The New York Times this weekend reported that more than 20 federal agencies have produced hundreds of fake news segments to promote President Bush’s policies. Many of these segments were “subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government’s role in their production.” One of these groups was the Office of Broadcasting Services, a branch of the State Department which traditionally has provided news shows with video from press conferences. According to the NY Times, that all changed in 2002, when, instead of providing reporters with raw footage of press conferences, the unit started producing segments manipulated to look like actual news clips. (This was all done “with close editorial direction from the White House.”) In all, the office produced nearly 60 segments, which were then distributed around the world for local stations to use as actual news footage.

Today, a reporter asked Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher: “Is it just clip reels that you put out or do you actually put out prepackaged news pieces?”

Boucher’s response? “Not quite sure I can explain to you the difference. Maybe I don’t know the…”

Isn’t that the problem, Mr. Boucher?

“[T]here have been a lot of scare tactics out there…” — White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 3/14/05

“[I]f you have children or grandchildren in their 20s, the idea of Social Security collapsing is no small matter…” — President Bush, 3/14/05

I was perusing the website of Americans for Tax Reform — Grover Norquist’s outfit — and ran across this helpful list of quotes from the President:

“We will not raise payroll taxes to solve this problem.” -President Bush, Dec. 9, 2004

“I said we’re not going to run up the payroll taxes. I think running up payroll taxes will slow down economic growth. The economy is beginning to kick in, it’s beginning to make sense. I think we can solve the problem without increasing payroll taxes.” -President Bush, Jan. 11, 2005

“[W]e must not increase payroll taxes on American workers because raising taxes will slow economic growth.” -President Bush, Jan. 15, 2005

“It’s very important for people to put all options on the table with the exception of affecting those who have already retired, like I have said, and without raising the payroll tax. Other than that, I’m open-minded.” -President Bush, Jan. 17, 2005

“We must not jeopardize our economic strength by raising payroll taxes.” -President Bush, Feb. 2, 2005

Anyway, there were a few more like this (last one dated Feb. 8th), but you get the idea. But it looks like Grover must have forgotten to include this more recent clip:

“President Bush says he has not ruled out raising [payroll] taxes on those who earn more than $90,000 a year to help bolster Social Security’s finances… Asked directly, Bush said that he would not rule out raising that cap.” — CNN, 2/16/05

The Bush administration’s “drive to strengthen aviation security” is “one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history.” — Fake news clip paid for by the Bush administration, NYT, 3/13/05

VERSUS

“The Bush administration has cut back drastically on funding for [a new luggage screening] system…. More than 50 airports want to install the new equipment but haven’t received federal money, even though a government audit says the system could pay for itself in just over a year.” — USA Today, 3/14/05

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been a busy man these last few years. Whether bribing congressmen, threatening political opponents, vacationing with lobbyists, or gutting House ethics rules, it’s been hard to keep up with all the Hammer’s activities. Here are thirteen highlights from DeLay’s illustrious career:

DELAY KILLED INVESTIGATION INTO LABOR ABUSE IN MARIANAS ISLANDS: In 1998, DeLay helped kill a “congressional fact-finding trip that was being planned as part of an investigation of sweatshop conditions in the garment industry in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Jack Abramoff represented the Northern Mariana Islands at the time, aiding them in their quest to avoid U.S. labor laws. To this end, Abramoff flew dozens of lawmakers and their aides for luxurious vacations to the balmy islands, including one 1997-98 New Year’s trip for DeLay and his wife. (It was on this trip that DeLay called Abramoff “one of my closest and dearest friends.”) Later that year, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) decided to leading a fact-finding investigation into worker abuse in the islands’ garment industry. When DeLay caught wind of the investigation, his office threatened the Hoekstra with loss of his subcommittee chairmanship if he continued.

DELAY RAISED CORPORATE CASH FOR TRMPAC: DeLay is embroiled in a scandal in Texas for his active participation in illegally funneling corporate funds to assist state political campaigns. DeLay’s political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), is under criminal investigation for using corporate money to finance Texas campaigns. DeLay has tried to distance himself from the group, but documents show DeLay “personally forwarded at least one large check” to the group and was “in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation’s largest companies” on TRMPAC’s behalf. [Source: NYT, 3/10/05; Salon, 10/04/04]

DELAY BRIBED CONGRESSMAN TO VOTE FOR MEDICARE: DeLay has admitted offering to endorse Sen. Nick Smith’s (R-MI) son Brad, who was running for Congress at the time, in exchange for Smith’s “yea” vote on the Medicare bill. His actions violated House rules and earned DeLay a “public admonishment” from the Ethics Committee. Smith originally alleged — and then retracted after pressure from House leaders — that DeLay also offered a $100,000 bribe for his vote. DeLay extended the role call on the Medicare bill for nearly three hours in order “to avoid an embarrassing loss.” [Slate, 10/1/04; WP, 10/1/04] Read more

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demonstrated her typical White House loyalty over the weekend, praising John Bolton on the Sunday news shows and telling the Washington Times he was her “first choice.”

But news reports suggest a different story. Newsweek claims that Bolton wasn’t Rice’s choice at all – that he was actually proposed as U.N. ambassador by Vice President Cheney, Bush adviser Karl Rove and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card:

John Bolton didn’t particularly want this job. And Condoleezza Rice didn’t especially want to be introducing Bolton as America’s next ambassador to the United Nations, some Bush administration officials say. … Rice, the new secretary of State, had refused to make him her chief deputy despite what even Bolton’s friends admit was his intense campaign to win that post last fall. No surprise, then, that Rice seemed ill at ease last week, her smile dimmer than usual, says one official at the announcement. “It was utterly inconceivable that this was her initiative,” said the official.

And no wonder. Take Iran, now one of the administration’s top foreign policy priorities. A few months back, Bolton was mocking the very notion of EU diplomacy with Iran: “I don’t do carrots,” he said. Well, Bolton may not, but Secretary Rice clearly does. (An 11/23/04 Financial Times report noted that Bolton, then in the running for deputy secretary of state, was “said to have clashed with Rice over Iran and North Korea in the past,” and “may be moving instead to work with vice-president Dick Cheney.”)

Also interesting is the fact that just four days after Bolton’s nomination, Secretary Rice created a brand new State Department position — Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State on United Nations Reform — and filled it with the decidedly more moderate Shirin Tahir-Kheli.

Long story short: there’s serious daylight between Secretary Rice and John Bolton, and Americans deserve to know just how much there is before the Senate signs off on Bolton’s nomination.