“…I’m sorry, this is a political mailer. You could send me a little postcard and ask for the same information you get here…”
The Statement of Disbursements of the House of Representatives is released every quarter.
Statement of Disbursements
[….]The Statement of Disbursements (SOD) is a quarterly public report of all receipts and expenditures for U.S. House of Representatives Members, Committees, Leadership, Officers and Offices. The House has been required by law to publish the SOD since 1964.
The Chief Administrative Officer of the House publishes the SOD within 60 days of the end of each calendar year quarter (January-March, April-June, July-September and October-December)….
After seeing a press release from Teresa Hensley’s (D) campaign we thought we’d take a look:
….Since January 2011, Congresswoman Hartzler has spent more than a quarter of a million dollars on taxpayer-funded communications, totaling $362,094 over five quarters.
Sure enough, in the latest quarter:
Summary Tabulation of Mass Mailings [pdf]
Distributed by Each Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
January 1, 2012 – March 31, 2012U.S. Representative – Honorable Akin, W. Todd
Total No. Distibuted – 22,526
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 0.0768
Total Cost – [$]6,906.35
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0.0236U.S. Representative – Honorable Carnahan, Russ
Total No. Distibuted – 0
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 0
Total Cost – [$]0
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0U.S. Representative – Honorable Clay, Wm. Lacy
Total No. Distibuted – 0
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 0
Total Cost – [$]0
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0U.S. Representative – Honorable Cleaver, Emanuel
Total No. Distibuted – 0
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 0
Total Cost – [$]0
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0U.S. Representative – Honorable Emerson, Jo Ann
Total No. Distibuted – 0
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 00
Total Cost – [$]0
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0U.S. Representative – Honorable Graves, Sam
Total No. Distibuted – 0
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 0
Total Cost – [$]0
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0U.S. Representative – Honorable Hartzler, Vicky
Total No. Distibuted – 206,897
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 0.6679
Total Cost – [$]59,561.11
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0.1923U.S. Representative – Honorable Long, Billy
Total No. Distibuted – 0
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 0
Total Cost – [$]0
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0U.S. Representative – Honorable Luetkemeyer, Blaine
Total No. Distibuted – 0
Average No. Distributed Per Household Address – 0
Total Cost – [$]0
Average Cost Per Household Address – 0
[emphasis added]
Well, that’s interesting. Those big city liberal Missouri Democrats in the House of Representatives didn’t spend a dime on taxpayer funded franked mass mailings in their districts. Fancy that.
And what did Representative Hartzler (r) say at a Missouri town hall when questioned about the expense of those taxpayer funded franked campaign style mailings?:
….Representative Hartzler (r):….What other questions do you have? [pause] Everybody bashful now, now?
Question: Congresswoman, I, I came today with an agenda item. I received your flyer and I see this young man over here. Who paid for this flyer?
Voice: We did. [Voices: “We did.” “We did.”]
Question: Taxpayers. [Voice: “We did.”]
Representative Hartzler (r): Yeah [inaudible].
Voice: We did.
Question: Yeah. [Voice: “We did.”] How much did we pay for mailing privileges since January, July one of two, twenty eleven? Do you know?
Representative Hartzler (r): I don’t know, but I bet you do.
Question: Over two hundred thousand dollars [crosstalk] to send stuff.
Representative Hartzler (r): I knew you would know. I could tell. [laugh]
Question: It, it’s in the Congressional Record.
Representative Hartzler (r): I know. I know, it’s open record. Anybody can get it.
Question: And I’ve asked to take my name off the list ’cause we’re gonna save thirty point oh three six cents next time this mailer comes out. [Representative Hartzler ( r): “Okay.”] If we did that with every member of Congress how much money would we save? I didn’t do that math. But if we’re gonna look for cuts why don’t we cut this type of stuff. I’m sorry, this is a political mailer. You could send me a little postcard and ask for the same information you get here.
Representative Hartzler (r): I, I hear you. And, um, we’ll certainly consider that, you know….
“…I, I hear you…” If he had only asked a week earlier.
Previously:
Teresa Hensley (D): ad – Vicky Hartzler (r) has a few issues (June 13, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): We’ve got mail (May 4, 2012)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): Clinton town hall – April 5, 2012 – part 2 (April 6, 2012)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): frankly, the importance of being Vicky (December 11, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): frankly, it’s all about wedge issues (November 22, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): Who needs the NRA… (September 17, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): franking right wingnut propaganda on Medicare (August 27, 2011)
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): frankly, it looks like a campaign mailing (July 7, 2011)