U.s. Videos, For Tv News, Come Under Scrutiny

[the gentleman]

WASHINGTON, March 14 — Federal investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be offered to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines.

The videos are intended for use in local television news programs. Several include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec. 8.

The materials were produced by the Department of Health and Human Services, which called them video news releases, but the source is not identified. Two videos end with the voice of a woman who says, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."

But the production company, Home Front Communications, said it had hired her to read a script prepared by the government.

Another video, intended for Hispanic audiences, shows a Bush administration official being interviewed in Spanish by a man who identifies himself as a reporter named Alberto Garcia.

Another segment shows a pharmacist talking to an elderly customer. The pharmacist says the new law "helps you better afford your medications," and the customer says, "It sounds like a good idea." Indeed, the pharmacist says, "A very good idea."

The government also prepared scripts that can be used by news anchors introducing what the administration describes as a made-for-television "story package."

In one script, the administration suggests that anchors use this language: "In December, President Bush signed into law the first-ever prescription drug benefit for people with Medicare. Since then, there have been a lot of questions about how the law will help older Americans and people with disabilities. Reporter Karen Ryan helps sort through the details."

The "reporter" then explains the benefits of the new law.

Lawyers from the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, discovered the materials last month when they were looking into the use of federal money to pay for certain fliers and advertisements that publicize the Medicare law.

In a report to Congress last week, the lawyers said those fliers and advertisements were legal, despite "notable omissions and other weaknesses." Administration officials said the television news segments were also a legal, effective way to educate beneficiaries.

Gary L. Kepplinger, deputy general counsel of the accounting office, said, "We are actively considering some follow-up work related to the materials we received from the Department of Health and Human Services."

One question is whether the government might mislead viewers by concealing the source of the Medicare videos, which have been broadcast by stations in Oklahoma, Louisiana and other states.

Federal law prohibits the use of federal money for "publicity or propaganda purposes" not authorized by Congress. In the past, the General Accounting Office has found that federal agencies violated this restriction when they disseminated editorials and newspaper articles written by the government or its contractors without identifying the source.

Kevin W. Keane, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said there was nothing nefarious about the television materials, which he said had been distributed to stations nationwide. Under federal law, he said, the government is required to inform beneficiaries about changes in Medicare.

"The use of video news releases is a common, routine practice in government and the private sector," Mr. Keane said. "Anyone who has questions about this practice needs to do some research on modern public information tools."

But Democrats disagreed. "These materials are even more disturbing than the Medicare flier and advertisements," said Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey. "The distribution of these videos is a covert attempt to manipulate the press."

Mr. Lautenberg, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and seven other members of Congress requested the original review by the accounting office.

In the videos and advertisements, the government urges beneficiaries to call a toll-free telephone number, 1-800-MEDICARE. People who call that number can obtain recorded information about prescription drug benefits if they recite the words "Medicare improvement."

Documents from the Medicare agency show why the administration is eager to advertise the benefits of the new law, on radio and television, in newspapers and on the Internet.

"Our consumer research has shown that beneficiaries are confused about the Medicare Modernization Act and uncertain about what it means for them," says one document from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Other documents suggest the scope of the publicity campaign: $12.6 million for advertising this winter, $18.5 million to publicize drug discount cards this spring, about $18.5 million this summer, $30 million for a year of beneficiary education starting this fall and $44 million starting in the fall of 2005.

"Video news releases" have been used for more than a decade. Pharmaceutical companies have done particularly well with them, producing news-style health features about the afflictions their drugs are meant to cure.

The videos became more prominent in the late 1980's, as more and more television stations cut news-gathering budgets and were glad to have packaged news bits to call their own, even if they were prepared by corporations seeking to sell products.

As such, the videos have drawn criticism from some news media ethicists, who consider them to be at odds with journalism's mission to verify independently the claims of corporations and governments.

Government agencies have also produced such videos for years, often on subjects like teenage smoking and the dangers of using steroids. But the Medicare materials wander into more controversial territory.

Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, expressed disbelief that any television stations would present the Medicare videos as real news segments, considering the current debate about the merits of the new law.

"Those to me are just the next thing to fraud," Mr. Kovach said. "It's running a paid advertisement in the heart of a news program."

[Membrane]

OK, so..? and SO WHAT'S GOING ON IN YOUR COUNTRY?

For every article you can come up about GWB and the U.S.--given time and the inclination--I could find another, equally as bad about your government.

In case you haven't a clue Gent, it means maybe it's time you used your skills and talents on fighting Al-Quaeda and the terrorists, rather than constantly trying to gnaw away at the U.S.

Regardless of how you feel about G-P and the little back-and-forth games you are playing with him, the United States is your best friend in preserving YOUR way of life, protecting YOUR country--or would you rather have Osama as your best friend?

Gent, all of your posts seem to be directed at demoralizing Americans, shaming them, ridiculing them and the current administration. Just what do you think you're doing, MATE? What the ###### is your AGENDA? You obviously have one! Why not just come clean and share it with all of us? And don't hide behind the facade of "I love America but can't stand George Bush" shit!

[the gentleman]

This post is about him deceiving his people - great man eh!

[Thaiquila]

I have an agenda.

Toss out the BUSH BUM and his crew of nasty liars.

It is now known that the main reason the wonderful voters of Spain tossed out their leaders was because THEY WERE LIED TO, about the need to go to war in Iraq, and about who was responsible for the Madrid bombings.

American voters need to take a lesson from Spain. THROW THE LYING BUMS OUT!

[Georgie-Porgie]

Judas, that you would betray me with a kiss!

[Boon Mee]

I have an agenda.

Toss out the BUSH BUM and his crew of nasty liars.

It is now known that the main reason the wonderful voters of Spain tossed out their leaders was because THEY WERE LIED TO, about the need to go to war in Iraq, and about who was responsible for the Madrid bombings.

American voters need to take a lesson from Spain. THROW THE LYING BUMS OUT!

Yeah, well, we came pretty close to getting rid of "Blow-Job-Bill" when he was in office. Had him impeached and everything and he still hung in there.

OK, what are these so-called lies we need to worry about w/GWB? WMDs? Think not - we got the same intellegence as the Brits and the excuse the Axis of Weasel countries use; that they had better, is a crock.

It was and still is the right war for all the right reasons. Just ask the 50 million souls who live in Iraq if it wasn't. To cite BJB again who, in February 1998 asked: "What if Saddam fails to comply and we fail to act?"

Already, other terror-implicated regimes in that region that were developing WMDs are feeling the pressure. Libya has given up its stockpiles. Iran has at least gestured toward opening its nuclear program to inspection.

In this age of instant gratification, Bush is the right man for the job...

Boon Mee

[Membrane]

It is now known that the main reason the wonderful voters of Spain tossed out their leaders was because THEY WERE LIED TO, about the need to go to war in Iraq, and about who was responsible for the Madrid bombings.

WRONG! The "wonderful voters of Spain" tossed out their leaders because SPAIN CAVED IN TO AL-QUAEDA'S BOMBING ATTACK!! How could you interpret this ANY other way?

BEFORE the bombings, the old party was the favorite and was fully expected to win.

AFTER the bombings, the majority switched to the other party who did not support the regime change in Iraq.

...so it's SIMPLE, the voters in Spain acted as--are you ready--they acted as cowards, giving in to the terrorist's bullying methods. The terrorists actually were able to sway the politics of an entire nation, with a few well-placed bombs.

[Thaiquila]

In Spain, it was a close race before the bombings.

The bombings happened.

The former president of Spain Aznar then very stupidly tried to lie to his people suggesting that the bombing was done by Basque seperatists.

That is the lie that swayed the election, based on polls in Spain.

The people of Spain do already have a lot of experience with terrorism and they made a FREE DEMOCRATIC choice to make a change.

The voters of Spain should be respected for their choice. It is disgusting to characterize the people of Spain as cowards. If they are not happy with results, they are free to change their minds in the next election.

[Thaiquila]

Here is more background on why the invasion of Iraq was a mistake:

A vindicated Blix returns to U.S. after Iraq search turned up no weapons of mass destruction

DAFNA LINZER, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(03-16) 03:30 PST NEW YORK (AP) --

President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair have lost credibility, the world isn't safer now that Saddam Hussein is out of power and it was clear 10 months ago that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, according to Hans Blix, the former U.N. weapons inspector who returned to New York on the one-year anniversary of the war.

Blix, who was often vilified by supporters and opponents of an invasion in the run-up to the Iraq war, left his post at the United Nations last June at a time when many held out hope that biological, chemical or even nuclear weapons could be found by U.S. troops in Iraq.

But dozens of search teams over the last year have came up empty handed and much of the initial resources devoted to the hunt have since been reallocated.

In an address Monday at New York University, Blix said the United States should have known months ago that there were no weapons to be found.

"By May I knew there was nothing because the Americans had interrogated so many Iraqis by then and even offered money and still they found nothing."

On a speaking tour for his new book "Disarming Iraq," Blix offered some tough assessments of American accomplishments in Iraq and suggested that the United States was motivated to go to war because of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"It was a reaction to 9/11 that we have to strike some theoretical, hypothetical links between Saddam Hussein and the terrorists. That was wrong. There wasn't anything," he said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show.

And he disagreed that the war had made the world a safer place.

"Sorry to say it doesn't look that way. If the message was to terrorists that we are willing to take you on, then that has not succeeded. In Iraq, it has bred a lot of terrorism and a lot of hatred to the Western world," he told an audience of 1,200 at NYU.

"Disarmament by war and democracy by occupation are difficult prospects."

He was especially critical of the United States and Britain for claiming the war was meant to uphold U.N. resolutions when the rest of the Security Council refused to back the conflict and he said Bush and Blair "oversold" what they knew.

"The moral of this story was clearly a loss of credibility for the leaders of this war and that they didn't think the council mattered, that was a mistake," Blix said.

Referring to passages from his book, the 75-year-old Swede identified Vice President Dick Cheney as his No. 1 opponent inside the Bush administration.

In a meeting with Mr. Cheney in October 2002, Blix said he was told the United States 'was ready to discredit inspections in favor of disarmament,' unless Blix's teams were able to find weapons the White House insisted were in Iraq.

Blix's return to the United States, after nine months in Sweden working on the book, was triumphant compared to his quiet departure last June, which was marred by a U.S. refusal to let his inspectors back into Iraq.

Blix spent Monday appearing on TV talk shows and signing copies of his book, which came out this week in the United States.

At NYU, he was introduced by faculty members as a "real-life hero," "unbiased and critical," and his comments drew rounds of thunderous applause during his two hour appearance.

It was a striking contrast to the contentious appearances he made in the U.N. Security Council in the months leading up to the war. At that time, he was often criticized as pro-Iraqi or anti-American because his teams were coming up empty and refusing to blame Saddam for their failures.

Blix said he had been convinced for years that the Iraqis were hiding weapons of mass destruction but began having doubts when intelligence provided by the United States and other countries wasn't producing results. He blamed an over-reliance on defectors and a refusal on the part of the White House to consider the possibility that the intelligence was wrong.

[Membrane]

The former president of Spain Aznar then very stupidly tried to lie to his people suggesting that the bombing was done by Basque seperatists.

The voters of Spain should be respected for their choice. It is disgusting to characterize the people of Spain as cowards.

1) The former government stated that it COULD have been the Basque separatists, not that is was--but that it COULD have been. It wasn't until a short time later that the tapes were found, indicating/confirming it was Al-Quaeda. By the way Thaiquila, your post only goes to indirectly prove my point even further. Your post suggests that the Spanish populace knew it was not the Basque separatists that were responsible for the bombings--that in fact, they knew it was Al-Quaeda that was responsible. So in other words, they logic must have been, we know it's Al-Quaeda, and we better do what they want, or there will be more bombings... In other words, they caved in to the terrorist's demands.

2) Yes, it is disgusting to see the majority of Spanish voters CAVE IN to the terrorists. How cowardly! Shameful and disgusting. I fully realize it's a very "politically incorrect" thing to say, but the truth is the truth. Truly a low point in their history. It's easy to give in and give up, it's not easy to fight the bastards and drive them into the ground (before they put you INTO the ground).

3) And to deal with another of your red herring posts: Just because there were no WMDs found in Iraq, A) It doesn't mean they never existed (they could have easily been moved over to Syria or some other hiding place) and It doesn't mean they can't still be found (Iraqis are good at hiding things--like the hundreds of Saddam's political opponents who were buried alive inside the concrete walls of bridges or buried in the ground, underneath freeways). And if they didn't exist--ol' Saddam had the opportunity to really embarrass the U.S. by letting the U.N. inspectors do their job--but he didn't do that, did he? He jerked the entire world off for years, bluffing and playing bully. The U.S. finally said--enough! Put up or shut up. The Russians, French, Chinese and Germans all were doing business with Saddam under the table and the U.S. knew it. Corruption in the U.N.? Very possible... And if that's the case, those countries would protect their ASSets in Iraq and the old regime 'till the very end. Which is what all those countries were hoping they could do (again, they did had been doing it already for years).

[Thaiquila]

The former president of Spain Aznar then very stupidly tried to lie to his people suggesting that the bombing was done by Basque seperatists.

The voters of Spain should be respected for their choice. It is disgusting to characterize the people of Spain as cowards.

1) The former government stated that it COULD have been the Basque separatists, not that is was--but that it COULD have been. It wasn't until a short time later that the tapes were found, indicating/confirming it was Al-Quaeda. By the way Thaiquila, your post only goes to indirectly prove my point even further. Your post suggests that the Spanish populace knew it was not the Basque separatists that were responsible for the bombings--that in fact, they knew it was Al-Quaeda that was responsible. So in other words, they logic must have been, we know it's Al-Quaeda, and we better do what they want, or there will be more bombings... In other words, they caved in to the terrorist's demands.

Wrong again, Herr Membrane.

You are getting almost too easy to refute. Check the facts first. It is quite clear (see below) that Aznar was trying to pull a major SNOW JOB and the wonderful, free, democratic voters of Spain smelled a RAT. Viva Espana!

===

Spain Campaigned to Pin Blame on ETA

Despite Evidence to Contrary, Basque Group Was Focus in Blasts

By Keith B. Richburg

Washington Post Foreign Service

Wednesday, March 17, 2004; Page A01

MADRID, March 16 -- In the first frantic hours after coordinated bomb blasts ripped through several packed commuter trains Thursday morning, the government of outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar undertook an intense campaign to convince the Spanish public and world opinion-makers that the Basque separatist group ETA had carried out the attacks, which killed 201 people and wounded more than 1,500.

Beginning immediately after the blasts, Aznar and other officials telephoned journalists, stressing ETA's responsibility and dismissing speculation that Islamic extremists might be involved. Spanish diplomats pushed a hastily drafted resolution blaming ETA through the U.N. Security Council. At an afternoon news conference, when a reporter suggested the possibility of an al Qaeda connection, the interior minister, Angel Acebes, angrily denounced it as "a miserable attempt to disrupt information and confuse people."

[adjan jb]

Thaiquila is one of the few lucid people left in America.

[Membrane]

I was going with how the incident was reported at the time, not using an article that was just written and published within the few hours (like you did). Of course it's possible for more info to come out later and then use it here, like you did.

Who cares now, anyway, how far the previous Spanish government went in skewing the information in their favor? OK, they shouldn't have done it. Agreed. But that still doesn't negate my point--that the majority of the voting populace in Spain caved in to the terrorist's demands.

adjan jb and Thaiquila--are you two the same person?? You sure hang out together alot here--where one posts, the other is quickly right there behind them Are you trying to encourage each other or just try to give the illusion of credibility to each other's posts?

[Thaiquila]

The way it really happened does negate your point. Spain is Spain. The US is US. Many want to paint the vote in Spain as a cave in, when in reality it was a lot more complex. The people were already 85 percent opposed to the war in Iraq before the attack. This cave in theory would benefit Bush in his reelection effort, because he can say "don't cave in like Spain." I am quite sure that if the US was attacked before the US election, as the US is not Spain, Bush would then win big, because the American people now are such scared weenies. Too bad they wouldn't think, Bush didn't focus on Al Queda, and let them have the time to regroup to mount other big attacks. When you think about this, it is a SCARY SCENARIO. We now have a SCARED, LOSING BUSH. A SCARED, LOSING BUSH is a DANGEROUS BUSH. Yes, I am implying that it is now in Bushs' political interest to allow (note I did not say perform) an attack on the US before the election. Do I really think he is that evil? I am not sure. So far, he as shown he is capable of almost anything to stay in power.

Thanks Adjan. And no, never met the guy.

[Georgie-Porgie]

I am quite sure that if the US was attacked before the US election, as the US is not Spain, Bush would then win big, because the American people now are such scared weenies.

If the American people were "such scared weinies", they would capitulate to the terrorists, they would elect Kerry instead of Bush, and start asking the French for permission on how to conduct foreign policy.

They are not going to do any of those things!

[Georgie-Porgie]

adjan jb, is your new avatar a likeness of your expression when you were watching Americans jump out the windows on 9/11.

Let's see if you still have that s__t eating grin when your terrorists target the Paris subways.

[Boon Mee]

Thaiquila is one of the few lucid people left in America.

Yeah, well. "Birds of a Feather & "Water seeks it's own level" etc.

Don't wet your pants in anticipation of the Looney-Left retaking the White House in November. The "Great Silent Majority" will reject the Ketchup King and his sorry crew...

[Georgie-Porgie]

Thaiquila is one of the few lucid people left in America.

adjan jb, I hate to see you keep embarrassing yourself as a non-native speaker of English. I think that you mean ludicrous, rather than lucid.

On the other hand, you probably think that Butterfly and the gentleman are lucid too!

[adjan jb]

Let's see if you still have that s__t eating grin when your terrorists target the Paris subways.

France has been the target of terrorism (both home-made and imported) for the last 25 years or so. Didn't you know ?

[Georgie-Porgie]

It looks like your buddies might step it up a few notches. Don't worry, the USA will be there for you; Like you were for us.

[et33.com]

here we go again

happing on what others want you to think

let me tell you this

one day

all these top brass

will be hunted like dogs

for lying to the common folks

mark thy words