There’s so much I want to blog about,including to remind everyone about not buying anything on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. But mom is keeping me distracted from any logical thoughts.
However, please check out the current Truthout article here, which includes these two of my favorite Bush Administration Scandals:
The Medicare Money Scandal
THE SCANDAL: Thomas Scully, Medicare’s former administrator, supposedly threatened to fire chief Medicare actuary Richard Foster to prevent him from disclosing the true cost of the 2003 Medicare bill.
THE PROBLEM: Congress voted on the bill believing it would cost $400 billion over 10 years. The program is more likely to cost $550 billion.
THE OUTCOME: Scully denies threatening to fire Foster, as Foster has charged, but admits telling Foster to withhold the higher estimate from Congress. In September 2004, the Government Accountability Office recommended Scully return half his salary from 2003. Inevitably, Scully is now a lobbyist for drug companies helped by the bill.
The Bogus Medicare “Video News Release”
THE SCANDAL: To promote its Medicare bill, the Bush administration produced imitation news-report videos touting the legislation. About 40 television stations aired the videos. More recently, similar videos promoting the administration’s education policy have come to light.
THE PROBLEM: The administration broke two laws: One forbidding the use of federal money for propaganda, and another forbidding the unauthorized use of federal funds.
THE OUTCOME: In May 2004, the GAO concluded the administration acted illegally, but the agency lacks enforcement power.
Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for him.
ADDENDUM:
AARRGHH. Just to add to the Bushies’ penchant for successful progaganda against us masses, the following via the Center for Media and Democracy:
Topics: public relations | democracy
Source: Washington Post, January 14, 2005
“White House allies are launching a market-research project to figure out how to sell” privatizing Social Security, while “Republican marketing and public-relations gurus are building teams of consultants,” reports the Washington Post. The effort, led by Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman, “will use Bush’s campaign-honed techniques of mass repetition, never deviating from the script and using the politics of fear to build support.” Groups including Progress for America, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Republican Jewish Coalition are also advocating for privatization. Progress for America’s TV ads, which include images of Franklin D. Roosevelt, have been protested by FDR’s family. His grandson wrote, “My grandfather would surely oppose the ideas now being promoted by this administration and your organization.”
I wish more Senior Citizens were web savvy and learned how to get their info from here instead of the mainstream Conservatively-influenced media.