DesJarlais now the 2nd biggest spender in Congress on mail and communications
Even though he’s been in Congress for less than two years, Scott DesJarlais (TN-04) is vying for the title of “Junk Mail King,” spending nearly a half million dollars on slick mail pieces described by the Congressman and his staff as “communications.”
Being named the “Junk Mail King of Congress” won’t earn DesJarlais a trophy or an award, but it will give taxpayers a bill for DesJarlais’s part of Congress spending more than $30 million dollars. To become Washington’s second biggest spender, DesJarlais had to spend more taxpayer money than 433 other Congressman and vote against a bill that would require Congress to cut its expenses. [Vote on Office Budget - HR 5882, Vote #376, 6/8/12]
“Washington is broken, Congressman DesJarlais isn’t part of the solution, he’s part of the problem,” said Eric Stewart. “We have a lot to be proud of in this district but having the Junk Mail King for our Congressman, probably isn’t one of them.”
Just last week, DesJarlais voted against a bill that would save taxpayers money by requiring Congress to reduce its office budget by 10 percent. DesJarlais won’t vote to reduce his own budget, but he has voted to cut funding to Medicare and benefits for homeless veterans. [GOP Measure Protects Office Budget Cuts, 6/08/12; Vote on Benefits to Homeless Veterans - HR 836, Vote #173, 3/11/11]
“DesJarlais will say these mailings are how he communicates with his constituents but everyone knows what these are when they open the mailbox, and I doubt they know these mailings cost taxpayers $30 million a year,” Stewart said. “Real communication shouldn’t cost a thing. Real communication is about sitting down, working through differences and solving problems together, something they can’t do in Washington.”
“DesJarlais has proven that he’s going to look out for himself, no matter what it costs the rest of us,” Stewart said. “Now he’s going to have to look people in the eyes and explain why he is trying so hard to become Congress’s Junk Mail King when he told them he was going to D.C. to cut spending.”
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Other News Reports
DesJarlais Previously Ranked No. 1 in Taxpayer Funded Mailings. “U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., ranked No. 1 in the U.S. House from October to December 2011 when it came to spending on franking or official mailings to constituents, records show. The 4th Congressional District representative from Jasper, Tenn., spent $224,346.33 on mailings […] Records show DesJarlais was also one of the top House spenders on mailings during all of 2011 with $282,385.34. At least three other House members in other states exceeded that. One, Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., spent $327,503.90, according to House records.” [Times Free Press, 3/13/12]
Republican Freshman Pledged to Transform Washington Spending. “Republican freshmen who came to Congress last year promising to transform Washington’s free-spending culture are no different from most other lawmakers in at least one respect: They mailed out millions of taxpayer-funded flyers and brochures during their first year in office. Tennessee’s first-term lawmakers were no exception. Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais of Jasper spent more on mass mailings than all but two other House members last year. He sent 669,436 pieces of unsolicited mail at a cost of $282,385 […]Together, the 87 GOP members of the freshman class sent more than 25.6 million pieces of unsolicited mail last year at a cost of nearly $9.8 million. Of the 10 lawmakers who spent the most taxpayer money on franked mail, eight were GOP freshmen.” [Tennessean, 3/15/12]
