Bush had apparently approved payments to write stories and produce commercials that supported his narrow minded social agenda.

That narrow minded agenda reaped some pretty wide financial benefits.

They bamboozled us out of more than 1 billion dollars in one year alone.

Using electronic systems groups like the ‘Arlington Group’ were able to streamline the manner in which they drew down Federal funds to their bank accounts.

People as varied as a Mexican church in Michigan securing money to buy houses for illegal immigrants to large commercial religious institutions like Jerry Falwell’s ministry were able to get right in their and sink their teeth into the Faith Initiative.

Then he got caught.

For about a week we saw journalists admitting that they had ‘done wrong’ and Bush ‘promised’ to stop it.

He pushed an unpopular and corrupt system on us with propaganda.

Why believe that the same thing isn’t being done about the Social Security system? Do you think the Wall Street Journal would have any problem with running stories in support?

But George promised not to pay them to do that anymore, comes the retort.

Do you really think that they need to get paid? Bush let televangelists rip us off for a billion dollars. Wall Street is foaming at the mouth and government bond issuers are on their knees to Alan Greenspan.

Look for billboards, newspaper stories and direct mailings from banks, brokerage houses and insurance companies over the next two years. Listen for radio and television shows extolling the virtues of the Social Security system.

Who do we believe? Supporters of the system who are probably being paid to support it or the opponents – who George will say are angry because they didn’t get a piece of the pie?

He is gutting our treasury and undermined our free press and right-to-know in one fell swoop.