For a country that allegedly values free speech, there certainly are a lot of conflicting rules about what member of the U.S. House can say to their constituents in franked mail.
If you’re a member of the Senate, you can say “Merry Christmas” in your constituent mail. If you’re in the House, the rules are different.
A franking commission spokesman confirmed to The Washington Examiner that Members of Congress indeed cannot wish constituents “Merry Christmas” in any official mailing.
“Currently, incidental use of the phrase Happy Holidays is permissible but Merry Christmas is not,” said Salley Wood.
Even if we’re going to keep the current coercive state around, I’d be happy to get rid of the franking privilege. That’s the perk that allows members of Congress to send out pretty much any mail they want without paying for it. Have you ever gotten something from your congressman and noticed his signature instead of a stamp? That’s what that’s all about.
But if we’re going to have franking, let the folks say whatever they want as long as they’re not campaigning on our nickel. If they want to tell people Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or whatever makes them happy — or whatever they think the voters want to hear, more likely — let them. It’s silly to pretend that wishing someone Merry Christmas is somehow establishing religion in violation of the First Amendment.
I don’t care if what greeting people use at holidays. I don’t care if they use any greeting at all. But if people want to say Merry Christmas, let them. It’s political correctness run amuck to dictate the content of the greeting.