Five U.S. senators sent a stern letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services on Tuesday, regarding its use of taxpayer funds to promote the new health care law to senior citizens.
The ad campaign is estimated to have cost upwards of $700,000. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was asked to immediately reimburse the U.S. Treasury for all expenses associated with the campaign.
In their letter to Secretary, Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Richard Burr of North Carolina, John McCain of Arizona, and John Thune of South Dakota said, “the ad is a clear violation of the spirit of federal laws that prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for campaign purposes. The justification for this ad, as expressed by Stephanie Cutter, an Assistant to the President, demonstrates the clear political motivation for the ad.”
Cutter had blogged that the administration planned to “correct the record” about the impact of the health care overhaul.
The senators further stated,
“The Administration’s claim to ‘correct the record’ is misleading and offensive. We can debate the relative merits of the new law, but co-opting public funds during a recession, to make a political, poll-tested argument about the new law, is wrong.
“While we understand the intensity of the Administration’s faith in this new law, ‘correcting the record’ through the use of a taxpayer-funded ad campaign is highly inappropriate and breaks with the spirit of the law.
“The job of the executive branch, quite simply, is to execute and implement the law, not re-litigate a political debate. Using the power of the state and the Treasury to advance the agenda of one political party is an abuse that should not be tolerated, regardless of which party is in power.”
Sebelius has until the close of business Thursday to respond.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read the entire letter from senators to Secretary Sebelius.
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