The Government Accountability Office has given thumbs up to a trio of advertisements put together by the Department of Health and Human Services to inform citizens of medical benefits of new health care legislation. The ads had been challenged by a pair of House Republicans.
According to the Washington Post, Darrell Issa (R-CA) of the Oversight Committee and Dave Camp (R-MI.) of the Ways and Means Committee do not like the $3.2M price tag that went with what they see as a possible propaganda campaign meant to benefit Democratic initiatives.
Griffith donated his time for the ads, and spells out parts of the bill that are meant to aid seniors, including check-ups, cancer screenings and decreased drug costs, and concludes, “Now, that is music to my ears.”
GAO said the ads passed muster, saying nothing in them was “purely partisan, self-aggrandizing or covert,” and that they were actually part of DHHS’s responsibility to inform citizens about Medicare benefits.
RBR-TVBR observation: Republicans had no problem when government agencies were promoting policy that could more or less be traced back to the George W. Bush White House, but Democrats were incensed. Now Democrats have no problem with government agencies promoting policy that can more or less be traced back to the Barack Obama White House, and Republicans are incensed. The battle is the same, but the players have changed from offense to defense and vice versa.
