GAO report: BUSH SPENDS BILLIONS ON DOMESTIC PROPAGANDA

The Bush administration has spent $1.6 BILLION on domestic propaganda since 2003, accrding to a new General Accounting Office report released today. "The extent of the Bush Administration's propaganda effort is unprecedented and disturbing," said California Congressman George Miller (left)., one of the Democratic members of Congress who requested the GAO report. "The fact is that after all the spin, the American people are stuck with high prescription drug prices, high gas prices, and high college costs. This report raises serious questions about this Administration's priorities for the country and I would hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would agree that changes need to be made to reign in the President's propaganda machine."

Rep. Henry Waxman of Los Angeles (right), another of the Democrats who asked for the GAO report, commented: "The government is spending over a billion dollars per year on PR and advertising. Careful oversight of this spending is essential given the track record of the Bush Administration, which has used taxpayer dollars to fund covert propaganda within the United States."  Free Press, the excellent media reform organization which put out a release today that alerted me to the report, has a lot of background material you can read by clicking here. And you can read the entire GAO report itself (it's a PDF file) by clicking here.

WHO'S BEHIND THAT FULL-PAGE ANTI-LABOR AD IN TODAY'S N.Y. TIMES? If you haven't seen today's New York Times, there's a screaming full-page anti-union ad, that ballyhoos a new anti-labor propaganda group called "Center for Union Facts." But the ad doesn't say who's really behind it. Well, our good friends at P.R. Watch, as usual, have the goods on this pro-business, union-busting scam. "Nothing in the advertisement or the webpage  mentions Rick Berman, but --Bingo! -- that's who owns the website domain name," P.R. Watch reports.

"Rick Berman (left) is a right-wing lobbyist who has built a  lucrative career establishing industry-funded front groups including  FishScam.com, the Center for Consumer Freedom, the Employment  Policies Institute, the Employment Roundtable and ActivistCash.com.  Berman specializes in personal attacks, smear tactics and playing  loose with the facts. He has raised millions of dollars from tobacco,  booze, biotech, fast food, grocery and other businesses eager to have  Berman do their dirty work.  Another Rick Berman connection to the  Center for Union Facts is Sarah Longwell, the group's PR contact, who  has also worked for Berman's Employment Policies Institute." For the full P.R. Watch report with links to more info, click here.