Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s (R-4) big on cutting wasteful spending – except when it effects Vicky Hartzler. Remember how after  going on and on about “reckless and runaway” government spending, she still dug in her heels and said no,no, no, when she had a chance to cut wasteful agricultural subsidies? Seems she liked the more than $750,000  she and her family collected while on the government agricultural dole.

Now, after still more spouting off about cutting the fat out of government, Vicky’s at it again – making profuse use of government “franking” privileges to send out glossy flyers trumpeting her work in Congress. Hartzler is one of the ten biggest spenders in the U.S. House of Representatives when it comes to tax-payer funded mailings, having, over a nine-month period, spent $253,156.

This is the same Vicky Hartzler who, as Think Progress notes, uses her Website to call for “a freeze on discretionary spending except for our national defense, including veterans, Medicare, and Social Security.”

But hey – remember how Hartzler excused “some” agricultural subsidies as essential for “national security” purposes? She now claims that her use of the franking privilege to send out mailers isn’t really wasteful because:

After 34 years of leadership by [the district’s previous Congressman, Rep. Ike Skelton (D)], we feel like it’s important for me [sic] people to get to know me and for me to hear from them. It’s part of serving the people that you represent is to communicate with them, and that’s always been a priority of mine.

Well, gee willikers!  Since it’s her priority …  what can I say?