Really - should anyone be shocked by this? On the plus side, if Republicans gain control of the House and/or Senate, this will be fully investigated. From Ed Morrissey via memeorandum:
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, will release a report today that claims that the Obama administration has created propaganda using federal funds to promote the agenda of Barack Obama and the Democrats. The charges would violate laws intended to separate politics from governance, which if substantiated would create a big problem for President Obama — assuming Congress wants to take this up as an issue. The report's summary lays out the charges clearly:Since the beginning of the Obama Administration on January 20, 2009, ordinary Americans have financed and been exposed to an unprecedented number of public relations and propaganda efforts. Federal spending for public relations contracts rose to historically-high levels during the Bush Administration. Under one-party rule in 2009, the White House used the machinery of the Obama campaign to tout the President's agenda through inappropriate and sometimes unlawful public relations and propaganda initiatives. Congress buoyed the Administration's propaganda efforts by increasing federal spending on public relations for the first time since 2005.
The Obama Administration frequently used federal resources to promote the President's agenda. In many cases, the Administration relied on the reach and resources of federal agencies and their personnel to promote certain of the President's favorite programs. The White House also leveraged ties to the arts and entertainment community to embed propaganda in the content of television programming and artwork. These propaganda efforts violated appropriations riders and federal law prohibiting the use of appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda purposes.
The White House also used its inherent visibility advantages to multiply the effectiveness of websites containing misleading and controversial information. The White House used its resources to push visitors to websites that urge grassroots activism based on false and misleading information. The President's right to sell his policy recommendations to Congress and the public is not disputed; however, using the resources of the federal government to activate a sophisticated propaganda and lobbying campaign is an abuse of office and a betrayal of the President's pledge to create "an unprecedented level of openness in Government."
Instead of facilitating openness, the public relations and propaganda activities of the White House have had precisely the opposite effect. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has historically deemed activities involving "covert propaganda" to be unlawful. In those cases, the source of the public relations or propaganda materials did not disclose his or her identity as a federal employee or contractor. Many of the Obama Administration's propaganda activities are unlawful because they are covert. Furthermore, several programs closely resemble those decried by Democrats and ruled unlawful by GAO during the Bush Administration.
There's a whole lot more at the link. Also, PJM has this: Darrell Issa Blasts the Propaganda Presidency, Accuses Administration of Abuse of OfficeThis report examines several of the most visible public relations and propaganda efforts during the first year of the Obama Administration. Viewed collectively, these activities reveal an Administration better suited to campaign-style self-promotion than to providing transparent and honest leadership.Issa's report looks at past propaganda from Republican and Democratic administrations, including those of Ronald Reagan, FDR, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, and concludes that the scope of Obama's efforts far outstrip anything seen in modern administrations. ...
One of the more shocking abuses listed in the report is the Department of Justice's hiring of a liberal blogger, apparently with the express intention of attacking conservative bloggers.There's a whole lot more at that link too. It's almost as if we are being ruled by a regime with an unlimited piggy bank, rather than an administration. More from The Daily Caller, Nice Deb and Dan Riehl
Sent from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment