I, Claudius
04-10-2005, 02:54 PM
I realize $2.2 million isn't a whole lot of money to most Republicans - hell, that's probably DeLay's annual salsa and Doritos budget (of course, lobbyists pick up the tab for most of that) - but it's my money and yours, and the Preznit is spending $2.2 million of our money to push his own partisan agenda.
Bush lobbying effort skirts law
Administration has spent at least $2.2 million so far http://www.marketwatch.com/1.gif By Rex Nutting (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/mailto.asp?siteid=mktw&x=114+110+117+116+116+105+110+103&y=Rex%20Nutting&guid=%7B5E61F470%2D3030%2D48F6%2DB741%2DAE9A15AF49 03%7D), MarketWatch
Last Update: 11:00 AM ET April 10, 2005
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Bush administration has spent millions of dollars in the past two months on its campaign to overhaul Social Security, narrowly skirting laws that prohibit spending of taxpayer funds to indirectly lobby Congress.
President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and more than 20 other administration officials have blanketed the country since early February, delivering more than 100 speeches in 37 states in an effort to rally the public behind Bush's Social Security plans.
Although no hard figures on costs are available, rough calculations show the White House and other agencies have spent at least $2.2 million on the campaign so far.
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has been asked by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to investigate the costs of the pro-privatization effort. Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee have also asked quietly for an accounting, according to the Washington Post.
Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, asked the GAO to determine whether "the Bush administration has crossed the line from education to propaganda."
Federal law prohibits spending any public funds for publicity or propaganda designed to support or defeat legislation pending in Congress.
But in practice prosecutors and courts have found it difficult to clearly define what's a legitimate public relations effort and what's illegal propaganda.
The line is murky. "Informing the public is the president's responsibility," Waxman wrote. "Using taxpayer resources to mount a sophisticated propaganda and lobbying campaign is an abuse of the president's high office."
Earlier this year, Waxman and other Democrats complained about what they said was an increasingly political tone in public documents produced by the Social Security Administration.
Bush making history
Bush's devotion to the cause has few historical precedents.
Not since Woodrow Wilson fought for the League of Nations with his last ounce of strength has an American president wooed the public so ardently for their support on domestic legislation.
"There's been nothing remotely like this" in recent decades, said Stephen Hess, a scholar at the Brookings Institution specializing in presidential politics.
Presidential historians say Bush is attempting a very difficult maneuver, akin to a bank shot in billiards. Typically, a president has success when fanning the public's latent opinions, but not when trying to move a skeptical public to his point of view.
Polls show the president is making little headway in persuading the public to demand changes in the venerable old age and disability insurance program. Fewer Americans see Social Security as a crucial issue now than did before Bush and his team embarked on their campaign.
Perhaps more importantly, members of Congress are not flocking to his banner.
While most recent presidents have used the "bully pulpit" to go directly to the people, no president has expended the kind of effort on a legislative issue that Bush and his administration have on the issue of crafting private investment accounts onto Social Security.
60 cities, 60 days
Bush himself has spoken at 25 events in 20 states on the topic since his State of the Union address in early February. According to press reports, Bush's audiences are carefully screened to exclude those expressing disapproval of his plans.
Twenty-two other administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Treasury Secretary John Snow, three other Cabinet secretaries and four top officials at the Social Security Administration, have been on the road talking up the need to overhaul Social Security.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B5E61F470-3030-48F6-B741-AE9A15AF4903%7D&siteid=mktw
Bush lobbying effort skirts law
Administration has spent at least $2.2 million so far http://www.marketwatch.com/1.gif By Rex Nutting (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/mailto.asp?siteid=mktw&x=114+110+117+116+116+105+110+103&y=Rex%20Nutting&guid=%7B5E61F470%2D3030%2D48F6%2DB741%2DAE9A15AF49 03%7D), MarketWatch
Last Update: 11:00 AM ET April 10, 2005
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Bush administration has spent millions of dollars in the past two months on its campaign to overhaul Social Security, narrowly skirting laws that prohibit spending of taxpayer funds to indirectly lobby Congress.
President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and more than 20 other administration officials have blanketed the country since early February, delivering more than 100 speeches in 37 states in an effort to rally the public behind Bush's Social Security plans.
Although no hard figures on costs are available, rough calculations show the White House and other agencies have spent at least $2.2 million on the campaign so far.
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has been asked by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to investigate the costs of the pro-privatization effort. Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee have also asked quietly for an accounting, according to the Washington Post.
Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, asked the GAO to determine whether "the Bush administration has crossed the line from education to propaganda."
Federal law prohibits spending any public funds for publicity or propaganda designed to support or defeat legislation pending in Congress.
But in practice prosecutors and courts have found it difficult to clearly define what's a legitimate public relations effort and what's illegal propaganda.
The line is murky. "Informing the public is the president's responsibility," Waxman wrote. "Using taxpayer resources to mount a sophisticated propaganda and lobbying campaign is an abuse of the president's high office."
Earlier this year, Waxman and other Democrats complained about what they said was an increasingly political tone in public documents produced by the Social Security Administration.
Bush making history
Bush's devotion to the cause has few historical precedents.
Not since Woodrow Wilson fought for the League of Nations with his last ounce of strength has an American president wooed the public so ardently for their support on domestic legislation.
"There's been nothing remotely like this" in recent decades, said Stephen Hess, a scholar at the Brookings Institution specializing in presidential politics.
Presidential historians say Bush is attempting a very difficult maneuver, akin to a bank shot in billiards. Typically, a president has success when fanning the public's latent opinions, but not when trying to move a skeptical public to his point of view.
Polls show the president is making little headway in persuading the public to demand changes in the venerable old age and disability insurance program. Fewer Americans see Social Security as a crucial issue now than did before Bush and his team embarked on their campaign.
Perhaps more importantly, members of Congress are not flocking to his banner.
While most recent presidents have used the "bully pulpit" to go directly to the people, no president has expended the kind of effort on a legislative issue that Bush and his administration have on the issue of crafting private investment accounts onto Social Security.
60 cities, 60 days
Bush himself has spoken at 25 events in 20 states on the topic since his State of the Union address in early February. According to press reports, Bush's audiences are carefully screened to exclude those expressing disapproval of his plans.
Twenty-two other administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Treasury Secretary John Snow, three other Cabinet secretaries and four top officials at the Social Security Administration, have been on the road talking up the need to overhaul Social Security.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B5E61F470-3030-48F6-B741-AE9A15AF4903%7D&siteid=mktw