Tag Archives: Mike Johnson

Can a GOP Congressman Really Use Taxpayer $$$ to Ad-tack Joe Biden?

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads, 

There I was, minding my own business and scrolling through Punchbowl News AM, when I came across this item from reporter Max Cohen about a new TV spot attacking Joe Biden and his family.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) is running a campaign ad touting his impeachment work through his spot on the House Oversight Committee.

Fallon says in the ad that the panel is “leading the charge to investigate Hunter Biden, the Biden family and the alleged payments they received from foreign countries.” It’s an interesting example of how lawmakers are messaging on the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden back home. Even more interesting — this ad was paid for with taxpayer money, not campaign dollars.

What the hell, Doc – I have to pony up for this guy’s political benefit? No way I ever signed up for that.

– Fallon Angles

Dear FA,

Seems crazy, right? Your tax dollars at work promoting Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Taxes) and the GOP’s evidence-free impeachment inquiry, an endeavor so ham-handed it belongs in a Hormel processing plant.

Here’s what you bought and paid for.

Two things of note in this TV spot spewing unfounded allegations against Joe Biden and his family: 1) Fallon is “sick and tired of politicians thinking that they’re above the law,” and 2) The ad is “Paid for by Official Funds Authorized by the House of Representatives.”

Then again, maybe not so authorized.

Guidelines from the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Ethics include a General Prohibition Against Using Official Resources for Campaign or Political Purposes: “Official resources of the House must, as a general rule, be used for the performance of official business of the House, and hence those resources may not be used for campaign or political purposes.”

Campaign or political  purposes are absolutely the objective of Fallon’s TV spot, given that he’s running for reelection to the House after launching a bid for Texas Senate that lasted all of 24 hours and two Come-to-Jesus conversations, as the Texas Tribute noted.

The Doc’s diagnosis: Pat Fallon is hardly a guy you’d look to for clear-eyed, resolute guidance on ethical issues. He should at least have the decency not to use taxpayer funds to demonstrate that.

How Soon Will Dems Launch Ads Against MAGA Mike Johnson? Oh, Wait . . .

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads, 

There I was, minding my own business and scrolling through yesterday’s edition of Punchbowl News AM, when I came across this item about the new House Speaker, Mike Johnson (R-Trump Won).

Of course, Democrats are already hitting vulnerable GOP incumbents over their vote to elevate Johnson to the speakership. Expect plenty of campaign ads tying endangered incumbents to Johnson’s socially conservative views.

Here’s where that link takes you (Max Cohen is Punchbowl’s Congressional reporter).

That’s not an ad, though, is it, Doc? What else you got?

– GOPsmacked

Dear G-Smack,

About six hours after that Punchbowl newsletter hit emailboxes,  The Daily Beast’s Riley Rogerson updated this report from the previous day.

Dems Turn Mike Johnson’s First Viral Moment Into Anti-GOP Ad

When House Republicans held an impromptu press conference late Tuesday night to celebrate coalescing around their new speaker nominee, they were in no mood to answer tough questions—or even the obvious one.

So when ABC reporter Rachel Scott asked Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA)—the speaker nominee who has now been elevated to the speakership—about his leading efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Republicans were having none of it.

They drowned out the reporter with boos. Johnson said “next question.” And Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) told the reporter to “shut up!”

Now, a D.C.-based advocacy group, Courage For America, is seizing on the moment to attack Republicans and quickly define the new speaker.

First, let’s have a look at the Grand Old Partiers’ Shut Up Caucus, via North Carolina’s News & Observer.

The Courage for America ad buy is a mere $20,000 – just enough to get news media coverage – while targeting 11 New York Republicans: Reps. Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino, George Santos, Anthony D’Esposito, Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Elise Stefanik, Brandon Williams, Nick Langworthy, and Claudia Tenney.

For an even more harrowing view of the Mike Johnson Experience, check out this Popular Information colonoscopy from Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, and Rebecca Crosby. (Johnson is also Bess Levin’s latest chew toy at Vanity Fair.)

The Doc’s diagnosis? This fever ain’t gonna break anytime soon.