A memo has been issued to Members of the House of Representatives stating Merry Christmas not allowed. Anything in official mail cannot have this greeting because the mailings are paid for by tax dollars.
While this may sound initially like an anti-Christmas campaign, it makes sense. Official mail is sent by an authorized department of government, governmental agency or international organization. This mail usually has a return address and some sort of sign that it is official.
Fox News reported that members who send official mailings for review by the congressional franking commission which checks all congressional mail to decide if it can be franked. Franked mail is paid for with tax dollars so the reps are being told that no holiday greetings, includingMerry Christmas can be sent.
The franking manual recommends;
"You may make reference to the season as a whole using language along the lines of 'Have a safe and happy holiday season.' It may only be incidental to the piece rather than the primary purpose of the communication."
What this all means, is that the representatives cannot use the Constitutional Franking system to send any Merry Christmas greeting that could be perceived as an advocacy for their re-election.
So confusing right? Do you think this is fair or American-like? This will stir up controversy without a doubt, but if tax dollars are being used to frank the mailings it would be unfair. If you receive a card from a U.S. House of Representatives that says Merry Christmas (and it is franked) then you know they will also be getting coal in their stockings from Santa!
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Comments: 17
How would devoted Christians feel if their tax money was used by politicians to send out "Happy Ramadan" letters? Oh, there'd be some screamin'!
So yeah, let's just use our tax dollars for gov't business and if our Reps want to send out Christmas cards, they can use their own dollars. Heaven knows they can afford it.