Bush's Drug Videos Broke Law, Accountability Office Decides

[rodeodance]

and there was also a story today posted on DU about NCLB (similar issue to this).
Who is holding the WH accountable? "ethics" violations keep coming out (see below), it gets a bit of a story in the news and it vanishes!!!!


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/national/07drug.html


January 7, 2005

Bush's Drug Videos Broke Law, Accountability Office Decides
By JOHN FILES

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 - 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. .....

[ixion]

1. hmmm... so how many ethics violations does it take

before one is considered unethical?

According to the MSM, that number appears to be infinite if you're a rethug, and 0 if you're anything else. :eyes:

[NYC]

4. Breaking the law is not just an ethics violation.

Will these people never be prosecuted?

[ixion]

7. good point

I stand corrected.

How many laws does one have to break before one is considered a lawbreaker?

Same answer applies. :-(

[NYC]

14. Yes, same answer.

But it was a good point, you have to admit. :)

I'm still hoping. Remember, it was during Nixon's second term that the feathers hit the fan. Keep your fingers crossed.

[jhain]

17. fingers crossed

mine have been crossed for so long it's a wonder I can type.
We NEED some jail time for these pigs.

[Child_Of_Isis]

23. Well, you know what they say about second terms...

scandals, scandals, scandals ;-)

[0007]

9. That is the complete picture of truth you just painted.

Yawn, Zzzzzzz

"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."

So what? Hitler & Stalin did it all the time, why not junior?

[YDogg]

2. It doesn't matter ...

... to those with the most power. And if this became an inconvenience, the rules will be changed to protect the guilty.

[Just Me]

3. This isn't the ONLY propaganda they've generated.

They also paid for advocacy of the "No Child Left Behind" act, apparently. I would be most interested in knowing how many people/companies they have paid to propagate their policies?

I'll betcha' they've illegally dished out a lotta' dough to pundits and "constituents". :bounce: Prolly even pay AEI to go on TV to spew propaganda.

[UpInArms]

5. I believe that they also have "economists" out there spouting

their lies - see today's Stock Market thread.

:argh:

[rodeodance]

11. how to difereniate the prop. from the real!! increasingly difficult

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Be Careful

I'm a trained econometric theorist, and when i wrote things that contradicted the Treasury department's company line, for several quarters in which they were telling the same fibs, i had people right here at DU tell me i was wrong, i didn't know what i was talking about, and that i always say the same thing. (Of course, i was saying the same thing because nothing actually changed in the economy. But, don't let facts get in the way of a good insult, i always say.)

You dispute the harlot economists at Treasury and someone will slam you good.
The Professor

[rodeodance]

6. WH pushes the envelope continuously and nothing of signifacance

ever happens. I know most know this-but ......it is just so maddening to me!!! day after day!!!

[sam sarrha]

10. Taxpayers Money please.. need to preface 'Taxpayer Dough' ..always

[Supersedeas]

8. got to love these POST-ELECTION decisions about Bush Campaign tactics

Not that anyone in the MSM will make the election connection.

Rove smiles.

[Dr Fate]

12. So Kerry, Hillary, Kennedy are all on TV calling Bush a "criminal", right?

And demanding a full investigation, including putting Karl Rove & Bush under oath, right?

And they followed it up with "Who else in the media are they controlling, perhaps you, Wolf?

Opps- I forgot- the DEM "strategy" is that it is "too Radical" to tell the truth about Republicans.

If this were Clinton, Gore or Kerry- every top household named Republican would be on TV calling them "criminals" and rightfully demanding an investigation.

But then again,Republicans are not afraid to fight like most DEMS are.

[kwolf68]

18. Wrong :)

As long as the AssClown at 1600 is "investing" our tax money (how can you do this if you cut all taxes) in private corporations in the way of propaganda (err, advertisements) then it's not considered criminal.

[Dr Fate]

21. Yup.

The media will not admit to being paid off, and DEMS are too chickenshit to turn it into a well-known household issue- so it may as well be legal.

this would be a perfect oppurtunity for DEMS to start building a public case against Bush/media- but they will fail- in two days- a week, max, this story will be forgotten.

[catmandu57]

13. Slip sliding into the dictatorship

when you're above the law and make changes to suit yourself at any time and without repercussion, just what is that style of governance called?

[pdxmom]

16. They keep doing it and keep getting away with it

The other thread on paying Armstrong Williams to promote No Child Left Behind is just another example of this administration using propoganda paid for by MY tax dollars. This has to be stopped. It's so frustrating to see how this happens over and over and it's just ignored by the media and the general public.

[kwolf68]

20. They do it because

There is no opposition party in this nation anymore. The Democrats have been rendered impotent and they will challenge nothing this band of thugs does because they have a mental construct that says the only way to succeed is to “be nice”. Damned the truth.

A party in power only exercises supreme arrogance (like this one) to do whatever crooked thing it wants to do when three things are not happening…#1) Opposition is ineffective, #2) The media and true investigative journalism no longer exists. Or 3…BOTH of the above.

[LynnTheDem]

19. And bushCo did the same when they paid $240,000 re No Child Left Behind

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1129454

[leesa]

22. So What? Bush breaks a multitude of laws every day.