We have three; do I hear four?
One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, “Ethics & Religion,” appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed.
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[Dr. Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at HHS] says McManus, who could not be reached for comment, was paid approximately $10,000 for his work as a subcontractor to the Lewin Group, a health care consultancy hired by HHS to implement the Community Healthy Marriage Initiative, which encourages communities to combat divorce through education and counseling. McManus provided training during two-day conferences in Chattanooga, Tenn., and also made presentations at HHS-sponsored conferences. His syndicated column has appeared in such papers as the Washington Times, the Dallas Morning News and the Charlotte Observer.
What’s that old saying? Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend? And am I the only one who thinks it amusing that McManus includes the word “ethics” in the name of his syndicated column?
Oddly enough, this latest revelation comes just two days after Bush said he would like to see the practice of paying pundits with our money stop altogether. As the president told reporters this week, “Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet.”
While the fact that the president needs to tell his own administration to stop breaking the law that forbids publicly-funded propaganda is strange enough, it’s also worth noting that Bush is a very recent convert to the idea of letting his agenda “stand on its own two feet” — and not just because of the three (and counting) instances of Williams, Gallagher, and McManus.
Indeed, for four years, this president has invested more in taxpayer-financed public relations than any White House in history.
The Bush administration has more than doubled its spending on outside contracts with public relations firms during the past four years, according to an analysis of federal procurement data by congressional Democrats.
The administration spent at least $88 million in fiscal 2004 on contracts with major public relations firms, the analysis found, compared with $37 million in 2001, Bush’s first year in office. In all, the administration spent $250 million on public relations contracts during its first term, compared with $128 million spent for President Clinton between 1997 and 2000.
The more one delves into the details, the worse it looks. As Jeffrey Dubner noted, Bush spent 17% more on public relations in 2004 than Clinton did in his last two budgets combined. In a time of ridiculous deficits and fiscal insanity, Bush spending our money to spin and deceive us about his policies is so irresponsible, it’s almost comedic.
Congressional Dems, meanwhile, are not without options in dealing with this burgeoning scandal. In fact, some are offering a plan to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Amid recent allegations that the Bush administration paid journalists to promote their policy initiatives, two prominent Democratic Senators plan to introduce legislation to make it permanently illegal to use taxpayer funds for propaganda.
Sens. Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) and Edward Kennedy (Mass.) announced the introduction of their bill Wednesday…. The bill defines propaganda as any written or taped news release or other publication that does not clearly state that it comes from the government, any payment to journalists for promotion of policies, messages designed to aid a political party or candidate, any message whose purpose is “self-aggrandizement” or “puffery,” and messages that are “so misleading or inaccurate” as to constitute propaganda.
Citizens could sue the government for illegal use of government funds under the bill. Violators would be fined three times the amount of the taxpayer funds that were spent on propaganda, and the citizen plaintiff could be awarded from 25 percent to 30 percent of the fine.
Additionally, the bill would create a point of order in the House and Senate against all spending bills for the offending agency until the misspent money was recovered by docking the pay of the official or department head responsible for the misuse of funds.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) is sponsoring a similar bill in the House.
The administration has walked right into this one, handing the Dems a salient and compelling political issue that Republicans will find it difficult to disagree with.
In the immortal words of Nelson Muntz, “Ha ha.”