released his “Wastebook 2010,” which reveals what he deems to be wasteful government programs. Rehberg should take a look at item number 83 on page 53 in which Senator Coburn writes:

Postcards from members of Congress may not be so fun – especially if you are the one paying for it.

Indeed. Coburn continues:

This is certainly not a priority in a time of budget shortfalls.

Rehberg tries to position himself as a champion for eliminating waste in government. But here he is protecting his precious campaign war chest by having taxpayers fund his early campaign lit. Besides, if Rehberg were such a champion for eliminating waste in government, what about the billions we’ve been wasting in Iraq? There’s where the real spending is going.

Congressman Rehberg can’t be working very hard at fighting government waste, as he claims, when he is contributing to it so mightily by funding his campaign for higher ambitions like U.S. Senate or Governor with taxpayer dollars. He should come clean today, give us a clear accounting of what these mailings really cost us and repay the amount to the U.S. Treasury.

Posted: December 18, 2010 at 9:17 am

T.E.A. Party’s Number One Earmarker Campaigns Against Earmarks on Taxpayer’s Dime

Here we see what looks like a pretty typical piece of sleazy campaign literature: An oversized, glossy, mailer touting the evils of earmarks. But the first problem is that it is from Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg, Citizens Against Government Waste’s Number One Porking Earmarker in Congress.

Now take a closer look. It’s not a piece of campaign literature, it’s a piece of congressional franking–paid for with our taxpayer dollars. Not only is it a clear violation of the spirit of the franking rules, if not the law itself, but it is the embodiment of wasteful government spending to campaign against wasteful spending on the taxpayers’ dime.

Indeed, Rehberg’s ethical indiscretions have been raising eyebrows and filling mailboxes for years. There’s a pretty blurry line between what is or is not a legitimate use of franking privilege, but just the message alone here makes this one cross it by a mile.

View both sides of FrankingPrivilege here.