Armstrong Williams Settlement Not Enough, Says Congressman Miller

[DeepModem Mom]

Editor&Publisher: Armstrong Williams Settlement Not Enough, Says Congressman
By E&P Staff
Published: October 24, 2006

NEW YORK -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) says the Armstrong Williams settlement is "a small step in the right direction," but he doesn't consider the matter settled.

"Armstrong Williams is going to pay back $34,000 to the government for work he failed to deliver, but who's going to pay the taxpayers for the rest of the quarter million dollars Williams was paid for his propaganda services to the administration?" asked Miller in a statement. "And who is going to be held accountable for having hired Williams in the first place?" The congressman has fought the Bush administration's use of covert propaganda through Williams and others in the past.

Williams is the conservative media commentator who lost his Tribune Media Services column in January 2005 when it was revealed that he accepted about $240,000 in federal money to promote the No Child Left Behind Act in broadcasts and in print. Miller said Williams should be required to return the full $240,000.

"The Bush administration broke the law and wasted taxpayers' money by paying Armstrong Williams for covert propaganda," but no official has been reprimanded, added Miller, who said the administration "likes to talk about the need for accountability in our schools, but it doesn't seem to think there's any need for accountability in Washington."...

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003287231

[AndyA]

1. Hypocrisy at its finest. That defines today's GOP.

The corrupt party that says, "Do as we say, not as we do. We operate under different standards. We make the rules."

They can all GO STRAIGHT TO HELL.

[gratuitous]

2. The exact point I noticed

When the story first appeared last week that Mr. Williams was going to have to give back some of his payola for failure to play, I wondered what became of the rest of the taxpayer money that went into his pocket. Nice to see Rep. Miller on that expenditure, as well. I don't recall being asked if I minded if my tax dollars went to line the overstuffed pockets of propagandists, because I surely would have registered an objection. What could $200,000 that went to Mr. Williams buy that would benefit more citizens than just the one?

[quiet.american]

3. And to think, AAR promotes Armstrong Williams's show in NYC. n/t

[lowreed]

4. that show SUCKS!

[quiet.american]

5. Hello! I'm back to listening to music in the mornings. n/t

[mitchum]

6. The rest of that money has already been spent on cocaine...

and whatever else is preferred by the male hustlers patronized by Williams. True. Your tax dollars in the service of that loathsome scumbag getting his freak on.