President Bush is stumping today in the southern U.S. accusing some of wanting to "raise taxes in the midst of a recession." New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says this is like Bush's claim that Enron's chairman Kenneth Lay supported his opponent in the Texas governor's race and "it sure feels like a lie. ... And the chest-thumping you hear is the sound of an administration trying to prevent any rational discussion of the fiscal mess its tax plan has created."

Tobacco lobbyist Rick Berman began his Guest Choice Network with $600,000 from Philip Morris. This month he renamed his tobacco front group "ConsumerFreedom.com" and under that name is running a full page ad on the back cover of today's Weekly Standard attacking the animal rights group PETA. Another full page ad in the January 28 issue of Newsweek attacks Greenpeace.

"The Department of Defense (DoD) public affairs office has thrown its support behind the making and release of Black Hawk Down, a film about the 1993 raid in Somalia that left 18 US soldiers dead," writes PR trade publication PR Week. The DoD provided boot-camp training to actors, technical advisors, eight helicopters, and more than 100 soldiers. According to PR Week, the DoD package cost $2.2 million. Pentagon public affairs officers also have discussed the movie with the media and arranged for screenings on military bases. "As a governement agency, we don't endorse products or services.