BILLIONS SPENT ON 'SELF PROMOTION' BY U.S. GOVERNMENT!

"Federal agencies don't have a right to spend $4.34 billion of taxpayer money on self-promotion campaigns."     OPEN THE BOOKS OVERSIGHT REPORT  THE DEPARTMENT OF SELF-PROMOTION - PR  Click here to download a PDF copy of our Report    BREAKING NEWS: THE WASHINGTON TIMES Federal Agencies Spend Billions on Self-Promotion By Kellan Howell | December 8, 2015 Click here to read the Front Page Story TRENDING NEWS: THEHILL, Washington, D.C. Feds Shelling Out Billions to Public Relations Firms By Megan Wilson | December 8, 2015 Click here to read the trending column Today, we released our comprehensive oversight report on federal agency public relations (PR) spending since 2007: OpenTheBooks Oversight Report - The Department of Self-Promotion, How Federal Agency PR Spending Advances Their Interests Rather Than the Public Interest. HERE ARE THE TOP 10 TAKEAWAYS: 1. The federal government spent $4.34 billion on public relations in the last seven years.   2. U.S. Government ranked 2nd largest Public Relations Firm in the World (based on the number of PR employees). 3. 3,092 federal 'Public Affairs Officers' are employed by over 200 federal agencies in FY2014. 4. 1,858 'Public Affairs Officers' made at least $100,000 in base salary compensation in FY2014. 5. Salaries totaling $2.337 billion and 'performance bonuses' totaling $10.929 million flowed to public affairs officers (FY2007-FY2014). The highest bonus was $35,940 to John T. Burklow at Department of Health and Human Services in 2012. 6. Since 2007, PR positions increased in the federal government by 15 percent - an addition of 402 positions - from 2,688 to 3,092. Total PR salary spending by year increased by 22.4 percent despite a long period of freeze and sequester in federal hiring. 7. $2.02 billion spent by 139 federal agencies with 2,403 outside PR vendors on 16,249 individual transactions since 2007 - despite 3,092 federal PR employees. 8. 47 percent increase in outside PR consulting expenditures under the Obama administration vs. the last two years under the Bush administration. 9. Top PR firms in the world reaped millions of dollars: Laughlin, Marinaccio & Owens, Inc. ($87.98M), Young & Rubicam Inc. ($57.5M), Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Inc. ($47.93M), Fleishman-Hillard, Inc ($42.4M), Gallup ($42.0M), and many more. 10. $183,581 (per year) billing by Ketchum ($88/hour, $15,298/month) for 'Intern.' $1.192 million (per year) billing by Boos Allen Hamilton ($525.67/hour, $91,107/month) for 'Executive Manager' - examples of billing rates per their respective federal advertising contracts. Click here to download a free PDF copy of our oversight report. (Stay tuned, we have more cool stuff coming soon.) JOIN THE TRANSPARENCY REVOLUTION.  IT'S YOUR MONEY!         Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-f-ski) Founder, OpenTheBooks.com Matthew Tyrmand Deputy Director PS. Our new video describes how our data and technology can help you stop government waste!  Watch it here. Help fund our movement with a special Crowdfunding donation of $1, $50, $100, or more,   please click here.      $1 or more receives our OpenTheBooks bumper sticker $50 - $74 receives a cotton OpenTheBooks.com baseball cap $75 or more receives a hardcover copy of U.S. Senator (retired) Dr. Tom Coburn's book, The Debt Bomb. Together, we are a strong team. Please click here to help our mission.