Cheryl Seal
White House Finally caught using Taxpayer $ to Buy Media
Sat Oct 1, 2005 17:53
205.188.117.65
TOP OF AN UGLY ICEBERG: Bush Admin. Caught Using Taxpayer $ to Buy Media
Everyone has known it and no one in the mainstream media save one or two have have had the guts to admit it: The Bush administration and its NeoCon pals own the US media. Now, finally, a trickle of justice has leaked out as the General Accounting Office admitted one instance of this graft. Of course, it's just case so far - the tip of a big fat ugly iceberg that has nearly turned America in to the Titantic. And, coming from the Bush GAO, I can't help wondering if this is one of those classic Bushie "bait and switch" defenses: admit to, and widely publicize, one minor offense as a way to create a smokescreen for the BIG CRIMES in the same area. This is even more suspicious as the story was broken by the "New York Times," which has long been on the White House "news payroll."
What I really WANT to see is a list of names of reporters, anchors, editors, and producers who have accepted money, favors, and/or orders from the White House. It's time to "kick ass and take names!"
>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.
The contract with Mr. Williams and the general contours of the public relations campaign had been known for months. The report Friday provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities.
Lawyers from the accountability office, an independent nonpartisan arm of Congress, found that the administration systematically analyzed news articles to see if they carried the message, "The Bush administration/the G.O.P. is committed to education."
The auditors declared: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds."
The report also sharply criticized the Education Department for telling Ketchum Inc., a public relations company, to pay Mr. Williams for newspaper columns and television appearances praising Mr. Bush's education initiative, the No Child Left Behind Act.
When that arrangement became public, it set off widespread criticism. At a news conference in January, Mr. Bush said: "We will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet."
But the Education Department has since defended its payments to Mr. Williams, saying his commentaries were "no more than the legitimate dissemination of information to the public."
The G.A.O. said the Education Department had no money or authority to "procure favorable commentary in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition" in federal law.
The ruling comes with no penalty, but under federal law the department is supposed to report the violations to the White House and Congress.
In the course of its work, the accountability office discovered a previously undisclosed instance in which the Education Department had commissioned a newspaper article. The article, on the "declining science literacy of students," was distributed by the North American Precis Syndicate and appeared in numerous small newspapers around the country. Readers were not informed of the government's role in the writing of the article, which praised the department's role in promoting science education.
The auditors denounced a prepackaged television story disseminated by the Education Department. The segment, a "video news release" narrated by a woman named Karen Ryan, said that President Bush's program for providing remedial instruction and tutoring to children "gets an A-plus."
Ms. Ryan also narrated two videos praising the new Medicare drug benefit last year. In those segments, as in the education video, the narrator ended by saying, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."
The television news segments on education and on Medicare did not state that they had been prepared and distributed by the government. The G.A.O. did not say how many stations carried the reports.
The public relations efforts came to light weeks before Margaret Spellings became education secretary in January. Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the secretary, said on Friday that Ms. Spellings regarded the efforts as "stupid, wrong and ill-advised." She said Ms. Spellings had taken steps "to ensure these types of missteps don't happen again."
The investigation by the accountability office was requested by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, both Democrats. Mr. Lautenberg expressed concern about a section of the report in which investigators said they could not find records to confirm that Mr. Williams had performed all the activities for which he billed the government.
For the rest see:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/politics/01educ.html?hp&ex=1128225600&en=ed2345e1f9cc06db&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Everyone has known it and no one in the mainstream media save one or two have have had the guts to admit it: The Bush administration and its NeoCon pals own the US media. Now, finally, a trickle of justice has leaked out as the General Accounting Office admitted one instance of this graft. Of course, it's just case so far - the tip of a big fat ugly iceberg that has nearly turned America in to the Titantic. And, coming from the Bush GAO, I can't help wondering if this is one of those classic Bushie "bait and switch" defenses: admit to, and widely publicize, one minor offense as a way to create a smokescreen for the BIG CRIMES in the same area. This is even more suspicious as the story was broken by the "New York Times," which has long been on the White House "news payroll."
What I really WANT to see is a list of names of reporters, anchors, editors, and producers who have accepted money, favors, and/or orders from the White House. It's time to "kick ass and take names!"
>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.
The contract with Mr. Williams and the general contours of the public relations campaign had been known for months. The report Friday provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities.
Lawyers from the accountability office, an independent nonpartisan arm of Congress, found that the administration systematically analyzed news articles to see if they carried the message, "The Bush administration/the G.O.P. is committed to education."
The auditors declared: "We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds."
The report also sharply criticized the Education Department for telling Ketchum Inc., a public relations company, to pay Mr. Williams for newspaper columns and television appearances praising Mr. Bush's education initiative, the No Child Left Behind Act.
When that arrangement became public, it set off widespread criticism. At a news conference in January, Mr. Bush said: "We will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet."
But the Education Department has since defended its payments to Mr. Williams, saying his commentaries were "no more than the legitimate dissemination of information to the public."
The G.A.O. said the Education Department had no money or authority to "procure favorable commentary in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition" in federal law.
The ruling comes with no penalty, but under federal law the department is supposed to report the violations to the White House and Congress.
In the course of its work, the accountability office discovered a previously undisclosed instance in which the Education Department had commissioned a newspaper article. The article, on the "declining science literacy of students," was distributed by the North American Precis Syndicate and appeared in numerous small newspapers around the country. Readers were not informed of the government's role in the writing of the article, which praised the department's role in promoting science education.
The auditors denounced a prepackaged television story disseminated by the Education Department. The segment, a "video news release" narrated by a woman named Karen Ryan, said that President Bush's program for providing remedial instruction and tutoring to children "gets an A-plus."
Ms. Ryan also narrated two videos praising the new Medicare drug benefit last year. In those segments, as in the education video, the narrator ended by saying, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."
The television news segments on education and on Medicare did not state that they had been prepared and distributed by the government. The G.A.O. did not say how many stations carried the reports.
The public relations efforts came to light weeks before Margaret Spellings became education secretary in January. Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the secretary, said on Friday that Ms. Spellings regarded the efforts as "stupid, wrong and ill-advised." She said Ms. Spellings had taken steps "to ensure these types of missteps don't happen again."
The investigation by the accountability office was requested by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, both Democrats. Mr. Lautenberg expressed concern about a section of the report in which investigators said they could not find records to confirm that Mr. Williams had performed all the activities for which he billed the government.
For the rest see:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/politics/01educ.html?hp&ex=1128225600&en=ed2345e1f9cc06db&ei=5094&partner=homepage
- AMERICA UNDER THE IMPERIAL ROMAN EAGLE —Dorothy A. Seese, Sun Oct 2 03:54
- Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal —TRUTHOUT, Sat Oct 1 23:05
- GOP Caught in Phony Poll in VT Senate race —Cheryl, Sat Oct 1 18:07
- Bush Approval Rating Rises to 40% From 38%, Newsweek Poll —Kerry Dooley Young, Sun Oct 2 02:03
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