January 2005 Archives
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Newspaper, not Bush Admin, reveals another contract between Administration and media commentator
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Post today reported that syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher had two contracts – one for $21,500, the other for $20,000 – with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at the same time that she was promoting a Bush initiative on marriage in her columns. Gallagher never disclosed her payments from the Bush Administration in her columns but has now indicated that she should have.
“Despite repeated calls by Democrats in Congress for the Bush Administration to disclose all unethical and possibly illegal contracts between columnists and the government, it took a newspaper reporter to uncover the latest incident,” said Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee.
“The Administration has not only shown a pattern of misleading the public by using these contracts, but even now – when confronted with hard evidence – it is refusing to tell the public or Congress the truth about the full extent of its use of covert propaganda.
“While we have asked for the GAO and inspectors general at different agencies to investigate these incidents, what we really need right now is for the Administration to come clean about its propaganda campaign. The Administration should disclose all publicly funded contracts signed with journalists, commentators and public relations firms to promote Administration policies.
“The Bush Administration has refused to disclose the full extent of its use of widespread propaganda. It has not apologized to American taxpayers for wasting their money. And it has not apologized to American voters for mocking our democracy. It doesn’t even appear to recognize how very wrong these practices are,” said Miller.
Earlier this month, USA Today revealed that the Bush Administration had paid a conservative commentator $241,000 to promote the President’s No Child Left Behind law. And in two separate reports, the Government Accountability Office determined that the Bush Administration’s use of “video news releases,” taped segments distributed to local television stations to promote drug and health policies, was illegal.
Posted by Intern, CA07 at 10:04PM | Comments ()
Use of PR contracts more than doubled under Bush, report finds
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Raising new questions about the full extent of the use of covert propaganda by the Bush Administration, Democratic lawmakers released a report today showing that contracting with public relations firms has doubled under the Bush Administration. The lawmakers also introduced legislation intended to eliminate the use of covert propaganda by the federal government. Rep. George Miller, the Chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, was one of the lawmakers to request the report and sponsor the legislation.
“The Bush Administration has unfortunately chosen to make deception its trademark. That is bad enough. But even worse, it is now clear that the Administration has consistently misused taxpayer dollars to mislead the public and undermine our democracy,” said Miller.
The report, prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Government Reform Committee at the request of several top House Democrats, shows that the Bush Administration spent $88 million on contracts with major public relations agencies in 2004, up from $39 million in 2000, the last year of the Clinton Administration.
From 2001 to 2004, the Bush Administration spent over $250 million on contracts with major PR firms. Miller noted that, while some PR contracts are appropriate – for example, when they educate the public about health or consumer risks – the Bush Administration has repeatedly signed contracts with PR firms that include the illegal and unethical use of covert propaganda.
To put a stop to covert propaganda, Miller today cosponsored a bill introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) that would increase Congressional oversight of the federal government’s contracts with PR firms, require that advertisements and all public communications paid for by the federal government prominently indicate their federal funding source, and make permanent the U.S. code prohibitions against publicity and propaganda. Violations could be subject to administrative or criminal penalties.
“The Bush Administration is clearly trying to distort the public’s understanding of major policy issues by paying media commentators to talk about them. And of course, when Administration officials get caught, no one is held accountable. Our bill will force the Administration to take responsibility.”
The other lawmakers who requested the report were Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, and Reps. Henry Waxman, John Dingell, David Obey, Charles Rangel, Louise Slaughter, Bennie Thompson, and DeLauro.
Earlier this month, USA Today revealed that the Bush Administration had paid a conservative commentator $241,000 to promote the President’s No Child Left Behind law. And in two separate reports, the Government Accountability Office determined that the Bush Administration’s use of “video news releases,” taped segments distributed to local television stations to promote drug and health policies, was illegal.
Posted by Intern, CA07 at 10:00PM | Comments ()
Education programs the latest casualty of underfunding of National Parks, says Miller
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thousands of California children are turned away from National Park education programs each year because the National Park Service has insufficient funding and staff to meet the demand, according to a new report released today by the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), a member of the House Resources Committee and the panel’s former chairman, issued this statement today about the NPCA report:
“This important new report documents yet another casualty of the perennial underfunding of the National Parks Service. Because of a lack of federal investment, Yosemite, one of the NPS’ crown jewels, has been forced to cut its interpretive staff from five to one. And in recent years, Sequoia Kings Canyon has been forced to turn away almost 50 percent of the students and teachers who requested to be part of educational programs in the park. When the parks’ budgets are cut so severely that these kinds of changes are required, something is seriously wrong with our priorities. Parks offer invaluable educational opportunities, and schoolchildren in California and across the country should not be denied access to them.”
Posted by Intern, CA07 at 09:56PM | Comments ()
