Your Tax Dollars at Work

Use to be states would put up signs at road construction sites declaring "Your Highway Taxes at Work." Some found that offensive, though I don't know why. On the other hand, I understand perfectly why one would be upset at this bit of news.

From BrandWeek:

Report: Bush Spent $1.4 Billion on ‘Spin’
February 14, 2006

DALLAS -- The Bush administration spent $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars on 137 contracts with advertising agencies over the past two-and-a-half years, according to a Government Accountability Office report released by House Democrats Monday.

With spending on public relations and other media included, federal agencies spent $1.6 billion on what some Democrats called "spin."

The six largest recipients of ad and PR dollars were Leo Burnett USA, $536 million; Campbell-Ewald, $194 million; GSD&M, $179 million; JWT, $148 million; Frankel, $133 million; and Ketchum, $78 million. The agencies received more than $1.2 billion in media contracts, according to the report.

[snip]

Trends in spending on PR and ad contracts were not documented, but a prior study by the minority staff of the Government Reform Committee found that spending on public relations contracts rose rapidly under the Bush administration. That report found that spending on contracts with public relations firms had increased to $88 million in 2004 from $39 million in 2000, an increase of 128%.

[snip]

The PR and ad contracts included providing "expert advice and support in the development of several marriage-related research initiatives," an educational campaign regarding the "Medicare Modernization Act, and its coverage and benefits," and a contract regarding "message development that presents the Army's strategic perspective in the global war on terrorism," the study said.

A Food and Drug Administration contract had the objective of warning the public about the "consequences and potential dangers of buying prescription drugs from non-U.S. sources."

Read that first sentence again: "The Bush administration spent $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars on 137 contracts with advertising agencies over the past two-and-a-half years..." As the headline notes, that's ONE-POINT-FOUR BILLION for 'spin'!

That's what eBay paid for PayPal. It's what Monsanto paid for Seminis. It's the amount 4,400 homeless programs across America were to receive in HUD grants last year.

$1.4 Billion would provide $220 more per student; 25,137 new teachers; $6,080 more per classroom; $2.2 million more per school district

What would you rather spend your tax dollars on, spin or education?

Are you better off under a Republican controlled federal government (Congress and the White House)?