It’s not easy being a libertarian, especially if your job is to convince the looters and moochers in Washington that they should stop pilfering. The Cato Institute is a great place to work, to be sure, but my job is akin to standing outside an all-you-can-eat buffet and trying to convince the bloated patrons to munch on celery stalks instead of going in for a 3-hour binge.
To add insult to injury, almost all of my personal interactions with government are unpleasant.
- Governments pull me over and give me tickets for trying to efficiently drive from one location to another.
- Governments coerce me into filling out complicated tax forms in order to give politicians money that will be wasted on vote-buying scams.
- Governments make flying a miserable and time-consuming experience.
- Government officials from Amtrak treat people like pests and criminals rather than valued customers.
But even during my off hours, the annoying presence of government seems to follow me around. Driving back and forth to softball games this past weekend, I was irked that the radio was filled with vapid taxpayer-financed ads from fatherhood.gov and letsmove.gov.
The government apparently has so much money to burn that these empty bits of proselytizing were on conservative talk radio programs!
Now we have a new outrage to add to the list. President Obama is using $20 million of our money so a firm of PR hacks can promote Obamacare.
The Health and Human Services Department has signed a $20 million contract with a public-relations firm to highlight part of the Affordable Care Act. The new, multimedia ad campaign is designed to educate the public about how to stay healthy and prevent illnesses, an HHS official said. …The PR firm Porter Novelli won the…$20 million contract… Porter Novelli did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If this sounds familiar, it may be because the thugs at the IRS recently decided to squander $15 million on a contract to show the tax agency’s warm and fuzzy side. Interestingly, the same Porter Novelli firm got that contract, so they must specialize in sucking on the public teat. What a bunch of reprehensible leeches.
I’m sure there are many other examples of taxpayer-funded propaganda, though the only other two episodes that I recall writing about were the Census Bureau’s grotesque $2.5 million ad during the Super Bowl and dishonest television ads by Government Motors.
[…] Forcing taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS propaganda. […]
[…] taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS […]
[…] Forcing taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS propaganda. […]
[…] Forcing taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS propaganda. […]
[…] Forcing taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS propaganda. […]
[…] Forcing taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS propaganda. […]
[…] Forcing taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS propaganda. […]
[…] Forcing taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS propaganda. […]
[…] taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS […]
[…] taxpayers to pay millions of dollars for pro-Obamacare and pro-IRS […]
Dan,
Regarding Porter Novelli, when the teats are plopped out available for the nearest taker, most will take. The government’s money spends the same as the businessman’s.
Incredible – taxpayers on the hook for IRS advertising.