The Education Department apparently paid commentators to promote the No Child Left Behind act on their radio shows.

 

Your taxpayer money going to fund radio and tv shows extoling our government's works.

 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...tortopromotelaw

Education Dept. paid commentator to promote law

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.

 

Very nice. I guess the GOP Radio Network needed a boost.

Right wing blogger and National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg:

 

I think Armstrong Williams should give the money back.  I think he should probably be ashamed of himself for taking it.  I think the White House really screwed up ... all I can say is that if Bill Clinton had gotten caught giving Joe Conason a quarter of a million dollars to be flogging their policies, guys like me would have smoke coming out of our ears, and The Right would go crazy.

Wow, so these are the ethics and values being promoted by the new manifestation of the Republican party (I mean no insult to actual conservatives like Ron Paul etc.)

Full Apology

 

Dear readers:

 

In 2003, I agreed to run a paid ad on my syndicated television show, promoting the Department of Education’s No Child Left Behind Act. I subsequently used my column space to support that legislation. This represents an obvious conflict of interests. People have used this conflict of interests to portray my column as being paid for by the Bush Administration.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

At the same time, I understand that I exercised bad judgment in running paid advertising  for an issue that I frequently write about in my column. People need to know that my column is uncorrupted by any outside influences. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for my bad judgment, and to better explain the circumstances.

If they paid him to do the ad, I don't have a problem with it. Much like Bose pays these radio personalities to do commercials. But, if they paid him to back the plan and write articles and to encourage others, it's bulls***!