Bush's Failed Social Security Campaign Cost Taxpayers $2.8 Million

Congress Daily reports:

Congressional auditors have found that the Bush administration spent an excessive amount in 2005 on a failed campaign to privatize Social Security, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Democrats charged today. The committee released a report by GAO, dated Aug. 10, that says the administration spent at least $2.8 million promoting its Social Security plan. GAO said it does not know the real cost of the campaign because the White House did not fully cooperate with its auditors. House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Waxman did not respond to a request today for comment, but in an August 2005 letter requesting the GAO investigation, Waxman wrote: "There is a vital line between legitimately informing the public ... and commandeering the vast resources of the federal government to fund a political campaign for Social Security privatization."

A fact sheet released by the committee highlighted the campaign's cost to taxpayers and the White House's limited cooperation. GAO found President Bush, Vice President Cheney and more than 100 officials from the White House and agencies ... including the Social Security Administration, Treasury, HHS and Labor departments -- spent $1.6 million on 228 public events intended to build public support for privatization. Most costs were for travel. Other expenses included $200,000 for the Treasury Department to create a Social Security Information Center and a Web site promoting the administration plan. Bush, fresh from his 2004 re-election victory, launched the campaign in his 2005 State of the Union address. Afterward, then-Treasury Secretary John Snow kicked off a "60 Stops in 60 Days" tour consisting of well-publicized town hall meetings that ultimately failed to generate much interest in changing Social Security in Congress, even among key Republican lawmakers.

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