Cook: Tom Cotton Sends Questionable Taxpayer-Funded Mailer (UPDATED)

Last week, Congressman Tom Cotton’s official government office sent a slick, taxpayer-funded mailer that looks suspiciously similar to a campaign mailout. Moreover, the mailer’s topic is on an issue that Cotton is incredibly vulnerable on, the Farm Bill.

While the mailout is not illegal, it certainly is questionable.

First, a quick refresher on the Farm Bill.

Back in June, Cotton was the only member of Arkansas’s federal House delegation to vote against the Farm Bill.  The bill was supported by numerous Arkansas agricultural organizations and many were unhappy with Cotton’s vote. By opposing the bill, Cotton created political problems for himself in Arkansas’s dominant industry.

The Farm Bill ultimately didn’t pass and Congress has until the end of the year to pass a Farm Bill otherwise, due to a legal quirk, America’s farm policy will revert back to what it was in 1949, which is bad news to Arkansas’s farmers and consumers.

Having a gallon of milk cost $7 is not beyond the realm of possibility if a new farm bill isn’t passed.

Cotton knows the political fix he’s in, which may explain why he sent the taxpayer-funded mailer as a way to cover his posterior.

A copy of what Cotton’s House office sent is below. There is nothing illegal about sending this mailer as members of Congress have the franking privilege.  And in Cotton’s defense, there is no electioneering messages on the mailout, which means it can’t technically be referred to as “unethical.”

But I do think Cotton used taxpayer funds to defend himself from attacks that will come up during his U.S. Senate race. What his office did is not illegal, but certainly it does raise some questions on how to appropriately use taxpayer funds.

In 2010, the Arkansas GOP howled at a mailer sent by Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s office. They even went so far as to file an ethics complaint.  Will they do the same regarding Cotton’s latest?

Check out Cotton’s taxpayer funded mailout and decide for yourself on whether it was appropriate or a bit over the line.

UPDATE: Caroline Rabbitt, spokesperson for Cong. Tom Cotton, provided this response to the mailer referred to in this post.

“This mailer was intended to proactively answer some of the most frequently asked questions of our official office about the farm bill and explain the Congressman’s position on the issue. It was approved in advance by and met the guidelines of the independent, bi-partisan franking commission which reviews every piece of franked material distributed by Congress. Like all franked material, it was paid for by funds from the official office budget, which is determined by a formula. Each office has the discretion to determine how their MRA will be allocated across costs like offices, communicating with constituents, staff salaries, etc.”