To hell with outrage from the Republicans and Democrats-- taxpayers in general should be massively outraged!

...................................................................................................................................................................
Editorial: How can we trust politicians who use tax money for campaigning?
New Haven Register, June 28, 2014

Surprise, surprise. Republicans in the Connecticut House of Representatives have been using their taxpayer-funded budgets for “informational” mailings about the work of the General Assembly for blatant political attacks on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislators, and Democrats are outraged. They should be.

They should also be outraged that 5th District Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty has spent more than 10 times the amount in taxpayer-funded mailings than Connecticut’s four other congressmen spent combined, and more than any other congressman in New England. They’re not.

Only Republicans are outraged at Esty’s blatant “maximization” of taxpayer dollars to bolster her re-election campaign in a swing district. Only Democrats are outraged at the House Republican stunt uncovered by the Hartford Courant’s Jon Lender.

And guess what will be done about it? Nothing. Democrats have a majority in the General Assembly and the governor’s office. They could pass legislation to severely restrict the funding for or nature of this kind of diversion of tax dollars to protect incumbency. But that would mean not having access to it themselves, and they actually have a lot more at stake.

If lawmakers feel strongly that constituents need to be informed of the work of the legislature through glossy, taxpayer-funded mailings, we could turn that job over to a nonpartisan body such as the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research.

But that kind of reform could be the first step on a slippery slope threatening the General Assembly’s taxpayer-funded political machine. What if people started placing non-political civil service restrictions on legislative aides who have huge influence over important legislation one moment, and then “clock out,” walk down the street and shake down special interests for campaign money wearing their “political hat” the next?

We won’t hold our breath. It would be refreshing in this election season, though, to see candidates for the General Assembly and governor from both parties be pinned down on whether they’d support such reforms.
...................................................................................................................................................................