The House Resources Committee is working with President Bush to ensure that snowmobilers have access to our National Parks and recreation areas. You can rest assured that the House Resources Committee and the Bush Administration are working together to protect your right to ride.Ho hum, yet another Bush advertisement?
Not quite. It's actually "an aggressive mail campaign -- at taxpayer expense -- to promote the environmental work of President Bush and a few vulnerable committee members in recent months," sent by Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA), Chairman of the House Resources Committee.
Turns out that while there are restrictions on Congress members using their free postage priveleges 90 days before an election, there are no such restrictions on Congressional committees.
Not only has Pombo Pombo mailed fliers to 100,000 residents in Minnesota, Wisconsin and a few western states touting the president's push for snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park, but he's also given his staff a month's paid vacation right before the election.
(Lots of Congressional staffers head out on the campaign trail, but normally they use vacation time or leave-without-pay.
