Talk Radio Rules Blue Dog States
There's a showdown at the House Energy and Commerce Committee corral. Seven Blue Dog Democrat members are banding together, and if they don't get their way, they can gun down the health care bill.
The Blue Dog Seven are spooked by pressure from their constituents and recent polls that show American's approval of Obama's health care initiative has dropped below 50 percent for the first time.
Drive across the seven states they represent: Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Utah, turn on your car radio, and you'll know why public opinion has changed. According to Pew research, 22 percent of Americans get their news from talk radio. And conservative talkers have been lying to their listeners about what's in the health care bill.
Lies from Sean Hannity like, "If you don't have private insurance the year that this bill is passed, you can't get that later on from your employer." Lies from Rush Limbaugh that the bill would "outlaw individual private coverage." Lies provided in talking points from the Republican National Committee like "Democrats are proposing a government controlled health insurance system, which will control care, treatments, medicines and even what doctors a patient may see."
Tell a lie often enough, and people will believe it.
And there is nobody there to call them on their lies. Nobody there to set the record straight. Nobody to push back against the propaganda that corporate radio promotes in its own political self interest. In the Blue Dog Seven states, just three stations broadcast any kind of progressive talk. Three progressive radio stations in seven entire states. But Sean Hannity "freely" prevaricates on dozens of radio stations; Rush Limbaugh deceives people on 98 in those seven states alone. 98 publicly owned frequencies where public debate comes second to selling ads for Snapple.
Special assistant to the President for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, Susan Crawford told Broadcasting and Cable magazine, "The administration understands the important role traditional terrestrial broadcasting continues to play."
Maybe they should be listening to FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who says in Broadcast Blues, "If you're concerned about health care or you're concerned about the environment as your number one issue, fine, but a piece of advice from me, is you better make media reform your number two issue, because you won't get anywhere on number one without media reform."
Former Republican Senator Trent Lott had it right when he said Conservative Talk Radio is running the country. There needs to be a showdown, but it's the 1996 Telecommunications Act that should be gunned down.
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I follow the broadcast industry the way my fellow Bostonians follow the Red Flops, and I'd like to expand on one point: the advertisers on right-wing shows. Some hosts like Limbaugh and Ingraham promote General Motors (detect any irony?) but in addition to Snapple, the ads are mainly for: get-out-of
Sue's documentary is awesome
http://Bro
the morons who tune in to that garbage are getting what they want.
Take a look at America.
Our Founding Fathers would cry.
If Air America could get the corporate sponsorship like Rush's radio show, the viewership would probably overshadow those who listen to Rush ten-fold. Unfortunately, corporate greed is what feeding the Right-Wing Media "machine" and gosh darn it, they cannot let the facts interfere with their agenda!
I have been saying that talk radio has been the number 1 propaganda tool by the Corporate right for over 10 yrs. That is why they totally freak out when you mention the Fairness Doctrine. We have allowed 5 companies to own 95 percent of media. Over 91 percent of radio stations are totally right wing misinformation.
Josef Goebbells (propaganda minister for Hitler) once said. You can control any people any time anywhere by doing 3 things
1. Always have an enemy (Govt, gays, immigrants etc)
2. wrap your message in the flag,so that you are the Patriot and any one who disagrees will be attacked.
3. Control the message,but it must be in a way that is repeated and repeated so it becomes the truth
(see talk radio)
I think Goebbels never actually said this, it is more like a summary of his propaganda principles. Here's another:
"There is no truth, only what people believe to be true. Control people’s perceptions of the world and you can control their beliefs. A big lie is as believable as a small one, just declare something long enough in an environment where alternative views are not heard and it becomes true by belief; evidence of truth or falsity is irrelevant. Tell people what they want to hear; give them: simple solutions to complex problems, enemies on whom they can blame their discontents, promises to satisfy their narrow aspirations, spectacles and ceremonies to stir the emotions and suppress critical thinking, manufactured news and contrived reports that support the party line".
http://www
Goebbels of course was only following Hitler, here is a quote from Mein Kampf:
"All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true in itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying."
And a summary of Hitler's propaganda principles:
"His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it"
http://www
Pretty chilling..
AM talk radio is not based on the exchange of facts. It's based on pandering to the self-esteem of disenfranchised losers. Might as well expect a cat to not sleep in the sun.
The basis for any public option should be:
Coverage for EVERYONE who applies
Structured premium payments of not more than 100 per individual, 300 per family
Deductibles capped at $2000 and based on income (means testing every year like the va)
No mandates forcing people to purchase insurance (this is a windfall for private carriers)
No triggers (this is also a windfall to private carriers)
No subsidies to private insurance carriers
No taxes on employer provided benefits
If someone has private insurance and wants the public option, they can drop private with no problem and be covered immediately under public.
No mandates on employers to buy into the public option to cover employees. Has to be free choice.
Everyone with coverage gets treated for new or pre-existing conditions.
Fairly negotiated reimbursement to private pracitce, specialty doctors and hospitals
Fairly negotiated prices for medications, even on name brand stuff which has no generic equivalent.
AND IT HAS TO BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. Within 1 month of the above bill passing, Americans must be able to start buying in and using it.
See my next post on funding
47 million un insured
20 million under insured
Subtract 10 million poor/indig
18.5 million can pay $50/mo = 925,000,000
18.5 mill can pay $100 = $1,850,000,000
20 mill under insured will switch and can pay $100 = 2,000,000,000
That is a grand total of $4,775,000,000
That is FOUR BILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS IN PREMIUM PAYMENTS PER MONTH. FIFTY SEVEN BILLION THREE HUNDRED THIRTY MILLION PER YEAR IN PREMIUMS FOR ONE SET OF PEOPLE.
That does'nt count the millions who'll switch from private companies if they can pay $100 or 200 per month and have their entire family covered even with pre-existing conditions. Repeal bush tax cuts asap another 700 billion.
After thinking about it more, institute a 1 penny federal sales tax on EVERY item. I can hear the opponents shouting about making the poor poorer, but my statement is 1 cent on each item NOT on every dollar or hundred dollars. From candy bars tto big screen tv's to your house. 1 cent on everything. If your grocery bill was $100. for 53 items, your bill would be $100.53. That's not putting people in the poorhouse especially when we've been dealing with price increases. Also, if you're saving 300-500 per month on insurance, you have that money to spend and put back in the economy, save, or invest.
The statistics cited show just how stupid that 22percent of Americans is that they would choose only to listen to those a**wipes instead of utilizing other sources as well, like, I don't know, TV? Or the internet? Or maybe a newspaper or news magazine? I don't care how poor they may be, most of em have a darned tv at least.
This is BS. Tell these cowardly DOGS to debunk the lies. They won't do it because the are corporate DOGS!!
I predicted from the start that the talk radio juggernaut which took over and ruined American would roll Obama simply because it already has organized perhaps 100 million red necks, while Generation O has just gotten started as a force, is partly spent from the election struggle, and not as motivated as the Klan crowd.
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