Republican Top Strategist: Manipulate Language to Misinform Voters

by: Libby Shaw

Sat Mar 20, 2010 at 10:57 AM CDT

Republican strategist and guru Frank Luntz in an all hands on deck effort to kill health care reform, gave following orders to Republican lawmakers.

   
THE LANGUAGE OF HEALTHCARE 2009

THE 10 RULES FOR STOPPING THE "WASHINGTON TAKEOVER" OF HEALTHCARE

If you make this debate about Republicans vs. Obama, you lose. But if you make it about Americans vs. politicians, you win. When asked directly what would be the best reason to oppose what President Obama is trying to do regarding healthcare, Americans gave us two clear winners:

      1. "It could lead to the government setting standards of care, instead of doctors who really know what's best."

      2. "It could lead to the government rationing care, making people stand in line and denying treatment like they do in other countries with national healthcare."

   And if you find that you must challenge the president, we suggest the following.

   "President Obama wants to put the Washington bureaucrats in charge of healthcare. I want to put the medical professionals in charge, and I want patients as an equal partner."

A job excellently done on behalf of the special interests that pay your salary, Frank.  May we ask how much you are paid to manipulate language in order to misinform and mislead voters?

Republican politicians and their strategists continue to show appalling disrespect and contempt for their base voters.

The truth about HCR:  Laws will put people back in charge.

This is very bad news for the fat cats who pay Frank dearly to do whatever it takes to kill health care reform.

Ongoing Republican Lie 1: Health care reform is a government take over of health care.

Of course the health care bill is not a government takeover of health care. Republican politicians have been busted by national broadcast journalists for lying about a government takeover the health care system.

And yet Republican politicians continue to lie about a government takeover of health care. I guess they think their lies will stick in the minds of low information voters.

The bill that Republicans despise actually empowers people, though the government, to put an end to insurance company abuses.  And, the government, by using the people's law, will make insurance companies pay for the treatments ordered by doctors.

This is really bad news for fat cat. And this is why there are eight lobbyists for every one lawmaker in Congress.  That and barrels stuffed with millions of dollars are being dumped in the halls of Congress.

This Luntz talking point is interesting.

"Time" is the government healthcare killer. As Mick Jagger once sang, "Time is on
Your Side." Nothing else turns people against the government takeover of healthcare
than the realistic expectation that it will result in delayed and potentially even denied
treatment, procedures and/or medications. "Waiting to buy a car or even a house won't
kill you. But waiting for the healthcare you need - could. Delayed care is denied care."

Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones, also sang a song called Sympathy for the Devil.

You betcha waiting for the health care you need can kill you. The status quo has been killing people for years.  So why have Republicans been obstructing a bill that will result in fewer early deaths?

Luntz must think voters are total morons.

That said, there are the FOX and Glenn groupies to consider.

Here's another humdinger by Frank Luntz, Ph.D.

Acknowledge the "crisis" or suffer the consequences. If you say there is no healthcare
crisis, you give your listener permission to ignore everything else you say. It is a
credibility killer for most Americans. A better approach is to define the crisis in your
terms. "If you're one of the millions who can't afford healthcare, it is a crisis." Better
yet, "If some bureaucrat puts himself between you and your doctor, denying you
exactly what you need, that's a crisis." And the best: "If you have to wait weeks for
tests and months for treatment, that's a healthcare crisis."

Dude, the "some bureaucrat" that puts himself between me and my doctor is the insurance company. It is not the government. Nor will it be the government.

Here is another jab at the people.  Don't bore voters with discussions on economic theory.  Personalize the argument to pull at emotional strings. Smuggle in fear, potential disenfranchisement.

The arguments against the Democrats' healthcare plan must center around
"politicians," "bureaucrats," and "Washington" ... not the free market, tax incentives,
or competition. Stop talking economic theory and start personalizing the impact of a
government takeover of healthcare. They don't want to hear that you're opposed to
government healthcare because it's too expensive (any help from the government to
lower costs will be embraced) or because it's anti-competitive (they don't know about or
care about current limits to competition). But they are deathly afraid that a government
takeover will lower their quality of care - so they are extremely receptive to the anti-
Washington approach. It's not an economic issue. It's a bureaucratic issue.

I have news for Frank Luntz, Ph.D.  

Democrats are not deathly afraid of a government takeover of health care because there isn't one.  Insurance companies will be accountable to laws that protect the people.

Luntz's bullet point below tells politicians how to humanize the so-called "horror stories" from Canada where there is socialized medicine.  

The healthcare denial horror stories from Canada & Co. do resonate, but you have
to humanize them. You'll notice we recommend the phrase "government takeover"
rather than "government run" or "government controlled" It's because too many
politician say "we don't want a government run healthcare system like Canada or Great
Britain" without explaining those consequences. There is a better approach. "In
countries with government run healthcare, politicians make YOUR healthcare decisions.
THEY decide if you'll get the procedure you need, or if you are disqualified because the
treatment is too expensive or because you are too old. We can't have that in America."

We have as many if not more horror stories on our side of the border w/o socialized medicine.  There is a reason why Americans who live close to the Canadian border go there for their health care needs.

When push comes to shove, when all else fails, politicians should lie about socialized medicine in Canada.

In
countries with government run healthcare, politicians make YOUR healthcare decisions.
THEY decide if you'll get the procedure you need, or if you are disqualified because the
treatment is too expensive or because you are too old.

This is a whopping and insulting lie. Either Luntz knows squat about the health care systems in the U.K., France and Canada or he is lying through his teeth.

My in-laws live in France with its socialized medicine.  My family members get the care they need without any grief, going broke or jumping through hoops. Politicians have absolutely nothing to do with determining the health care needs of patients there.  

The fat cats have over-rated Frank Luntz's intelligence.  Or maybe they've underestimated his arrogance.

The choices are simple. (The same holds true in the UK). Families in France decide what they can afford and what they can have. Unlike us, they have choices.

1. The national/public plan:
No choice of physician.  One is assigned to the patient.  If one needs a medical procedure one will have to get in line.  The doctor decides the procedure, not the government. Its only role is to pay the doctors for services rendered. French taxpayers subsidize their health care needs.

2. If one does not want to wait, one can easily purchase affordable private insurance. Insurance companies are highly regulated in Western Europe.  It is next to impossible for them to gouge either the doctors or patients. Private insurance enables the insured to choose one's own doctor and there is little if any waiting in line for a medical procedure.

The bottom line, everyone in France who is a legal resident has access to health care. No one has to go  bankrupt because they need an expensive medical procedure.  

To learn about the health care systems in the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland click here. PBS Frontline produced an excellent and informative program called:

Sick Around the World

And this is why the Republicans hate socialized medicine so much.  It means higher taxes and a fairer and more equitable system that includes everyone. There is no fat cat lobbyist or insurance guru involved who is profiting immensely from a rigged or broken system.

As Americans continue to travel, study and work abroad more regularly it will become increasingly difficult for Republicans or any politician, for that matter, to misinform voters about the horrible evils of socialized medicine that will send us all to hell in a New York nanosecond.  

Maybe if the Republicans were fundamentally and sincerely concerned about their constituents,  politicians could be more honest with voters.  

But since Republicans have worked traditionally for corporate and special interests they have no choice but to hire language manipulators.  

It is kind of difficult for a politician to tell an average Joe or Jane that he or she sincerely cares about them when she or he has no clue about what care means.