Davis not frank on franking

Proving once again that politics and hypocrisy often are partners in the same dance, U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Hebron, turned up on a list as one of the biggest users of mass mailings to constituents. The Associated Press reports that Davis sent out 716,803 pieces of mail in 2006 at a cost of $165,316 to taxpayers.

Only four other House members out of 435 outspent Davis, who just happened to have a tough re-election campaign against Democrat Ken Lucas, who formerly held the seat.

While there may be some modest value in these mailings to inform people -- after all, not every constituent is flying down the information superhighway -- it was particularly glaring for Davis to be flooding district mailboxes. Consider this excerpt from a story The Enquirer's Pat Crowley reported in 2005:

During the 2002 campaign, Davis said Lucas abused the so-called "franking" privilege by sending a glossy piece of campaign material under the guise that he was communicating with constituents.

"Ken Lucas has abused the trust of Kentucky's hardworking families by using taxpayer dollars to fund his congressional campaign," Davis, who lost the 2002 race to Lucas, said at the time.

I also refer you to a longer Associated Press story related to the Davis tale. Here's an excerpt:

The House Democratic Caucus encourages members to use the mailings to communicate with constituents, spokeswoman Sarah Feinberg said.

That argument doesn't persuade Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., who said he has never used the mailings in 13 years in Congress. "It's a waste of taxpayers' money," he said. "I don't believe in this self-promotion."

LaHood argues that franking should be used only to answer constituent mail. He has repeatedly introduced bills to ban mass mailings, but the legislation usually dies in committee.

You'd think Davis and the four other Republican congressmen who spent even more would stand with LaHood on this subject; not the Democratic leadership of the House.