Third columnist was paid by Bush administration

Officials in the Bush Administration have shown they are willing to sink to any depth to promote the administration's outrageous policies. Now the media is reporting that a third conservative columnist accepted money from DHHS. The news comes on the heels of admissions that two other columnists - Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher - were paid to promote the Bush agenda.

The AP (via Seattle P-I):

Columnist Mike McManus received $10,000 to train marriage counselors as part of the agency's initiative promoting marriage to build strong families, said Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families.

The disclosure came as the Government Accountability Office sent a letter to the Education Department on Friday asking for all materials related to its contract dealings with a prominent conservative media commentator.

Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., had requested the GAO to expand a continuing inquiry into the matter.

"The issue here isn't just whether a journalist violated ethics, but whether the Bush Administration broke the law," Lautenberg said Friday. "If the GAO finds that the payment to Armstrong Williams was an illegal use of taxpayer dollars, then the money should be returned and Education Department officials should be held accountable."

USA Today first reported the McManus contract Friday.

The bottom line is that the administration needs to stop paying conservative columnists to promote its agenda. It's a flagrant violation of the seperation that needs to exist between the media and the government.