Are Both New Hampshire Representatives Spending Tax Dollars Illegally?

 Cross posted at Grizzly Groundswell

The Union Leader recently ran this article about some questionable mailings that Rep. Paul Hodes (D-2nd district) and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-1st district) sent out. A follow up article can be read here. 

 There would normally be nothing wrong with sending out these mailers using taxpayers dollars. I said usually, but their is some controversy over whether these particular mailing were legal and ethical.

 House rules allow the mailing of pamphlets by house members as long as they don’t self promote and these mailings clearly do.

Fergus Cullen, chairman of the state Republican Party, says there is evidence to suggest that Democratic Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes’s mailings were targeted based on political considerations, which, if true, may be a violation of a House regulation on the use of the congressional frank. Chiefs of staff for Hodes and Shea-Porter flatly deny Cullen’s charge, however.

A House regulation says franking is prohibited for “mail matter which specifically solicits political support for the sender or any other person or any political party, or a vote or financial assistance for any candidate for public office.”

 There is also the matter of how the two Democrats got the mailing lists of their constituents, they were purchased from the New Hampshire Democrat party.

both congressional offices last year directly or indirectly purchased from the state Democratic Party the state-generated voter mailing lists, which, under state law, should be made available only to entities that use them solely for “election or political campaign” purposes.

 The lists were purchased and can only be used for election or campaign purposes. The mailings can not be used for campaign purposes. So not only are the mailings a violation of house rules, so is the usage of the lists that these two representatives bought using taxpayers dollars.

 Here is New Hampshire GOP chairman, Fergus Cullen’s response:

 “Today’s Union Leader stories make clear that Representatives Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter have used taxpayer dollars to send targeted, politically-driven mail from their Federal congressional offices at taxpayer expense.”

“They purchased a political list from the New Hampshire Democratic Party using tax dollars, and used that list to send taxpayer-funded mail to targeted voters.”

“Hodes, Shea-Porter, and the New Hampshire Democrats can’t have it both ways. New Hampshire Democrats say it’s legal to sell the voter file for campaign-related purposes. If that’s true, what were Hodes and Shea-Porter doing with the list in their congressional offices except using it for campaign-related purposes at taxpayer expense?”

 New Hampshire’s two freshman congressmen ran on a platform that included changing Washington, stopping wasteful spending, and bringing New Hampshire values to Washington.

 They have delivered on none of those promises. Rep. Paul Hodes, and Rep. Shea-Porter have fallen in line with their Democrat counter-parts and have become part of the political machine. Instead of bringing New Hampshire values to Washington, they have let Washington values overtake them.

 There is a reason why Fergus Cullen dubbed Hodes and shea-Porter the “Pelosi Twins”, and it is an accurate representation.

 You can read more about at the New Hampshire Republican Party website.