I'm Sure That This Is Just a Simple Mist ake

“The left is obviously at it again. This story just smacks of a Lib Spin Job. I mean really, WHO can trust the GAO for being a reliable source on these issues? They are a bunch of Tradiorous, Un-American, Commie, Flag Hate Mongers -- and they should all be taken out back and shot!

I mean, really! Have they no shame?

Hey! Remember Clinton LIED, that rat bassturd. It's a GOOT thang we have that CONTRACT WITH AMERICA to fall back on in these troubled times. Just you take a moment to THINK about what it would be like IF we didn't have one!


Bush Blasted For Government-Funded TV Ads

POSTED: 6:55 a.m. EDT May 20, 2004
UPDATED: 7:00 a.m. EDT May 20, 2004

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's promotion of the new Medicare law through videos made to look like news reports violated a prohibition against using public money for propaganda, Congress' General Accounting Office said Wednesday.

The materials in English and Spanish were produced by the Health and Human Services Department, but did not identify their source. The videos, or parts of them, aired on at least 40 television stations in March, the department said.

The GAO report was issued just as the administration was trying to blunt criticism of the new law by trumpeting discounts for people who use Medicare-approved drug cards when filling their prescriptions.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said the GAO decision "is another example of how this White House has misrepresented its Medicare plan." The Congressional Research Service said earlier this month that administration efforts to keep estimates of the Medicare bill's cost from Democratic lawmakers last year probably violated federal law.

While there were several components to the video news releases, GAO faulted the administration for distributing seemingly independent, ready-to-air reports that did not inform viewers that they came from the government.

The story packages violated the law because the government "did not identify itself as the source of the news report," said GAO, Congress' investigative arm.

The English version ends with a woman's voice saying, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting." A man identifies himself as a reporter named Alberto Garcia in the Spanish-language version.

"The viewing audience does not know ... that Karen Ryan and Alberto Garcia were paid with HHS funds for their work," congressional investigators said.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who sought the GAO inquiry, said President Bush's re-election campaign should repay the government for the cost of the videos. Lautenberg said he will introduce legislation to force the reimbursement.


"These funds were meant to help our seniors, not the President's re-election campaign," he said.

HHS has said it spent about $43,000 to produce the materials.


A campaign spokesman referred calls to the White House, where a spokesman declined to comment.

Bill Pierce, a Health and Human Services spokesman, defended the videos Wednesday and said nothing in the GAO report precludes the department from distributing them in the future. Pierce blamed TV stations that "chose not to identify the source of the material."

Still, Kevin Keane, Pierce's boss, has said that the videos should have identified who made them. When officials, including Secretary Tommy Thompson, addressed the issue with reporters in March, they played similar videos made by the Clinton administration in an effort to show how common video news releases are.

The principal difference, however, was a clear disclaimer in the Clinton administration product identifying HHS as the producer.

The promotional materials were produced under a contract with Ketchum Inc., a Washington-based public relations firm. Ketchum hired a company named Home Front Communications, which specializes in video news releases, the GAO report said.

They were distributed by CNN Newsource, a service that distributes video news releases as well as actual news reports. GAO said some news executives misread the label or mistook the story package for an independent news report.

Congressional investigators previously examined a television ad about changes in Medicare that the administration aired in the winter. They found that the ad was legal, but contained "notable omissions and errors."

Critics contended that the ad was a thinly disguised Bush campaign commercial. National Media Inc., a media firm also working for Bush's campaign, had a share of the publicly funded $12.6 million contract.


National Media has since withdrawn from the Medicare ad contract. A second ad, touting the new discount drug card, is now running.




Save the bullchit, you Libby's. There is NO creditbility to your points from this point FURTHER!”

“It almost makes me nostalgic for the Good Ole Daze when millions of our tax dollars went for things like playing those damn Raisen Commercials in Japan....”

“Hmmmm, raisins!”

“Can't you just hear the Raisen Growers Association Rep calling the White House and saying, "The Japanese aren't eating enough frickin' raisens, Ronnie! What are WE going to do about that?!?"

LOLOL


But I Digress.”

“These GD Dems are EVERYWHERE!

I thought for sure that Salim Chalabi was a trust worthy person; you know "one of us"?

Turns out he's a frickin` Dem who lied to us about Iraqi WMD program. Do you know how many lives have been lost due to this mis-information form this "man"?

Boy, I'm real sure we outta him when we did. He's damn lucky the only thing we did was put a gun to his head. I'm sure hope M.I. was there, swingin` cem lights like a night at a Rave.....


U.S. military raids Chalabi home
Accounts of attack in western Iraq vary
Thursday, May 20, 2004 Posted: 9:23 AM EDT (1323 GMT)


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. military personnel and Iraqi police Thursday raided the compound of the Iraqi National Congress and the nearby home of Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi.

Chalabi's nephew, Salim Chalabi, said the forces entered his uncle's home, put a gun to Chalabi's head and threatened him.

Describing what his uncle told him, Salim said the forces were "looking for something" and were upset with Chalabi.

The forces cordoned off the Iraqi National Congress headquarters in a separate building nearby, taking guns away from the security there, Salim said.

Chalabi, a Shiite, is a favorite of the Pentagon but is regarded as divisive and untrustworthy by the State Department.

He is believed to have been a source of intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, which have not been discovered in the nine months since Saddam's regime fell.

He was also the champion of a plan to rid Iraq of Baath Party influence that has caused rancor among many Iraqis.(Full story)”

“Now, understand that we, as the Republicans, had a great plan in place.

We went in there with proper troop strength, hell......we blew the hell outta them quicker that crap thru a goose!

But I digress.......


We all know that this would happen, but I just want to get it out there now, so that when it does happen, I can claim it's no biggie, and that we've been working on this for a few months; let it shake out, if ya gets me drift.


U.S.: Iraq Violence Might Get Worse After Handover

Thursday, May 20, 2004

WASHINGTON — For months, U.S. officials have warned that the insurgency in Iraq would grow deadliest as the June 30 political transition drew near. Now, they're warning the violence might get even worse once the handover is completed.

And that could mean the need for more U.S. troops, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East says.

President Bush on Wednesday acknowledged that Iraq could remain dangerous and unstable after the transfer of political power.

"It's tough work there now because killers want to stop progress," the president said following an Oval Office meeting with Silvio Berlusconi (search), premier of Italy, a strong ally in the war. "It will be tough work after sovereignty is transferred because there will still be people there trying to derail the election progress."

Earlier, testifying before a Senate panel, Gen. John Abizaid (search) predicted that the violence likely would continue — and perhaps get worse in the second half of the year when a yet-to-be-named Iraqi interim government will be put in charge.

"It could very well be more violent than we are seeing today, so it's possible that we might need more forces," Abizaid said, adding that he hoped more countries would contribute troops.

There now are about 155,000 coalition troops in Iraq, of which about 135,000 are American.

The Army is struggling to find enough forces to maintain the 135,000 level, so if Abizaid decides even more are needed, the strain would be enormous.

Bush administration officials had stuck for months to the publicly expressed hope that June 30 would be a turning point, not just in terms of moving Iraq toward democracy but also in improving security.

The insurgents were stepping up attacks, officials often said, because they believed that their best hope for chasing out U.S. forces was in the period before June 30.

The insurgency began to intensify in late March, highlighted by the killing and mutilation of four American private security contractors in the city of Fallujah on March 31. In April, more than 130 U.S. troops died — by far the highest monthly death toll since U.S. forces invaded in April 2003. So far this month, at least 47 additional troops have died.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (search) first mentioned the possibility that the violence would continue, or even grow worse after June.

"So you're going to have a period of uncertainty from now, and you're also going to have a period of increased attacks," he told reporters on May 4. "I mean, we just have to expect that. There are people who don't want this to happen in that country. And they are going to conduct attacks in that country against coalition, against Iraqis, against the United States."

Rumsfeld said it was inevitable that the violence would last at least until December.

In his remarks Wednesday, Abizaid said that although he is satisfied with the number of combat troops and armored vehicles available in Iraq, he is "not comfortable" with the support structure for them.

"There are certain types of troops that we don't have enough of and we still don't have enough of them and we got to figure out how to get them," he said.

He mentioned as examples the military police, military intelligence and civil affairs troops who are key to stabilizing a broken country like Iraq.

Abizaid said this was not a matter of the Pentagon refusing to provide the support forces. They simply don't exist in sufficient numbers in any part of the military — active duty or reserves.



Now, I know that it might be a little "gimme" that this was going to be the case, let's just say that we're aware of the situation, and as soon as the hookers leave, we'll get right on it.



BUSH/DICK one mo' time!!”

“HMMMmmmmm. I wonder what they were looking for in that raid....

Chalabi was on our payroll for some $335,000 per month until just recently. The figure I've heard for total payments to his 'Iraqi National Congress' over the last few years is approximately $27 million.

Has anyone thought to extradite him to Jordon to face those bank fraud charges? I'll bet your typical Jordanian prison is a real happenin' place! <G>”

“27 million would properly fund No Child Left Behind in the state of Ohio.”

“PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- A lawyer who was arrested two weeks ago in connection with the terror attacks in Spain was set free Thursday after evidence pointed to another suspect in the deadly train bombings.

Brandon Mayfield's release came soon after Spanish officials said fingerprints found on a bag near the bombing site were that of an Algerian. U.S. authorities had previously said the prints were Mayfield's. The bag contained detonators similar to those used in the March 11 bombings, which killed 191 people and injured 2,000 others.”