Los Angeles Daily News
White House PR
Contracts raise ethical questions
Friday, February 18, 2005 - There's something unseemly about politicians using taxpayer money to influence the political process. It's what's landed Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn in a heap of trouble with the city's Fleishman-Hillard contract, and it now threatens to do the same to President George W. Bush.
According to a study produced by congressional Democrats, the Bush administration spent $88 million on contracts with P.R. firms in fiscal year 2004 -- more than double what it spent in 2001.
Now, there are some legitimate reasons why government might spend money on P.R. -- say, informing senior citizens about how to get their prescription-drug discounts. But most government agencies have their own in-house P.R. staffs, and as we've seen in L.A., these external contracts can lead to trouble.
We know the administration paid conservative columnist Armstrong Williams to tout its No Child Left Behind policy. Was that an aberration, or part of a broader pattern of abuse?
It's a question that deserves a thorough investigation. It's not OK for City Hall to drop millions on fancy P.R. contracts, and it's not OK for the White House, either.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20951~2717771,00.html#
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