With $500k warchest, Mica uses taxes for mailer

Tax dollars paid for Congressman John L. Mica to mail out a four-page letter touting his accomplishments, so, since he is running for re-election, a Central Florida television reporter asked Representative Mica if this was his way of using tax dollars to campaign.

According to the report, 100,000 letters were mailed to voters in the District; costing taxpayers nearly $45,000. The Federal Election Commission reports that Mica’s campaign has $500,000 in cash on-hand; while his Democratic opponent, Wesley Neuman, only has $4,000 in campaign funds available.

“Politicians on both sides of the aisle send out letters to their constituents,” Mica explained. “I only have one opportunity to contact my constituents, this is that one opportunity.”

A quote for Mica’s letter says, “Wasteful federal spending … cannot be tolerated”.

When questioned about the value of the mailing, Mica defended use of the letters, saying that they aren’t fancy, don’t have graphics or pictures, and were approved by Democrats. A disclosure printed on the mailing says, “This mailing was prepared, published, and mailed at taxpayer expense.”

Mica insists that he only sends the letters once a year to keep the people who elected him informed. “These are just the facts; information about the projects I’ve been working on,” Mica told reporters. “The successes from some of these projects get covered by the media, some do not.”