Congressman Dennis Moore’s chief of staff may have violated E-mail rules. Moore franking abuse too?

(promoted by Soren -- We need to document patterns of misuse of government resources by the Democrats. This is central to how Democrats run government and what we would see on a daily basis if Democrats took the White House. While this may not seem serious in its own right, there's a clear broken windows phenomenon here. If people get used to breaking the law on little things...)

 The Hill is reporting that Rep. Dennis Moore’s chief of staff may have violated House rules last week by circulating a campaign-related job posting from his House E-mail account:

Howard Bauleke circulated a posting for jobs with the Kansas Coordinated Campaign, an election-year organization initiative run by the Kansas Democratic Party. Rules prohibit the use of House resources for campaign purposes. …

Moore spokeswoman Rebecca Black said the e-mail was probably an oversight.

In 2005 using his government E-mail address (howard.bauleke@mail.house.gov), Bauleke apparently posted a job description for a Research Assistant totally unrelated to any government requirement. Why is a congressional staffer using an official E-mail address for commercial purposes?

Kansas Democrats use a “campaign store” called the Kansas Coordinated Campaign inside the Kansas Democratic Party to coordinate activities of Democratic candidates statewide. In 2006 in a complicated money scheme Kansas Democrats used the Kansas Coordinated Campaign to help re-elect Kathleen Sebelius, and elect Paul Morrison for Attorney General. Also, the Kansas Coordinated Campaign was used to elect a number of new State Reps, such as Gene Rardin in District 16, who won by only two votes.

Last week a similar problem occurred in Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ office when an E-mail with a “Contribute” button was sent by Sebelius’ political director during a period when such a solicitation would be an ethics violation.

Kansas Democrats want more money for all sorts of social programs but have no problem wasting money on political mailings paid for by tax dollars.

Congressman Dennis Moore can count to 90 very well, since he knows he can use free franking only more than 90 days before an election even if he has no particularly urgent message for constituents. Moore knew the cut off date for free franking before the Aug 5, 2008 primary election was May 7, according to the House Committee on House Administration. To beat the May 7th deadline, Moore sent the following franked piece at taxpayer expense, which reportedly was received on May 2:

Moore sent this mailing paid for by taxpayers with the message:

“Kansas families live within a budget. It’s time the federal government did, too”
– Congressman Dennis Moore in his Congressional Update, May 2008

This mailing was legal by a few days, but Congressman Moore shows contempt for voters by wasting money on this mailing while pretending to be a fiscal conservative.

With only 92 days between the August primary election and November general election this year, it’s not clear whether Moore will send another taxpayer-funded mailing to constituents on Aug 6, the day after the primary election.

Recently, other Kansas Democrats wasted tax dollars for mailings that were not necessary and mostly about getting re-elected given their timing:

• Update on Franking Abuse by Kansas Senate Minority Leader Hensley: $53,564 on 161,277 franked pieces, Kansas Meadowlark, May 7, 2008.
• Franking Abuse by Kansas Democratic Legislative Leadership, Kansas Meadowlark, April 17, 2008.

If budgets are so tight both in Washington, DC and Topeka, why are Democrats wasting taxpayer money on needless political mailings before elections?

From the Kansas Meadowlark, May 27, 2008