Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Tom Davis Wasting Taxpayers $$$$


In a notably empty and possibly expensive bit of legislative posturing, TPM ElectionCentral reports that Northern Virginia's own Rep. Tom Davis yesterday demanded "hearings into The New York Times's decision to publish MoveOn's anti-Petraeus ad at a cheaper-than-usual rate."

For the last week or so, GOPers have been all aghast about a MoveOn ad and how the reduced rate indisputably confirms what the nutwings have known all along. The Times favors liberal-leaning organizations over conservatives or Republicans.

Yes, even Vice President Dick "Darth" Cheney chimed in with his faux indignation, as The Times reported last Tuesday.

"The attacks on him by MoveOn.org in ad space provided at subsidized rates in The New York Times last week were an outrage.”
Well, of course, we also learned from the story that GOP presidential candidate former Mayor Rudy Giuliani received the exact same rate.

Oops...

Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate who is among those who criticized the MoveOn ad, paid the same rate for his own advocacy ad that ran in the Friday editions of The Times.
Furthermore, there is a logical underlying principle for the pricing; something GOPers like to tout when expressing the perfect marketplace without government intrusion but decry as patently unfair when it might adversely affect them.

MoveOn has said it paid $65,000 for the ad. While The Times does not discuss its fees for specific ads, it has said it charges $65,000 for full-page, black-and-white “advocacy” ads that run on a seven-day “standby” basis. That means that while the client can express a preference that the ad run on a certain day, there is no guarantee that it will. If a client specifies the day, the cost is higher: $181,000 with an 8 percent discount for a full-page ad, or about $167,000.
But never let it be said that pesky facts stopped a would-be Republican senator candidate from spouting whatever nonsensical talking points his or her party conjures up.

Folks, keep in mind, The Times article explaining the ad structure was published on Sept. 18; the letter from Davis to Chairman Henry Waxman of the Rules and Oversight Committee was written on Sept. 24, a full five days afterwards.

Guess taxpayers need more things to waste their money on; but of course, no dough for children's health care. Davis is just another empty suit in a long line of GOP shills.

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