GAO rules Bush administration illegally used taxpayer funds to distribute "Covert Propaganda"!
Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal - New York Times:
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 - Federal auditors said on Friday that the Bush administration violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.
In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.
posted by Gary Brownlee @ 7:02 AM
4 Comments:
So now we are paying to screw ourselves. Lovely.
Feels good don't it :)
the difference between you and me is that i believe that if it's done, no matter what party is responsible, they should be held accountable, whereas it appears that if it's a republican that does it it's fine by you. and if you're able you can email me the last instance of the general accounting office ruling that an administration had illegally used taxpayer funds to disseminate covert propoganda. and i'm not talking about fox news either.
Armstrong Williams was paid $186,000 by the Dept. of Education which was funneled through Ketchum, Inc to produce radio shows, television shows and newspaper columns under his own name touting the greatness of "no child left behind".
Also, they created and distributed to small television stations throughout the country news spots with actors playing reporters that were glowingly positive spots about "no child left behind". A lot of stations just ran the spots as if they were regular news bits. In both of these cases it was never mentioned that these were government produced spots and Armstrong Williams never wrote or said anything about the government paying him to push their product.
I agree with you totally about the budgets. The highway bill is disgusting as is the energy bill and the medicaide law.
We also agree that politicians are apt to waste money. That's why I think it's very very important that we stay informed about things and call them on it when it's done and demand that it be stopped.
Where we probably don't agree is that I think that this administration is the worst in the countries history in every single area: the economy, the budget, foreign policy, the military, the environment, you name it. Everything they touch they fuck up royally. It's astounding the damage they've manage to inflict on us all in just a few short years. In every instance when they've had the opportunity, they've chosen, instead of doing what's best for the country as a whole, to do what's in the best interest of their big contributors, which almost always makes the lives of average Americans harder. People like your mom and dad and the rest of our family.
But, I have a feeling that their whole house of cards will soon come crashing down around them, exposing them all for what they really are. Stay tuned!
Post a Comment
<< Home