Bush Payoffs Deemed Illegal
October 4, 2005
Washington, DC - In yet another publicized rebuke of the Republicans' culture of corruption in Washington, DC, the non-partisan General Accounting Office on Friday said the Bush Administration violated federal law when it funded a "covert propaganda" campaign to promote their No Child Left Behind legislation. These measures included paying Armstrong Williams, a noted conservative columnist, to endorse Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative, and the creation of a news video release, which looks very similar to regular news reports. Bush's Department of Education was also warned about hiring a public relations firm to track news reports on Republican education policies. [Bloomberg, 10/1/05; AP, 9/30/05]
In most administrations, a non-partisan account of illegal activity by the White House would be big news. But in this Bush White House, it gets lost among the reports about arrested White House procurement officials and ongoing investigations involving the White House deputy chief of staff and the Vice President's chief of staff.
"The rampant Republican culture of corruption in Washington has now led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on propaganda instead of on programs to benefit our nation's schools. The Bush Education Department's decision to spend taxpayer dollars on propaganda is another unfortunate chapter in the culture of corruption," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Josh Earnest. "Educating our kids should be a top priority - this is yet another example of why we need to change the way business is done in D.C."
