Monday, August 04, 2008

Letter to The Editor

Tiberi and Taxes

I just got a nice little postcard in the mail from my congressman.
The tag line reads ''Congressman Pat Tiberi: easing the strain on your wallet.”

Then of course, I look at the 'paid for by' campaign disclaimer and see the words “Official business- This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.”

Wow. It sure looked like an election year campaign piece to me. With close to one million dollars in his campaign account and even more in his PAC account, it's so nice to know Pat is “easing the strain on my wallet” by letting the taxpayers foot the bill for this timely little pre- election “informational” postcard.

Assuming it costs approximately $1.00 to print and mail each post card to the 630,730 people in the 12th district; we are looking at a whopping huge sum of money! (I know what The Mid Ohio Food Bank could accomplish with that kind of cash, and I’ll bet the readers of this letter could offer the congressman hundreds of suggestions on how those funds actually COULD be used to “Ease the Strain on our Wallets” here in Ohio.)

This type of moral ambiguity is the reason people don’t trust politicians. The American people don’t ask much from our elected officials; only that they be honest, and strive to do the right thing. Spending our hard earned tax dollars to print and mail this flyer is NOT the right thing to do in a time of economic crisis. It is not "easing the strain on our wallets" at all. It’s simply helping Pat Tiberi exploit the system and get himself re-elected at tax payer expense.

The Republican Party is going to have to raise the “fiscal responsibility” bar quite a bit higher than this if they want to be believed.

As for me, I’m voting for David Robinson. It’s time for a change.

1 comment:

CrackerLilo said...

Absolutely dead right! I hope it gets published! That would absolutely set me off, too. I better not just throw the stuff I get into the recycle bin next time, I guess.

The thing is, if a person has *any* supporters, they can print bumper stickers with a URL at CafePress or a local shop, set up a decent-looking website, etc., without a penny of taxpayer money. These tactics just aren't needed anymore. They are annoying. Even people who don't have internet access will likely know the candidate from TV and newspapers.

Definitely an extremely cruel irony.

Incidentally, thank you so much for your support regarding my brother. It's not *quite* as bad as originally thought. He might be okay.