Rep. Peters might have broken rules

One Democratic lawmaker was a little too pointed in his Jim Bunning-bashing and may have violated House franking rules.

Democrats for days have blasted away at Sen. Bunning’s (R-Ky.) obstruction of an extension of unemployment benefits to millions of jobless Americans.

{mosads}In a Feb. 26 press release, Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) blasted Bunning for essentially kicking hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents off the unemployment roles.

“This failure is bad for many across the country, but it’s especially hard on Michigan,” Peters said in the release. “I’ve spoken with parents who are trying hard but [have been] unable to find work and are struggling to keep their heads above water, and this could be the blow that sends them over the edge. The partisanship and dysfunction that led to this failure shows that the process in the Senate is broken.”

Peters then took the release one step too far: He called on “everyone who cares about this issue” to call Bunning’s office, and provided the number.

“Jim Bunning may have thrown a no-hitter for the Tigers, but the fact that he’s now shutting out Michigan families when they need it most is unacceptable,” Peters continued in the release.

House franking rules bar members from using press releases for “grassroots lobbying or soliciting support for a member’s position on a legislative, public policy or community issue,” according to House regulations on the use of the franking privilege.

Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, said language in the release urging people to call Bunning and giving out his number would be “reasonably interpreted” as violating the franking rules.

“It strikes me that this is probably an inadvertent violation, but it would be worthwhile to have the Franking Commission … make clear and give guidance if this kind of exhortation is acceptable,” she said.

Peters spokesman Cullen Schwarz said he didn’t know that the release violated a rule and has since removed it from Peters’s website. But, he said, his boss remains vehemently opposed to Bunning’s roadblock and doesn’t regret trying to fight it.

“Our office has been inundated with calls and letters from constituents asking what they could do to help end this gridlock, and suggesting people call the person who was responsible for it seemed logical,” Schwarz said in a statement. “While our office regrets that we did not know this violated a rule, Congressman Peters does not regret fighting on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Michigan families for whom Sen. Bunning continues to cause unnecessary uncertainty and pain.”