Reintroduce the STOP GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA Act
Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 08:58:17 AM PDT
In light of the NYT bombshell regarding potentially illegal propaganda and psy-ops committed against U.S. citizens through the Pentagon and the complicit media, I think its time to revisit an old classic.
Does anyone else remember the 2005 Lautenberg "Stop Government Propaganda Act" (Introduced in Senate S 266 IS).
This was a 'Truth in Broadcasting' bill developed, in part, as a response to Bush's unethical use of VNRs (purported drug czar video news releases, propaganda by the Department of Health and Human Services, payments to columnists Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher who flacked administration programs, etc.)
As you may remember, back on Feb, 2, 2005, Senator LAUTENBERG (supported by Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Corzine, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Dorgan, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Reed, Mr. Lieberman (!), and Mr. Leahy) introduced a bill to stop taxpayer funded government propaganda.
The bill stated:
(1) Since 1951, the following prohibition on the use of appropriated funds for propaganda purposes has been enacted annually: `No part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by Congress.'.
(2) On May 19, 2004, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services violated the publicity and propaganda prohibitions by creating fake television new stories for distribution to broadcast stations across the country.
(3) On January 4, 2005, the GAO ruled that the Office of National drug Control Policy violated the publicity and propaganda prohibitions by distributing fake television news stories to broadcast stations from 2002 to 2004.
(4) In 2003, the Department of Education violated publicity and propaganda prohibitions by using of taxpayer funds to create fake television news stories promoting the `No Child Left Behind' program violated the propaganda prohibition.
(5) An analysis of individual journalists, paid for by the Department of Education in 2003, which ranked reporters on how positive their articles portrayed the Administration and the Republican Party, constituted a gross violation of the law prohibiting propaganda and the use of taxpayer funds for partisan purposes.
(6) The payment of taxpayer funds to journalist Armstrong Williams in 2003 to promote Administration education policies violated the ban on covert propaganda.
(7) The payment of taxpayer funds to journalist Maggie Gallagher in 2002 to promote Administration welfare and family policies violated the ban on covert propaganda.
(8) Payment for and construction of 8 little red schoolhouse facades at the entranceways to the Department of Education headquarters in Washington, DC to boost the image of the `No Child Left Behind' program was an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars.
(9) Messages inserted into Social Security Administration materials in 2004 and 2005 intended to further grassroots lobbying efforts in favor of President Bush's Social Security privatization plan is an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds.
(10) The Department of Health and Human Services ignored the Government Accountability Office's legal decision of May 19, 2004, and failed to follow the GAO's directive to report its Anti-Deficiency Act violation to Congress and the President, as provided by section 1351 of title 31, United States Code.
(11) Despite numerous violations of the propaganda law, the Department of Justice has not acted to enforce the law or follow the requirements of the Anti-Deficiency Act.
(12) In order to protect taxpayer funds, stronger measures must be enacted into law to require actual enforcement of the ban on the use of taxpayer funds for propaganda purposes.
This bill never became law. This bill was proposed in a previous session of Congress. Sessions of Congress last two years, and at the end of each session all proposed bills and resolutions that haven't passed are cleared from the books.
It's already illegal for the U.S. government to direct psychological operations or propaganda against the American people. But the government has learned to play fast and loose with the definition of propaganda.
It’s time for new hearings and an IMMEDIATE reintroduction of this important bill, but it will take a BLOGSWARM and clear support from the Presidential Candidates to make this happen.
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