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February 16, 2006

Spend and Spin Dry

Gallagher Sops up the Federal Slop

The Bush Administration has spent $1.4 Billion on spin over the past two years. Again, that was $1.4 billion - with a "b".

The money went to advertising agencies to sell its policies to the American public and around the world. Although Pentegon spending accounted for $1.1 billion, you think we would gotten a better image in the wold - and better recruitment numbers - for that insane amount of money. More troubling are the funds that went to promote quasi-science programs like abstinence-only education, and that went to pay off commentators like Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher.

The Government Accountability Office released the report detailing the spending on Tuesday at the request of House Democrats. Among its findings, the Bush Administration increased its spending on public relations firms in 2005 by 128% over the preceeding year. The PR and ad contracts included providing "expert advice and support in the development of several marriage-related research initiatives." These initiatives included the payola offered to anti-gay marriage "experts" like Gallagher to promote the administration's views in the press.

Posted by TrailMix at February 16, 2006 09:39 AM