I'm Your Money

Is it possible that the Government Accountability Office is the last bastion of our federal government that hasn't been overrun by GOP political hacks? Here is the sweet news:

From the New York Times: "Federal auditors said today that the Bush administration had violated the law by purchasing favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.

In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" inside the United States, in violation of a longstanding, explicit statutory ban."

The Times article goes on to note that the Education Department, which funneled $180,000 through Ketchum Inc. (a public relations company) to Mr. Williams to big up Bush Inc.'s so-called No Child Left Behind education initiative on TV, radio, and in print, could not produce any evidence (speeches, articles, etc.) of the services that Mr. Armstrong had performed in exchange for all the taxpayers' money.

What, they don't got Google at the Education Department? I know many of Dubya's political appointees are inept (this one's for you, Brownie), but c'mon!