Sunlight Seeker
Look up national or state donors or check where your Congresspeople are getting their money.
Media Campaign Tools
The Democratic Agenda
*Tips & Talking Points for Letters to Editors
Email The Media
*Email Iowa and national media, five at a time
Framing The Message
*UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics
Simple Framing
*A step-by-step guide on how to frame progressive issues, by George Lakoff
DemSpeak
*Values Inventory, Message Identification and Development, Engagement & Rapport Strategies, Framing and Reframing Language, Strategic Development and Deployment of Frames, Mediaspace Injection Choreography, and Framing/Media Crossfire training of Capitol Hill Legislators, new TV spokespersons for progressives, Talk Radio callers, and Progressive Leaders
| March 2005 |
| Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
|
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
31
|
Sam Garchik - Mon 02 Jun 2008 10:10 AM CDT
atomburke - Fri 23 May 2008 03:49 PM CDT
salman - Fri 23 May 2008 06:28 AM CDT
megelso - Sun 11 May 2008 09:10 AM CDT
no4gman - Tue 29 Apr 2008 01:07 AM CDT
|
Wednesday, March 16
Bush Sells Snake Oil to Cure Social Security
by
Trish Nelson
on Wed 16 Mar 2005 08:00 AM CST
 Bush Sells Snake Oil to Cure Social Security
MinutemanMedia.com
by Donald Kaul
[George W.] Bush’s efforts to sell his peculiar “privatization” remedy
for the Social Security ‘crisis’ haven’t been going well. Recent polls
show that Mr. Bush gets his lowest marks on his handling of that issue.
But, like any good snake oil salesman, he presses on. He’s been
crisscrossing the country telling people that Social Security is sick
and that only privatization will make it well.
His sales pitch has been characteristically Bushian - dismissive
of evidence and encased in syntax that is virtually impenetrable to logic.
Here’s what he said the other day:
“I’ve been reading the newspapers and been seeing some folks
saying ‘There’s not a problem, he’s just exaggerating.’
Well, I’m going to keep telling people we’ve got a problem
until it sinks in, because we’ve got one. You can’t dodge whether we have a
problem or not. Because, see, the next follow-on question to that is, if you’ve
got a problem, what do you Republicans and Democrats and a few independents
intend to do about it up there?’”
He also said that, under his proposed privatization fix,
income from personal accounts, goes to supplement the Social Security check
that you’re going to get from the federal government. “See, personal accounts
is an add-on to that which the government is going to pay you. It doesn’t
replace the Social Security system.”
That either means he doesn’t understand the plan he’s
proposed (always a possibility) or that he is outright lying (more likely). You
can’t pay full Social Security benefits and have part of the payroll tax going
into personal accounts at the same time. There’s just not enough money to go
around. The term “add-on” is generally used to mean a payment into a private
account above and beyond what now goes into the retirement system. That’s not
what Bush is not what Bush is proposing.
It’s always dangerous to assume that [George W.] Bush is as
dumb as he sounds. He gets what he wants too often to be written off as a
dunce. It’s far more likely that he’s deliberately trying to confuse and
frighten people about Social Security so that they’ll be stampeded into support
for his cockamamie privatization scheme.
And I wouldn’t bet against him. He’s calling his shock
troops into the battle. Business groups are ratcheting up multi-million-dollar
lobbying efforts and the airwaves will soon be filled with stories of Social
Security’s peril. (Like they care.) And the people who gave you the Swift Boat
veterans (remember them?) are joining the fight. They have been hired by USA
Next, a big-money conservative lobbying group, to trash AARP as they did John
Kerry.
They’re trying to brand the seniors lobbying group as a
left-liberal, gay marriage-loving cabal that is standing in the way of the
brave [Bush]’s efforts to save Social Security. You would think that absurd
on the face of it, but this bunch managed to convince a lot of voters that
Kerry’s Vietnam credentials (three purple hearts) weren’t as good as those of
Bush, who hid from the fray. Maybe they can convince people that AARP is a
bunch of hippies.
Personally, I doubt that Mr. Bush will get his plan enacted
this time around but he might get a piece of it now, then push for more later.
That’s the way the Conservative movement works: patiently, relentlessly.
Conservatives have been talking about getting rid of Social
Security for the past 35 years, ever since Barry Goldwater suggested it be made
voluntary. He was laughed out of the election in 1968 but here, 37 years later,
we’ve got a two-term president who’s pushing privatization - voluntary Social
Security by another name - and no one’s laughing.
This so-called Conservative movement is not conservative, of
course; it’s reactionary. It looks longingly back on a time when retirement was
the exclusive province of the rich.
For the rest of us, it was work ‘til you die and if you
couldn’t, hope you died young. That’s the golden sunset Captain Bush is
steering us into now, or trying to.
Donald Kaul recently retired as Washington
columnist for the Des Moines Register. He has covered the foolishness in our
nation’s capital for 29 years, winning a number of modestly coveted awards
along the way. Kaul's columns can be found at MinutemanMedia.org.
 Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Friday, March 11
Cartoon: Dean Unchained by Steve Bradenton
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 11 Mar 2005 03:02 AM CST
Cartoon: Dean Unchained by Steve Bradenton
Used with permission. View more political cartoons
by Steve Bradenton here.
Thursday, March 10
Where to Find Political Humor in Iowa: Try the High Schools!
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 10 Mar 2005 04:09 PM CST
 Where to Find Political Humor in Iowa: Try the High Schools!
by Linda Thieman
In
these bright, sunny, warm days of Iowa winter, when Spring Fever
sprouts early because of global warming, it’s good to know where an
Iowan can find a cheerful place to go.
Perhaps you took notice of a news story
that came out this week that said that “Laughter is good for the heart
because it prolongs life, … according to two new studies.”
As a matter of fact, one of the studies recommends 15 minutes of
laughter per day. [Oh, heck, yet another thing to add to the
schedule.]
Blog for
Iowa would like to contribute to the heart health of our dear readers,
and since you’re probably not going to find anything funny to watch on
TV, how about trying the two Iowa websites below.
According to the Des Moines Register, funny in and of itself although not usually intentionally, West Des Moines Valley High’s official school newspaper, The Spotlight, is satirized in an online publication called The Stoplight. The Stoplight skewers everything from the dress code to national politics.
WASHINGTON–
Days after an astonishing election in which Feudalist Party Candidates
for President, House, and Senate lost elections nationwide,
Presidential Candidate Maximillian XXIII and leader of the Feudalist
Party issued a concession speech....
Political
analyst Art Vandalay told the Stoplight, "The Feudalist Party simply
was not able to connect to voters at the most basic level. Their
platform of abolishing income taxes, cities, last names, and generally
returning to 'ye good olde days' did not resonate with voters in the
way they thought it would....”
Also in the fine tradition of Iowa high school satire, according to the DMR, students at Dubuque's Hempstead High School started the online satirical EqOnion two years ago. Their motto: "We jump to conclusions so you don't have to!"
Since
all the original satirists have graduated from high school, Josh Lichti
still updates the site from Iowa State University, where he is now a
freshman. Hard to find good satirists, says Lichti, when most
high school students don’t pay any attention to the news.
Bush Preemptively Attacks Caribbean Sea
Strategic strikes will end hurricane assaults.
“We
will no longer stand for the complete lack of concern for human life
recently displayed by the Caribbean and its weapons of mass
destruction,” declared [George W.] Bush earlier today at a press
conference at his ranch in Texas.
While
the scientific principles behind the attack are still uncertain,
advisers to [Bush] are certain the preemptive measure is not only
necessary, but possible.
”The
United States will no longer stand for blatant attacks by freedom
haters like Ivan, Francis, and Charles. If we weren’t meant to do this,
God Almighty would not have given us this power. Now, let Operation
Soaring Eagle commence!” exclaimed a lively John Ashcroft at the Bush
ranch.
|
DFIA Events Calendar
Add Your Event Here
|
