Bridenstine Budgets Big For Social Media
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer on Aug 5, 2013
Among the most venerable of congressional perks is the franking privilege.
Franking allows sitting members to crank out a steady stream of postcards, letters and pseudo-surveys ostensibly intended to inform constituents and encourage feedback. More than anything, though, they are designed to remind voters who represents them in Washington – and to do it at taxpayer expense.
U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., has not sent out a single mass mailing since taking office in January. Nor, he says, is he likely to. Instead, the 1st District congressman is taking that share of his office and operations allowance and spending it on social media.
To what extent this trend will spread is hard to say. But it is spreading, in no small part due to the influence of party leadership.