Rob Reiner-supporting commercials paid for by tax money

From "TV Ads Put Focus on Reiner":

Police sirens wail as a scruffy teenager, clutching a bag, runs frantically through the streets. Entering a schoolyard, he reaches into the bag. Out comes … a graduation gown, which he dons to receive a diploma.

The scene is from a television ad, paid for with tax money and made by consultants close to Hollywood producer Rob Reiner. It aired across California this winter, touting the benefits of preschool. "When kids go," the narrator says, "we all benefit."

The release of the ad, and two others, by a state commission Reiner heads coincided with his launch of a ballot initiative that would tax the rich to fund preschool for all California 4-year-olds.

Although Reiner did not directly approve the spots, their timing and substance highlight ties between the public commission and his private political campaigns and raise questions about whether the state-funded commercials were used to boost the initiative's prospects...

I assumed that the commercial they describe was being paid for by Reiner or one of his private groups. Now it turns out he's much smarter! Those Hollywoodians are indeed experts at using OPM.

Previously: "[Rob] Reiner initiative bad for preschoolers"

California · Mon, 02/20/2006 - 11:46 · · Importance: 1