PROPGANDA WATCH

Businessweek: FAKE OP/EDS: THINK TANKS AND PIGGY BANKS

Two opinion columnists and fellows at conservative think tanks have
admitted to taking money from indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to
write favorable columns about his clients. The Cato Institute's Doug
Bandow, who had a syndicated column with Copley News Service,
"accepted money from Abramoff for writing between 12 and 24 articles
over a period of years, beginning in the mid '90s." Bandow resigned
from Cato, and his column has been suspended. The Institute for
Policy Innovation's Peter Ferrara also wrote "pay for play" columns
for Abramoff, but, unlike Bandow, he isn't remorseful. "I've done it
in the past, and I'll do it in the future," Ferrara said. Ferrara's
boss also says the arrangement isn't "wrong or unethical." None of
the columns contained any disclosure. BusinessWeek noted that the
columns "provided a seemingly independent validation of the
arguments the Abramoff team were using to try to sway Congressional
action."