A Bad Word Whispered Will Echo A Hundred Miles

The post title is a Chinese proverb.

From PolitiFact.com:

In the spring of 2009, a Republican strategist settled on a brilliant and powerful attack line for President Barack Obama's ambitious plan to overhaul America's health insurance system. Frank Luntz, a consultant famous for his phraseology, urged GOP leaders to call it a "government takeover."

"Takeovers are like coups," Luntz wrote in a 28-page memo. "They both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom."

The line stuck. By the time the health care bill was headed toward passage in early 2010, Obama and congressional Democrats had sanded down their program, dropping the "public option" concept that was derided as too much government intrusion. The law passed in March, with new regulations, but no government-run plan.

But as Republicans smelled serious opportunity in the midterm elections, they didn't let facts get in the way of a great punchline. And few in the press challenged their frequent assertion that under Obama, the government was going to take over the health care industry.

PolitiFact editors and reporters have chosen "government takeover of health care" as the 2010 Lie of the Year. Uttered by dozens of politicians and pundits, it played an important role in shaping public opinion about the health care plan and was a significant factor in the Democrats' shellacking in the November elections.

PolitiFact is an independent, non-partisan fact-checking arm of the St Petersburg Times. They branded Luntz's talking points bullshit as "an inaccurate claim." As in:

"Government takeover" conjures a European approach where the government owns the hospitals and the doctors are public employees. But the law Congress passed, parts of which have already gone into effect, relies largely on the free market:

• Employers will continue to provide health insurance to the majority of Americans through private insurance companies.

• Contrary to the claim, more people will get private health coverage. The law sets up "exchanges" where private insurers will compete to provide coverage to people who don't have it.

• The government will not seize control of hospitals or nationalize doctors.

• The law does not include the public option, a government-run insurance plan that would have competed with private insurers.

• The law gives tax credits to people who have difficulty affording insurance, so they can buy their coverage from private providers on the exchange. But here too, the approach relies on a free market with regulations, not socialized medicine.

So congratulations, America; in 2010, you were punk'd by Frank Luntz and the Fox News/talk radio echo chamber. What will you fall for next year?

Tweet

Repeat After Me...

Here's a leaked e-mail from Fox News managing editor Bill Sammon that mimics Frank Luntz's talking points...I know; you're shocked:

Funny--I didn't hear of any Fox talking head going rogue...

Frank Luntz's Filthy Language.

I've written about Frank Luntz previously. The right-wing political consultant and FOX News regular literally wrote the words that are currently spilling out of the mouths of the army of health care reform foes bellowing nationwide.

ThinkProgress has been tracking the influence of Luntz's talking points, and it's clear that Republicans really don't mind when deceitful words are put in their mouths:

In early May, conservative word guru Frank Luntz authored a messaging memo defining the Republican rhetoric on health care reform. In order to obstruct reform, Luntz offered a set of poll-tested words that he said “should be used by everyone.” Some of those words were “rationing,” “doctor-patient,” “takeover” and “bureaucrats.” Using the Capitol Words search engine, the Sunlight Foundation’s Paul Blumenthal has found that Republicans are following Luntz’s advice:

Over the past month, as the health care debate has really gotten off the ground, the use of these words in the Congressional Record has skyrocketed.

“Rationing” goes from 18 uses in May to 90 uses in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “rationing” in the Capitol Words database.

“Doctor-patient” goes from 6 uses in May to 20 in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “doctor-patient” in the Capitol Words database.

“Takeover” goes from 13 uses in May to 106 in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “takeover” in the Capitol Words database.

“Bureaucrats” goes from 53 uses in May to 78 uses in June. This marks the highest level of use for the word “bureaucrats” in the Capitol Words database.

And my use of "bullshit" has been off the charts since I first read Luntz's 10 pointers in "The Language of Healthcare 2009" and listened to Republicans ape them ever since:

The R-Word.

From David Leonhardt in the New York Times:

More to the point: Rationing!

As in: Wait, are you talking about rationing medical care? Access to medical care is a fundamental right. And rationing sounds like something out of the Soviet Union. Or at least Canada.

The r-word has become a rejoinder to anyone who says that this country must reduce its runaway health spending, especially anyone who favors cutting back on treatments that don’t have scientific evidence behind them. You can expect to hear a lot more about rationing as health care becomes the dominant issue in Washington this summer.

Today, I want to try to explain why the case against rationing isn’t really a substantive argument. It’s a clever set of buzzwords that tries to hide the fact that societies must make choices.

The rest of Leonhardt's column is here.

As mentioned in several previous posts here, GOP strategist and FOX News word-twister Frank Luntz designed the talking points that Republicans are currently parroting ad nauseum. And Luntz loves him some r-word...

A Senator Points Out An Unhealthy Debate.

I posted GOP strategist and FOX News go-to guy Frank Luntz's talking points designed to demonize health care reform back in early May.

Thumbs-up to Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley for taking to the Senate floor to point out that Republicans are heeding Luntz's suggestions for the use of cynical scare tactics and outright bullshit in their attempts to sabotage reform.

Hopefully Merkley's fellow Democrats will remember that they control the House and the Senate and that elections are supposed to have consequences.