[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/QUOTE]
The memo is about salesmanship, not substance. It doesn't address whether the lines are accurate. It just says they are effective and that Republicans should use them. Indeed, facing a Democratic plan that actually relied on the free market to try to bring down costs, Luntz recommended sidestepping that inconvenient fact:
"The arguments against the Democrats' healthcare plan must center around politicians, bureaucrats and Washington . . . not the free market, tax incentives or competition."
this is what distresses me about the health care reform issue--not enough people pay enough attention or understand how they are being manipulated...this manipulation is carried out by political operatives on both sides--the Rs are better at it--but, the results are usually not good for the country and our citizens...we desperately need health care reform IMO, and we need elected officials who care more about doing the right thing for the people who elected them, than they do about getting re-elected. We don't have that kind of system and many who can least afford the suffering are the very ones most affected.
