Bennett Slams Dent Over Congressional Mailers . . . Again

Does LV congressional candidate Sam Bennett think we all have bad memories?

On August 13, I published a Bennett news release complaining about a "6-page, color, glossy 'energy update'" that Congressman Charlie Dent mailed to constituents "just outside of the 90-day window before an election where members of Congress are not allowed to use their taxpayer-funded mailing privileges."

Her beef was that tax dollars, instead of campaign funds, paid for it.

Congressman Dent defended the practice when I interviewed him.

"The format of this newsletter is no different than any other newsletter I've ever sent out. It is approved by the Franking Commission. It is informational. I've noticed that [Republican] Chris Hackett, who is running against [Democratic] Representative Carney up in Northeastern Pennsylvania was attacked for the same thing. I'm waiting for Bennett's charge that Congressman Carney has done the same thing that I've done. There's a little hypocrisy there.

"I received very positive feedback from a number of people. Just yesterday, someone came up to me and said this was one of the best energy updates ..."

The challenger claims it's an unfair advantage. The incumbent explains it's legitimate constituent outreach. Story over, right?

Wrong.

On Sunday, the Bennett camp issued a news release that complains again. Here it is.

ALLENTOWN – While continuing his personal smear campaign against Democratic congressional candidate Sam Bennett, Republican Charles Dent got busted for spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on his election year political mail by The Morning Call.

Dent was recently criticized for his 6-page, color, glossy “energy update,” which he rushed out just before the 90-day deadline under the Congressional “franked-mail privilege.”

“Talk about money wasted. With all that mail, it’s no wonder Dent’s only two legislative accomplishments in four years are renaming post offices,” says Gary Ritterstein, Bennett Communications Director. “He should give back that money to help pay down the budget deficit he votes for and send the bill to Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Lobbyists that give him hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Dent spent just $722.51 on mail from his congressional office in 2007, a non-election year, according to the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. But according to Morning Call's Pennsylvania Ave. Blog, he’s spent $22,320 just this election year.

“Sorry Charlie, you can run on your rhetoric, but you can’t hide from your record,” says Bennett. ”To change the way Washington works, we’ll have to change who works in Washington.“

According to Josh Drobnyk's very informative blog, Dent is ranked 11th of 19 Pennsylvania House members in spending on franked mail. Five of the ten Pa. Congressmen who spend more than Dent are Democrats.

Dent campaign manager Shawn Millan has this response to Bennett's latest accusations.

"Like a poor marksman, Sam Bennett and her hired Washington help keep missing their target. However, her wild shots have managed to hit: Joe Sestak, Jason Altmire, Mike Doyle, the embattled Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney all of whom have spent more if not twice as much as Charlie on legislative mailings. Like the charity-scamming hypocrite she is, however, she mentions not a word about her fellow Democrats, meaning this is just another baseless press release from a campaign with no base in the 15th District.

"It is interesting that Sam continues to openly and blatantly lie regarding Charlie’s legislative accomplishments. For example, Charlie’s bill that would allow the Civil Air Patrol to provide aerial surveillance to aid Border Patrol officials passed the House easily with broad bipartisan support. Of course, if Sam Bennett mentioned border security she would also have to mention that she supports full amnesty for people in this country illegally."