Watch for Frank Lutz’ new weasel words on Fox News and coming out of the mouths of Republican candidates. Paul Farrell basically uncovers the fraud of modern politics. Those in power in both parties think you are nothing but sheep. They know how to manipulate your mind with propaganda and misinformation. You just do some focus groups of clueless morons and then change a few words and phrases to convince the nitwits and numbskulls that inhabit this country that the shit being spewed at them by their HDTVs is actually the truth. It is nothing but lies, designed to convince you that those in power are not really screwing you and future generations.
Farrell is right. It has nothing to do with politics. Many of the Wall Street CEOs and Board members are Democrats (Rubin, Dimon). Both parties are bankrolled by the Wall Street banks. The authorities in cities across the U.S. that destroyed and bulldozed the OWS encampments were Democrats and Republicans.
This is about the massive inequality in this country which has occurred because the super rich elite have captured the economic and political system of this country through criminal means and continue to loot and pillage. They control the police, the monetary system and the media message. They think they’ve won. They have not.
A class/generational war is brewing. Those in power will not be giving up their control without a fight. Propaganda and weasel words will not work. The blood of tyrants will need to be spilled before this is over. Count on it.
Super Rich vs. 99%: Class war will explode
Commentary: But these 10 tricks will backfire with occupiers
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Forget politics. The 99%, the Occupy Wall Street movement, is not about politics. But politicians don’t get it yet. The Dems sure don’t. And while Bill O’Reilly says the movement is already dead, insider Frank Luntz thinks OWS is not only very alive, but getting dangerously bigger. In fact, he’s very “scared” for his clients.
Warning: Will somebody please tell Luntz Occupy Wall Street is not about politics? This is class warfare, a revolution about economic inequality, not about political parties, political policies and political solutions … and it’s not going away any time soon.
But his pitch at last week’s Republican Governors Association meeting in Florida suggests he not only doesn’t understand the 99%, he’s misleading 29 state governors with Words That Will Backfire when the occupiers in the encampments see through Luntz’s attempted manipulations.
Fortunately, Yahoo News columnist Chris Moody attended this week’s governors meeting and kept some fabulous notes: During Luntz’s talk last week, one question kept coming up: “How can Republicans do a better job of talking about OWS movement?” Luntz solution: 10 new slogans that may do more harm than help for his clients.
What’s the big problem? Luntz is blunt: “I’m so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I’m frightened to death.” Why the fear? Because Luntz is convinced the OWS movement is “having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism.”
Politics isn’t the problem, it’s economics, inequality, class warfare
Folks, the real problem from the occupiers’ perspective is the inequality gap between the Super Rich and the 99%. It’s economics. It’s behavior. It’s the unfairness of our democracy when the incomes of the 1% increased 265% in the past generation while the incomes of the 99% stagnated.
So inventing 10 new “Words That Matter” is dangerous for these governors, because the occupiers are smart enough to pick up not only the insincerity of the rhetoric, but a growing awareness of the widening inequality gap.
It’s time to tell Luntz to forget politicians, redeliver his message to their Super Rich donors. They should be “very scared,” not the politicians. Why? Because they have a lot to lose. And not just new taxes.
As I predicted a few months ago in “Tax the “Super Rich or Riots Will Rage in 2012” just before OWS launched, the Super Rich better expect a renewed Arab Spring-style revolution here in America in 2012, if they simply ignore the demands of the movement. Read “Tax the Super Rich or riots will rage in 2012.”
And yet, it seemed so obvious. Though not to guys like Luntz who still can’t see the inequality gap is where it was in 1929. But you don’t have to be a genius to figure out what happens next: A catastrophic market crash followed by an economic depression.
Still, all this has nothing to do with politics. Not back then. Not now. So here’s how Luntz’s 10-strategy playbook should be annotated for the Super Rich who are the real powers behind Luntz’s political clients.
We began with what Yahoo News reporter Chris Moody heard Luntz tell the 29 governors about how to “fight back by changing the way they discuss the movement.” My re-edits shift the focus to the real problem, the growing economic class war between the Super Rich and the 99%. Hopefully to improve the dialogue. Listen:
1. Capitalism is a bad word, don’t say it
Luntz admits: “I’m trying to get that word removed and we’re replacing it with either ‘economic freedom’ or ‘free market’.” He admits the public “prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral.” But don’t mention “capitalism?” Impossible: Capitalism is in the genes of these conservative governors. Has been since Adam Smith, the “Wealth of Nations” and 1776.
Deny capitalism exists? They’ll sound hypocritical to both occupiers and their base.
2. Taxing the rich is bad. Say government’s taking from the rich
Clever, say “taking” not “taxing.” This word play will backfire: Luntz admits “If you talk about raising taxes on the rich,” polls show most voters want to tax millionaires. So shift the focus: Say government’s “taking the money from hard-working Americans?”
Luntz is too clever with his Words That Work. He’s also ignoring the fact that billionaires like Buffett, the new Patriotic Millionaires and others see a need for new tax revenues to feed the recovery.
3. Never say middle class: Call them hard-working taxpayers
Luntz admits that most Americans know the governors are not defending the middle class. He also knows polls show most Americans don’t trust the Republicans to fight for the middle class. But the advantage shifts when the buzzwords become “defending hard-working taxpayers.”
Warning: New buzzwords without new policies will ring hollow to many occupiers who are unemployed, lost benefits, lack job prospects or can’t find a new job for their training.
4. Stop talking about jobs, instead talk about careers
Luntz apparently has a very low opinion of the intelligence of occupiers. Folks, the word jobs just is not going away because of our 16% rate of underemployment. And yet Luntz asked his audience: “Everyone in this room talks about jobs,” but who wants a job? Raise your hands, he asked. “Few hands went up.”
But then “he asked ‘who wants a career?’ Almost every hand was raised. So why are we talking about jobs?” I wonder how many of the 99% laughed at that cruel joke. It really is “the economy stupid.” We really need jobs.
5. Never say government spending, it’s government waste
Luntz’s polling apparently tells him that most Americans are not against government spending, on them. But call it government waste, because that “makes people angry.”
6. Compromise is bad. Never admit you’re willing to compromise
The “no-new-taxes” pledge is a must for these 29 governors. Luntz warns: “If you talk about ‘compromise,’ they’ll say you’re selling out.” Your base “doesn’t want you to ‘compromise … replace it with ‘cooperation.’ It means the same thing. But cooperation means you stick to your principles but still get the job done. Compromise says that you’re selling out those principles.”
Unfortunately, the public, especially the 99%, see past the jargon into today’s economic reality, and an “unprincipled” failure to “cooperate.”
7. Tell occupiers, ‘I get it, you’re angry, we’ll fix it.’ Sound sincere
Luntz definitely has chutzpa: “Here are three words for you all: ‘I get it.’ … ‘I get that you’re angry. I get that you’ve seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system.’” Then, he instructed, “offer Republican solutions to the problem.” What, more solutions? Better ones? Different from the solutions the 99-percenters believe are the problem?
Warning: America’s problem is not about politics. Not Republican political solutions. Nor Democrat. Too self-destructive. No, this is not about politics. This is a class war, a new American Revolution. Luntz’s sweet talk won’t convince governors. Nor their base. Nor the OWS who’ve been conned too often. So please get it. The 99% will smell the insincerity.
8. Entrepreneur or innovator are bad words, say job creator
From a purely behavioral economic standpoint this one is guaranteed to have unintended consequences and backfire. America’s global competitive thrust is driven by innovators and entrepreneurs. Imagine telling Silicon Valley they’re now just “small-business owners” and “job creators.” That’s guaranteed to make them wonder if these 29 states actually support America’s desperately needed “innovation” and “entrepreneurship.”
9. Never ask anyone to sacrifice, especially not millionaires
Luntz admits that “there isn’t an American today … who doesn’t think they’ve already sacrificed. If you tell them you want them to ‘sacrifice,’ they’re going to be pretty angry at you.” Solution? Luntz says “talk about how ‘we’re all in this together.’ We either succeed together or we fail together.”
Afterwards? Once back home in their states, see who still gets the tax breaks … who’s forced to make concessions … who’s still “sacrificing” in a world of politicians who signed that “no-new-taxes-for-the-rich” pledge.
10. Blame Washington, and never take responsibility
No, Luntz does not get the OWS movement yet. These guys are natural enemies. Governors are also in a class war with occupiers. Yet Luntz tells them to tell the 99-Percenters: “You shouldn’t be occupying Wall Street, you should be occupying Washington … occupy the White House because it’s the policies over the past few years that have created this problem.”
Warning, the 99% have long memories, they recall the Bush years, the massive war spending. They remember the 2008 meltdown. They see Wall Street greed unabated, their spending hundreds of millions fighting reforms. They know this is not about politics.
America is in a class war, the Super Rich versus the 99%. And the occupiers are not going away, vanishing into the cold winter nights. They’re already planning their version of an Arab Spring in 2012.
Finally, a little bonus … never, never say bonus!
Luntz also warned his state governors not to use the word bonus if they give staffers any extra money this holiday season. Why? The rest of America is sacrificing. “If you give out a bonus at a time of financial hardship, you’re going to make people angry.” Reframe your bonuses, call them “pay for performance.”
Yes, Luntz remains one of the greatest behavioral economists ever. He could rewire, debug and reprogram individual and collective brains with just a few verbal flip-flops.
Here’s what I said in 2007: “Luntz is the guy who reframed much of the political rhetoric since 2000: In this new fantasy land ‘oil drilling’ magically becomes ‘energy exploration,’ the ‘estate tax’ becomes the ‘death tax,’ ‘logging’ becomes ‘healthy forests initiative.’
But after Wall Street’s 2007 meltdown, a new battlefield emerged. And unfortunately, Luntz just keeps fighting his old “War of Words” on familiar turf. Except now it’s class warfare. And Luntz is losing.
Welshman says:
When USSR imploded I thought the U.S. was going to have a golden century, how wrong I was.
When the U.S. middle classes goes belly up, we are toast.
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6th December 2011 at 9:51 am
Wyoming Mike says:
Luntz is a complete tool in Sean Hannity’s pocket. How’s that phoney Herman Cain polling working out for you jackass??
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6th December 2011 at 10:41 am
Administrator says:
How to make ‘zillions’ on Wall Street
Commentary: Anyone can try their hand at the stock-options game
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — When it comes to Wall Street, a lot of people are like Dilbert’s boss. Anything they don’t understand, they figure, must be easy to do.
A front-page story in Sunday’s New York Times announced that “Financial firms are preparing to dole out huge amounts of stock at depressed prices, the value of which could rise substantially in a few years.”
“’This year is the perfect situation where they can say it is a modest bonus season, but in the end, it could end up making many of them zillionaires,’” said Jonathan R. Macey, a professor of corporate law and finance at Yale. ‘Not all banks may do well in the long run, but most will.’” Read New York Times story on bank bonuses.
It must sound plausible to people who don’t follow the stock market. It’s enough to make angry readers pound the table.
My suggestion? If you think it’s that easy, try it.
Shares in Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) , aka the Vampire Squid, have nearly halved this year to just $100 amid fears of a Greece-inspired financial crisis. They were $170 at New Year’s. Way back in 2007, before the wheels came off, they touched $248.
At today’s prices, anyone who is even remotely bullish on the economy — or even on Wall Street — ought to be a buyer. The stock trades on a bargain-level eight times forecast earnings. It’s barely 70% of book value. That’s a distressed valuation scarcely ever seen since Goldman went public in 1999. Just once — briefly, during the 2008-9 crash — has it been this cheap in relation to net assets. For most of the past decade it’s traded at twice book value, and in 2007 it traded at three times.
Anyone who knows for certain that the stock is going to boom again can simply go out and buy it.
You could, indeed, buy call options. For about $23 you can buy $100 options, good until January 2014. So long as the stock crosses $123 at some point between now and then, you’ll make money. Maybe even “zillions.” If it doesn’t, all you lose is $23 a share.
The picture is similar at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) . The stock, $28 at the start of the year, is down to around $16. That’s half book value, and less than eight times forecast earnings. Back in 2007 the stock topped $70.
You can buy $15 calls, good until January 2014, for as little as $5.40 a share. Indeed, if you want to take a leveraged bet you can buy $30 calls for just $1.65 a share. If the banks boom, you’ll make a fortune.
Let the good times roll.
Okay, if you really wanted to emulate the bonus boys on Wall Street, of course, you’d place your bets with other people’s money.
Just move all your current assets — home, life savings and so on — to where creditors couldn’t touch them. Rack up your credit card debts, and buy fistfuls of these options on margin. If Wall Street boomed, you’ll make a fortune. If it tanked, just file for bankruptcy, like Lehman Brothers, and walk away.
Cynical? Me?
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6th December 2011 at 11:09 am
ron says:
So you work for a large company and they make big profits and you what?want them to spread the wealth your way? Life isnt fair and unless you own the company your job well pay onlyt so much.Thats life.
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6th December 2011 at 11:17 am
ron says:
So you work for a large company and they make big profits and you what?want them to spread the wealth your way? Life isnt fair and unless you own the company your job well pay only so much.Thats life.
Im more upset with all the companys that packed it up and went overseas and now we buy products made cheaper in countrys we cant compete with wages wise.
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6th December 2011 at 11:20 am
AWD says:
“Why the fear? Because Luntz is convinced the OWS movement is “having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism.”
First of all, we don’t have capitalism. When government bails-out losses, transfers toxic assets to the taxpayers, rewards criminal and psychopathic behavior, and removes all financial consequences from risk taking, it’s a financial oligarchy. If the American people are dumb enough to think we have capitalism, they deserve to get screwed. Yet, they keep voting bribed and bought-off criminal politicians into and out of office, hoping something is going to change. If we really did have capitalism, we wouldn’t be facing a collapse of our entire system. Some people are aware of what the hell is going on, and they are protesting. Thank God not everyone is lazy POS in this country.
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6th December 2011 at 11:48 am
Administrator says:
Ron Paul Defends The 99 Percent: ‘It’s A Very Healthy Movement’
Though most Republican presidential candidates make a point of trashing the 99 Percent Movement in an attempt to earn favor among far-right voters, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) had kind words for the popular movement recently.
During a campaign stop in Concord late last month, Paul was asked for his thoughts about Occupy Wall Street. Unlike other GOP candidates who have denigrated the protestors, including Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann, Paul defended the movement and attacked those who used ad hominem attacks against it. “In many ways, it’s a very healthy movement,” said the Texas congressman. He went on to push back against absurd criticisms of the movement: “I’m not one to say, ‘why don’t you get a bath and go get a job and quit crybabying.’ I don’t like that at all.”
PAUL: In many ways, it’s a very healthy movement. I’m not one to say, “why don’t you get a bath and go get a job and quit crybabying.” I don’t like that at all. I think that’s a misunderstanding of where the unemployment comes from. The unemployment comes from policy, government policy, and it’s the federal reserve and the business cycle is not a consequence of free markets. That doesn’t mean I think they’re all perfect out there. [...]
When spontaneous movements occur in a country, the johnny-come-latelys like to join and redirect the original intent of the Tea Party Movement and the original intent of the Occupiers, so for that reason the political people get involved and they try to grab hold of the message, and I think that’s been the case on both sides.
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6th December 2011 at 12:11 pm
DaveP says:
I just watched Admins favorite former Mayor and Governor Ed rendell on MSNBC, he was talking about taxing the top 2%, Do they have to change all the signs now?
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6th December 2011 at 4:17 pm
KaD says:
The Pentagon Is Offering Free Military Hardware To Every Police Department In The US
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/program-1033-military-equipment-police-2011-12#ixzz1fnHH1AkW
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6th December 2011 at 4:51 pm
Diogenes says:
This today from George Lakoff, Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at UC Berkeley:
“Words That Don’t Work”
“Progressives had some fun last week with Frank Luntz, who told the Republican Governors’ Association that he was scared to death of the Occupy movement and recommended language to combat what the movement had achieved. But the progressive critics mostly just laughed, said his language wouldn’t work, and assumed that if Luntz was scared, everything was hunky-dory. Just keep on saying the words Luntz doesn’t like: capitalism, tax the rich, etc.
“It’s a trap.
“When Luntz says he is “scared to death,” he means that the Republicans who hire him are scared to death and he can profit from that fear by offering them new language. Luntz is clever. Yes, Republicans are scared. But there needs to be a serious discussion of both Luntz’s remarks and the progressive non-response.”
Full article: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/07-4
Luntz is no lightweight and neither is Lakoff – even if you don’t like his progressive leanings. Each has spent decades studying how our minds work.
I highly recommend “Philosophy in the Flesh” and “Metaphors We Live By” – both are apolitical.
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6th December 2011 at 2:06 pm