Posted on 06/22/2004 6:55:51 AM PDT by prairiebreeze
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- A new attack ad from liberal political action group MoveOn.org against President George W. Bush has been found to be wrought with factual errors, according to a report by a non-partisan group which monitors campaign commercials, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases regarding politics.
The Annenberg Political Fact Check, located on the Internet at FactCheck.org as part of a project by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, released a report on Friday that states a MoveOn.org ad that hit the airwaves on June 15 is not accurate.
The $1 million MoveOn.org ad campaign entitled "Platter," which is being shown in Ohio, Missouri, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington, DC, shows a White House waiter in a white coat serving contracts and cash.
The announcer proclaims, "The Bush administration gave Dick Cheney's old company no-bid contracts for Iraq on a silver platter."
A graphic appears on the screen claiming Halliburton received "Up To $7 Billion In Contracts."
The announcer continues, "Then the Pentagon caught Halliburton overcharging $61 million for gasoline. Worse, they billed over $100 million for meals for our troops that they never delivered."
Another graphic states, "Caught Overcharging; Didn't Deliver Meals."
The announcer concludes, "George Bush. A failure of leadership."
At the end of the ad, MoveOn.org takes full credit for its content.
Yet, FactCheck.org points out that investigators from the General Accounting Office (GAO) show Halliburton did nothing illegal and their no-bid contracts were justified by the wartime needs of the Pentagon. The auditors for the Pentagon are still negotiating whether Halliburton should be paid for gasoline or meals for troops.
Furthermore, the facts of the ad are simply "unproven or contradicted by federal investigators," FactCheck.org contends in their report.
Ironically, while this MoveOn.org ad started running on television in several key battleground states in this year's presidential election, the U.S. House of Representatives was conducting hearings that directly contradicted the assertions made by MoveOn.org in the ad.
Comptroller General David Walker testified that the no-bid contracts awarded in Iraq, including Halliburton's, were justified.
"Importantly, given the war in Iraq, the urgent need for reconstruction efforts, and the latitude allowed by the competition law, these task orders reasonably could have been supported by justifications for other than full and open competition," Walker testified last week in the House.
A GAO Report also noted that the Army Corps of Engineers correctly awarded a contract to rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure to Kellogg, Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, because it was the "only contractor that was determined to be in a position to provide the services within the required time frame."
As for the claim by MoveOn.org that "the Pentagon caught Halliburton overcharging $61 million for gasoline," FactCheck.org said there was simply the "potential" for overcharges in the Associated Press story cited by MoveOn.org.
"The difference between a potential overcharge and an actual overcharge is a big one, of course," FactCheck.org explained. "It's the difference between a suspicion and a proven fact."
The AP story was simply a preliminary estimation, not an actual total amount of the charges, FactCheck.org added.
The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCCA) is still reviewing the "potential" overcharge at this time.
On the issue of meals for troops, FactCheck.org said the MoveOn.org ad correctly states that Halliburton "billed over $100 million for meals for our troops that they never delivered."
This matter is also still under review by the DCCA.
As for the MoveOn.org's charge that Bush has shown a "failure of leadership" because of his ties with Halliburton, FactCheck.org said it was not reasonable that the president would cut off a contractor without just cause.
"Under federal regulations, a contractor may be debarred from bidding for federal contracts for up to three years if convicted of such serious offenses as violating antitrust statutes, embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, tax evasion, or receiving stolen property, or 'commission of any other offense indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty'," FactCheck.org revealed.
"Even suspending a contractor temporarily is deemed a serious matter 'to be imposed on the basis of adequate evidence'," FactCheck.org declared. "MoveOn's ad amounts to demanding sentence first, verdict afterwards."
In fact, FactCheck.org said the MoveOn.org web site is worse than its ad when it accuses Halliburton of fraud.
The MoveOn.org web site exclaims, "While soldiers are dying in Iraq, Dick Cheney's old company Halliburton has defrauded the government of millions and charged for meals for the troops which were never delivered."
However, FactCheck.org said this claim by MoveOn.org went too far without any evidence to back it up.
"That's a serious charge; fraud is a crime," FactCheck.org said of MoveOn.org's charge of fraud by Halliburton. "In fact, Halliburton has not even been charged with fraud, much less convicted."
I'm waiting for politicalhumor.com to apologize.:)
If you can't say ABC mouthwash stops colds or XYZ mouthwash kills germs that cause colds (implying they will stop you from getting a cold), how can MoveOn.org (as an example) be allowed to air these outright fabrications and untruths?
Or does this solely fall under the aegis2 of the FEC? I would think BOTH should have jurisdiction.
1 - advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive; advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and advertisements cannot be unfair.
2 - under the aegis of somebody or something; with the support or protection of somebody or something (formal)
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