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 that makes this one cross it by a mile.
This diary iscross-posed on the Montana Cowgirl blog, where you can also see a non-pdf version of the mailer.