File this under unsurprising but notable, because it’s the type of story that mainstream media outlets will largely ignore in an attempt to protect an undeserving administration from anything that could hurt its re-election chances.
According to a Washington Times report by Jim McElhatton, the U.S. Department of Labor allegedly paid a public relations company at least half a million dollars of their allotted stimulus money to produce over 100 commercials that publicized a new “green jobs” initiative back in 2009.
Coincidentally, the advertisements could only be seen on MSNBC during The Rachel Maddow Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which has since been canceled of course.
A House panel led by Reps. John Kline (R-Minn.) and Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) is currently investigating the matter, asking the Department of Labor to turn over all records of the agreement it reached with McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations LLC.
McElhatton pointed out that no new jobs were created as a result of the contract. In a letter to the Labor Department, Kline and Roe addressed the matter and demanded answers:
We understand this contract used taxpayer dollars to purchase advertisements on MSNBC during ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ and ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’. Despite the fact that these funds were made available as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — legislation President Obama said was critical for immediate job creation — an examination of public records show that the contract that resulted in the advertisements on MSNBC created no jobs.
In response to the allegation, Labor Department officials stood by their decision, saying there was nothing political about it. All they wanted to do was to “reach a target demographic of business owners and managers interested in hiring ‘green-trained’ employees.” They also insist that the programming list initially included CNN’s Larry King Live and the Lehrer NewsHour on PBS too.
This is just the latest evidence of how the $831 billion Obama stimulus package was not merely wasteful but arguably corrupt, channeling money to enterprises that were strongly supportive of the Democratic party.
Conservatives don’t call MSNBC, ‘MSDNC’ for nothing.
Despite what MSNBC The Cycle co-host Krystal Ball may think, the Obama Administration has not been “remarkably scandal-free”. This one may not be on par with “Fast and Furious” or “Solyndra”, but it’s up there.
