Government Propaganda? Give me a break....

I came across an extremely disturbing article in the NYT which you really need to read for yourselves:

Audit Assails the White House for Public Relations Spending (NYT 09302005)

I honestly DON'T know what to say... I can see budgeting and spending for outreach campaigns to inform the general public about new policy initiatives, but the tactics that they've taken (in this article, education and Medicare are specifically mentioned) reek of "The Corporation."

These are the kind of slimy, icky, yet incredibly effective strategies that I have seen so successfully implemented in pharmaceutical and consumer product marketing. Ugh... and we're paying for it out of our own pockets!