more illegal propaganda paid for by our tax dollars!

From AOL :

Bush Administration Paid Commentator to Promote Law

(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."
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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."
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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.

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Damn, that "liberal media" is at it again!!!!! Just incredible! But i guess i shouldn't be surprised. The ultra-conservative media (almost all of it) has been spouting bush's press releases as news ever since 9/11. Truly disgusting....Will we EVER hear real, unbiased news again?! Is there ANY law that this administration has NOT broken?! Such scum!


Interestingly bizarre aside to this story is a comment on freerepublic:

This is the perfect story to trot out next time the Dems try to increase taxes.
This guy is prominent?
If they have money for this they have money for a lot of other stuff they complain about all the time.
Sheesh.

Somehow he is so confused that he thinks that our complaint against the BUSH administration illegally paying someone to pretend that bush propagand is news is an indictment of dems!!!