Republican Using TaxPayer Money for Misleading Robocall
*Below is an article about a sitting Congressman using state funds to pay for what amounts to his own campaigning.
Please watch Congressional District 13 in Florida. The original race had 18,000 undervotes and locked Christine Jennings out of a seat that she should have won - due to FAULTY VOTING MACHINES. This race is the basis for Florida finally switching to paper ballots. Christine is running again!*
This particular robo-call tells voters he voted to help the environment by voting to ensure we started working towards renewable energy sources and also voted to stop price gouging at the pumps…he voted NO on the New Energy Bill:
You got Buchanan’s call. Now you’ll pay for it.
Herald Tribune.com article
To tout his position on national energy policies, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan has initiated thousands of automated telephone calls at taxpayer expense.
In the approximately 20-second call that went to Sarasota County households this month, the Longboat Key Republican says the nation needs to become less dependent on foreign oil and have tougher gas mileage standards for automakers.
“Too many working families are feeling the squeeze of high energy prices,” Buchanan said. “As your congressman, I opposed tax breaks for big oil and voted to crack down on price gouging at the pump.”
Those elements were part of an energy bill Buchanan voted for in early 2007 and President Bush signed into law last month.
The seven-sentence robocall cost nearly $5,000, but did not include a note that it was at taxpayer expense. Buchanan spokeswoman Sally Tibbetts said that though mail pieces require the disclosure, automated calls do not.
“We’re trying to use new technology to communicate with people,” she said.
A week after the call, Buchanan sent out about 100,000 direct mail pieces, mostly to Sarasota County residents, that mentioned the federal money he won for projects in the 13th District, which includes all of Sarasota, Hardee and DeSoto counties, plus most of Manatee and part of Charlotte.