An Offer You Might Rather De-Klein

Among the many and varied indulgences that South Floridians must forgo in this era of financial dieting, the least of them, I would guess, is junk mail. Like the piece pictured at the left from Congressman Ron Klein, the Fort Lauderdale Democrat.Not that people in Klein's district aren't interested in...

By Thomas Francis

April 28, 2009

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Among the many and varied indulgences that South Floridians must forgo in this era of financial dieting, the least of them, I would guess, is junk mail. Like the piece pictured at the left from Congressman Ron Klein, the Fort Lauderdale Democrat.

Not that people in Klein's district aren't interested in learning about how the stimulus funds are being spent and how they can get in on the action. It's just that there are plenty of available, highly visible ways for them to do so. The Obama administration has widely marketed recovery.org for such curious citizens, and it was worthwhile for Klein to have his staff prepare a few internet pages (like this one and this one) on the subject.

But to pay staff to prepare this mailer and to pay a printer to run off thousands of colored copies that in most cases will go straight into the trash: This would seem an expense not worth tax dollars -- even if the objective was only to inform us about the stimulus. Because let's face it, the true objective is to boost Klein's popularity. It's campaign literature.

Democrats attacked the Florida's Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum ferociously (and righteously) for spending tax dollars to air public service ads that looked suspiciously like campaign spots, and this road goes both ways.

Inside of the flier after the jump.

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