Roll Call reports that Democrats have been veto-ing the use of the word “Obamacare” in official constituent mailings by members of Congress:
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“You know, if it was popular they’d be all about calling it Obamacare,” another Republican source added.
The use of public dollars to communicate with constituents — the “franking privilege” — is governed by a bipartisan commission that is supposed to keep everyone honest, and this is why Democrats wield their veto over Obamacare. But talk to just about any congressional staffer and you’ll understand right away that it is and always has been an important campaign tool — a form of political welfare for incumbents.
One other amusing item in this piece is New York Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s attempt to explain his aversion to the term. It’s a pejorative, “for no particular reason,” he said, adding that Republicans were trying to use Obama’s unpopularity to make the bill unpopular as well:
That kind of sounds like the opposite of the lesson of Election 2010.
