In tomorrow’s column I explore state Sen. Greg Ball’s version of public campaign financing. Here’s how it works: the taxpayers fund the Putnam County Republican’s campaign-style mailings using the New York state Senate franking privilege, and his opponent has to pay his own way. Ball’s mailings to households in northern Westchester and Putnam, done on the taxpayer’s dime, have grown to look more and more campaign pamphlets. A Republican consultant from New Jersey says Ball’s recent round of mailings were the “most outrageous” he’d ever seen.
