Stop the Propaganda Act? I Wish

As noted by Oliver Willis from this piece:

In response to continued revelations of government-funded
"journalism" -- ranging from the purported video news releases put out
by the drug czar's office and the Department of Health and Human
Services to the recently uncovered payments to columnists Armstrong
Williams and Maggie Gallagher,who flacked administration programs --
Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.)
will introduce a bill, The Stop Government Propaganda Act, in the
Senate next week.

"It's just not enough to say, 'Please don't do it anymore,'" Alex
Formuzis, Lautenberg's spokesman, told E&P. "Legislation sometimes is
required and we believe it is in this case."

The Stop Government Propaganda Act states, "Funds appropriated to an
Executive branch agency may not be used for publicity or propaganda
purposes within the United States unless authorized by law."

"It's time for Congress to shut down the Administration's propaganda
mill," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It has no place in the United
States Government." The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Durbin
(D-Ill.) and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.).

I am 157% for this. However, it won't fly.

Today, I was reading on CNN that the GOP is soliciting HUGE donations to promote Bush's "vision" which they insist can't get promoted because of the "liberal media". Liberal media? Practically all we're getting on TV and many newspapers is the swill the Bush folks are touting.

No one except the left has yet to acknowledge that the payola to Armstrong and now Maggie Gallagher is even slightly improper. If we think it's just these two people taking tax dollars to promote this crap, dream on. Neither of these are A list players. So one has to assume the really big bucks are going to A and B list people. So we're spending yet more tax money - not on health care or educating kids or securing our ports - to pay people to lie for the Bush administration. And nothing will come of it.