posted on January 7, 2005 08:40:16 PM new
And the clinton legacy lives on. Long time in coming but finally another indictment handed down for a clinton operative.
posted on January 7, 2005 08:55:59 PM new
Bush Administration Paid Commentator to Promote Law
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
(Jan. 7) - Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical, but "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in."
The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers' money" that is "probably illegal." He said he will ask his Republican counterpart to join him in requesting an investigation.
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America's Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey's manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
Williams said he does not recall disclosing the contract to audiences on the air but told colleagues about it when urging them to promote NCLB.
"I respect Mr. Williams' statement that this is something he believes in," said Bob Steele, a media ethics expert at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. "But I would suggest that his commitment to that belief is best exercised through his excellent professional work rather than through contractual obligations with outsiders who are, quite clearly, trying to influence content."
The contract may be illegal "because Congress has prohibited propaganda," or any sort of lobbying for programs funded by the government, said Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "And it's propaganda."
White House spokesman Trent Duffy said he couldn't comment because the White House is not involved in departments' contracts.
Ketchum referred questions to the Education Department, whose spokesman, John Gibbons, said the contract followed standard government procedures. He said there are no plans to continue with "similar outreach."
Williams' contract was part of a $1 million deal with Ketchum that produced "video news releases" designed to look like news reports. The Bush administration used similar releases last year to promote its Medicare prescription drug plan, prompting a scolding from the Government Accountability Office, which called them an illegal use of taxpayers' dollars.
Williams, 45, a former aide to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is one of the top black conservative voices in the nation. He hosts The Right Side on TV and radio, and writes op-ed pieces for newspapers, including USA TODAY, while running a public relations firm, Graham Williams Group.
posted on January 7, 2005 08:58:56 PM new
Bush's drug videos broke law, accountability office decides
By John Files, New York Times
WASHINGTON - The Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said on Thursday that the Bush administration violated federal law by producing and distributing television news segments about the effects of drug use among young people.
The accountability office said the videos "constitute covert propaganda" because the government was not identified as the source of the materials, which were distributed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. They were broadcast by nearly 300 television stations and reached 22 million households, the office said.
The accountability office does not have law enforcement powers, but its decisions on federal spending are usually considered authoritative.
In May the office found that the Bush administration had violated the same law by producing television news segments that portrayed the new Medicare law as a boon to the elderly.
The accountability office was not critical of the content of the video segments from the White House drug office, but found that the format - a made-for-television "story package" - violated the prohibition on using taxpayer money for propaganda.
Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, the senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee, who requested the review, said the use of the mock news segments broke "a fundamental principle of open government."
A spokesman for the drug policy office said the review's conclusions made a "mountain out of a molehill."
The spokesman, Tom Riley, noted that Congress had authorized the drug policy office to fashion antidrug messages in motion pictures and television programming and on the Internet. His office stopped distributing the antidrug videos after the G.A.O. report on the Medicare segments, Mr. Riley said, and never acted unlawfully.
The drug policy office told investigators that it would have been difficult for "a reasonable broadcaster" to mistake the videos for independent news reports.
But the G.A.O. said the drug policy office "made it impossible for the targeted viewing audience to ascertain that these stories were produced by the government."
Federal law prohibits the use of federal money for "publicity or propaganda purposes" not authorized by Congress. The accountability office has found that federal agencies violated this restriction when they distributed editorials and newspaper articles written by government officials without identifying them.
The accountability office said the administration's misuse of federal money "also constitutes a violation of the Antideficiency Act," which prohibits spending in excess of appropriations.
posted on January 7, 2005 09:07:24 PM new
LOL - Can't find any defense of these actions....when it's only a continuation of the clinton's MO.
"During former President Clinton's administration, a Justice Department campaign finance task force charged more than two dozen individuals and two corporations with fund-raising abuses from the 1996 election cycle. Many of the charges involved Democratic fund raising.
In addition to his Clinton effort, Rosen has raised money for several other high-profile Democratic candidates, including former presidential hopeful Wesley Clark. Most recently, he was named to the fund-raising team of Donnie Fowler, a candidate for the Democratic National Committee chairmanship.
---
Maybe you two have a 'list' of all the indictments anyone in the present Bush administration have been indicted for?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four More Years....YES!!!
posted on January 7, 2005 09:53:45 PM new
And part of Bush's legacy will be....
Minutes of Silence That Should Live in Infamy: As Americans Leapt to Their Deaths
from the Twin Towers, George W. Bush Sat Cluelessly in a Florida Classroom ...
posted on January 7, 2005 11:41:02 PM new
Maggie, it's just linduh's pathetic answer to my post pointing out bush's appointing that scumbag Gonzales.
There's no answer to that so she jumps back to Clinton....like that has something to do with it...????
posted on January 8, 2005 05:28:29 AM new
Linda is still upset that Bill Clinton was Governor in the state that she lives in. I do not think Linda was to happy when a library was built in Clinton's honor in her state as well.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on January 8, 2005 07:19:41 AM new
LOL - At all the things you believe 'righties' think clinton was responsibile for. Your words...I haven't seen anyone here make any of those accusations. What you guys have problems accepting are just how many of the clinton people WERE indicted...and that in our current events...these people being indicted worked for the clintons. That's the reality folks....whether you joke about it or not. A VERY corrupt group.
And part of Bush's legacy will be...
LOL maggie.....few are as 'bothered' by what went on during those [what?] seven minutes...but see and appreciate how he dealt with the 9-11 aftermath. History will be very kind to this President. No impeachments, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four More Years....YES!!!
posted on January 8, 2005 10:44:58 AM newbut see and appreciate how he dealt with the 9-11 aftermath.
Yes Bush attacked a country that was not responsible for 9-11.
Failed to keep his promise about finding Bin Laden. What was it he said after the 9-11 attacks. Oh yeah "We will hunt them down and smoke them out of their caves". Over three years later and the man responsible has yet to be captured.
How many people have been indicted and charged for their roles in the 9/11 attacks here in the United States?
How many people has Bush rounded up and kept in prison for 3 years without failing to charge them or release them?
Bush didn't want the Department of Homeland Security. Then only have be persauded by the public and members of Congress did he change his mind.
Bush did not want the 9/11 Commission. But changed his mind for the same reasons.
Bush did want want an intelligence Czar but changed his mind for the same reason.
Some legacy this president will have had.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
Long time in coming but finally another indictment handed down for a clinton operative. 
