* A local congressman is complaining that he can’t use taxpayer funds to say “Merry Christmas” in his official mailers…
Rep. Joe Walsh, an Illinois Republican, and Rep. Mike Ross, an Arkansas Democrat, are trying to overturn a rule that forbids the use of “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Hanukkah” in taxpayer-funded congressional correspondence.
Congressional rules state that mail containing holiday greetings cannot be “franked” — Hill lingo for receiving taxpayer reimbursement for postage — according to a memo from the “Franking Commission Staff” obtained by The Washington Examiner.
And people wonder why nothing ever gets done in DC.
The House has banned the phrase since 1974, but Senators can apparently use it in their official mail, so this shouldn’t be a big deal. But leave it to Walsh to scream bloody murder about a trivial matter. Instead of going all-in on the alleged War on Christmas, how about using all that boundless energy to end the all too real, disastrous, un-American, budget-busting and morally bankrupt War on Drugs? Now, that would be something to brag about…
War is over if you want it
And before he flips his lid yet again, maybe Walsh should ask Franking Commission Chairman Aaron Schock, a fellow Illinois Republican, why he hates Christmas so much. Just kidding, of course. Schock apparently hates Hanukkah as well. OK, kidding again. It’s not Schock’s fault. The rule goes way back to 1974. Whatever. It’s a joke. Merry, um, holidays, Aaron. Hope it’s a great one.
A bill inspired by U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh’s child support issues would forbid people owing more than $10,000 in back child support from running for office in Illinois.
House Bill 3932, filed Tuesday by state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, would require statements of candidacy to include a statement that the person running for office is not delinquent by $10,000 or more.
Walsh, a tea party Republican freshman representing the 8th Congressional District, is facing allegations in court by his ex-wife that he owes her more than $100,000 in back child support. Walsh has not been found delinquent or in contempt of court in the ongoing dispute.
While Franks said Walsh, R-McHenry, was his inspiration for the bill, he wants to make sure that people holding office are taking care of their family responsibilities.
“I think it’s important for people to take care of their families first, and preclude people from public office if they fail to take care of their primary obligations,” Franks said. “Nothing is more important than taking care of your family.”
* I told subscribers about this odd development yesterday morning and again today. The group simply started its recruitment drive way too late…
With the congressional candidate filing period to begin Friday in Illinois, another potential challenger to U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, has said no.
Sen. Sam McCann, R-Carlinville, said Tuesday he would not oppose Johnson in the newly created 13th Congressional District that runs from Champaign-Urbana south to the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis.
He said he was contacted by a group last week that said their polling indicated he had the best chance of any other area Republican to unseat Johnson.
“There was no proactivity on my part, in any way, shape or form. The phone calls that came to me late last week came totally out of the blue,” said McCann, who was elected to the state Senate last year. “I had not sat back and contemplated it, up to that time, at all. These gentleman called me and told me about the polling.
One of Washington’s most eligible bachelors is taking himself off the market.
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Manteno, 33, said this morning that his girlfriend of more than a year, Riki Meyers, 31, is now his fiancée.
“I haven’t taken the plunge yet,” he said. “I’ve taken the pre-plunge.”
Meyers, a captain in the Air Force, is currently stationed in Charleston, S.C., but is scheduled to relocate to the Washington area sometime in February, Kinzinger said.
