Guest Columns
Waste of the Day: Tennessee Voters Pay for Congressman’s Mail
Topline: It’s a bit difficult to run for reelection with only $95,000 in campaign cash on hand, but Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) found a way around that issue.
Tennessee gets stuck with a bill for franked mail
He billed taxpayers $335,000 last year to mail out “constituent communications” showcasing his own accomplishments, according to The Tennessean.
Key facts: Ogles published 63 different mailers and digital ads approved by an oversight committee since January 2023, The Tennessean reported.
The mail expense included in Congressional office budgets is technically supposed to be for spreading important information about town halls or new laws, but it’s often used by members of both parties to send pseudo campaign ads.
Two other Republican representatives from Tennessee, Diana Harshbarger and David Kustoff, also spent more than $200,000 on their communications.
The letters cannot directly reference elections or attack political rivals.
Also in May, Ogles admitted to mistakes that misled the Federal Election Commission about how much money his campaign had available. Ogles filed paperwork in April 2022 stating that he had loaned $320,000 of his own money to the campaign, but he now says he only loaned $20,000 and pledged to donate more if necessary.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Yet another abuse of the franking privilege
Background: Ogles and other Congress members can send communications through the “franking” privilege that gives a campaign advantage to incumbents and leaves constituents with the bill.
The Senate caps franked mail spending at $50,000, but in the House it’s unlimited.
The privilege can’t be used 90 days before an election, but prior to that, any form of communication is fair game: physical mail, internet ads, radio broadcasts and more.
Supporting quote: “Many people in middle Tennessee still don’t know who their Congressman is,” Ogles said in a statement to The Tennessean. “It is important that constituents know who their representative is, how my staff and I can assist with their needs, and the ways in which I’m effecting change on their behalf in D.C.”
Summary: Most constituents have access to Google as well as snail mail. Ogles’ campaign ads might lose their effect once voters realize they’re the ones paying for them.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
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