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The real goal of all those anti-Obamacare ads
The real goal of all those anti-Obamacare ads
By Greg Sargent
Republicans are absolutely convinced the Dem strategy of tying GOP Senate candidates to the Koch brothers is born of desperation and certain to fail. I don’t know whether the Dem strategy will “work.” People may not vote on who is bankrolling all those ads, and at any rate the fundamental underlying situation Dems face may prove too difficult for this approach or anything else they try to overcome.
But the substance of the debate over the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity’s millions in anti-Obamacare ads matters, since they could help decide Senate control.
We now have a new report that lays bare the goal of these ads in a remarkably unvarnished way.
The New York Times takes a hard look at the real goal of the AFP strategy and whom it is designed to benefit. Previously, AFP’s stated aim had been nothing more than repealing Obamacare. But the Times notes that these ads are really about turning people against government as a positive agent of change for ordinary Americans:
This is exactly the case Dems are making against the AFP’s attacks. The real purpose of the Dem strategy is to create a framework for a broader argument about the true goals and priorities of the actual GOP policy agenda. It’s about tapping into a sense that the economy is rigged against ordinary Americans, and in favor of the one percent, and dramatizing that the GOP’s economic agenda would preserve that status quo, blocking any government policies designed to address stagnant mobility and soaring inequality. Or that, as Jonathan Chait puts it, the GOP has “built a policy agenda around plutocracy,” and its primary ”organizing purpose is to safeguard the economic interests of the very rich.”
- more -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/03/21/the-real-goal-of-all-those-anti-obamacare-ads/
By Greg Sargent
Republicans are absolutely convinced the Dem strategy of tying GOP Senate candidates to the Koch brothers is born of desperation and certain to fail. I don’t know whether the Dem strategy will “work.” People may not vote on who is bankrolling all those ads, and at any rate the fundamental underlying situation Dems face may prove too difficult for this approach or anything else they try to overcome.
But the substance of the debate over the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity’s millions in anti-Obamacare ads matters, since they could help decide Senate control.
We now have a new report that lays bare the goal of these ads in a remarkably unvarnished way.
The New York Times takes a hard look at the real goal of the AFP strategy and whom it is designed to benefit. Previously, AFP’s stated aim had been nothing more than repealing Obamacare. But the Times notes that these ads are really about turning people against government as a positive agent of change for ordinary Americans:
Officials of the organization say their effort is not confined to hammering away at President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.. They are also trying to present the law as a case study in government ineptitude to change the way voters think about the role of government for years to come.
“We have a broader cautionary tale,” said Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity. “The president’s out there touting billions of dollars on climate change. We want Americans to think about what they promised with the last social welfare boondoggle and look at what the actual result is.”
Leaders of the effort say it has great appeal to the businessmen and businesswomen who finance the operation and who believe that excess regulation and taxation are harming their enterprises and threatening the future of the country. The Kochs, with billions in holdings in energy, transportation and manufacturing, have a significant interest in seeing that future government regulation is limited.
This is exactly the case Dems are making against the AFP’s attacks. The real purpose of the Dem strategy is to create a framework for a broader argument about the true goals and priorities of the actual GOP policy agenda. It’s about tapping into a sense that the economy is rigged against ordinary Americans, and in favor of the one percent, and dramatizing that the GOP’s economic agenda would preserve that status quo, blocking any government policies designed to address stagnant mobility and soaring inequality. Or that, as Jonathan Chait puts it, the GOP has “built a policy agenda around plutocracy,” and its primary ”organizing purpose is to safeguard the economic interests of the very rich.”
- more -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/03/21/the-real-goal-of-all-those-anti-obamacare-ads/
Robert Reich on Obamacare: It’s Working Despite Misinformation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024699353
8 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
These people aren't happy with the billions they each already have or the taxes they don't have to pay. They want more. They want it all if they can get it. They don't care who they have to hurt, kill or break in order to get it. And when they get it, it still won't be enough. They don't care about the environment, the air you breath, the water you drink. Wake up people! The only way they can be stopped is if we all, conservative and liberals, understand the problem and band together.
