Tax Dollars for Bush's Ad Companies

Via DailyKos, I hear of this:

A media firm working for President Bush's re-election campaign has a share of the administration's publicly funded $12.6 million advertising effort touting the new Medicare law.

National Media Inc. of Alexandria, Va., is purchasing $9.5 million worth of television advertising for a 30-second commercial that the administration intends to educate seniors about changes in Medicare such as the new prescription drug benefit, executives involved in the advertising campaign said Wednesday.

[...]

"There are hundreds of media buyers out there and they get the contract," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.

Emanuel said campaign media buyers typically are paid 10 to 15 percent of the cost of air time. But executives would not say how much the firm is being paid.

[...]

The conservative National Taxpayers Union called on Bush to pull the ad off the air, saying that it appeared to be "an election-year ploy rather than a genuine public service announcement."

The Medicare ad addresses some of the major criticisms of the law, including assertions that it will force seniors out of traditional Medicare and into managed care plans and that savings will be paltry from drug discount cards and prescription drug insurance which start in 2006. Its theme is "Same Medicare. More Benefits."

[...]

National Media partners include Robin Roberts, the media buyer for Bush's 2000 campaign, and Alex Castellanos, who is well-known for creating sharp attack ads including the Republican Party commercial about Democrat Al Gore in 2000 that subtly flashed the word "RATS" across the screen.

I don't support the public funding of political campaigns and I don't support taxpayer money being used like this either.

Then again, it's not like I support much of what the government does. :)

Posted by Drizzten at February 05, 2004 03:55 PM