<\/strong>I\u2019m being recruited by the Heritage Foundation. They like me, they really like me! Or, perhaps, they like my zipcode and phone number, which apparently place me smack in the middle of conservative-voting territory and make me a prime target for their particular brand of baloney. They want my membership money, and they’re willing to send out a nine-page [!] mailing to try to get it.<\/p>\n

But why should I be the only one to read their sales pitch? Now, you can see it too, because I’m sharing the highlights with you right here. It\u2019s not going to work for me, and it\u2019s not new, but it\u2019s worth a look, just to remind ourselves of what progressives are up against in the battle against the non-fact-based, fear-driven gut of some American voters.<\/p>\n

In rereading this mailing, I was struck by the use of language and imagery to portray the \u201cLeft\u201d as an un-American, baby-ish [see: \u201ctemper tantrums,\u201d screaming\u201d and \u201cwailing\u201d], negative, Constitution-wrecking, autocratic, Big Brother, \u201cEuropean,\u201d \u00a0\u201creckless,\u201d unruly \u201chorde.\u201d See for yourself. Here are some excerpts, which I\u2019ve culled so you don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

What the Heritage Foundation says about President Obama<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe havoc wreaked by President Obama and his Leftist allies has left wreckage that will take years to clean up. They took a bad situation created by reckless government spending and an unprecedented financial crisis\u2026and made it much, much worse\u2026adding $2.7 trillion to our national debt in just two years!<\/p>\n

\u201cThey pursued their laundry list of costly liberal policies, the clear wishes of the American people notwithstanding, and charge ahead as if it meant nothing to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey inflicted \u2018ObamaCare\u2019 on us, one of the worst, most bureaucratic and byzantine, and most destructive pieces of legislation in our history.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they continue to push a discredited redistributionist agenda to \u2018share the wealth\u2019 by expanding government\u2019s power over all our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Social Security and Medicare, Heritage Foundation says\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the best thing we can do\u2026is to finally get serious about reforming the \u2018entitlement\u2019 programs that are driving our nation to bankruptcy while making us more dependent as a people.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan to fix this system would provide all retirees with premium-support payments from government to help them purchase a health care plan of their choice. We would also decrease payments for the wealthiest citizens, and cap total Medicare spending to prevent runaway costs, while protecting seniors from medical bankruptcy using catastrophic coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call for repealing ObamaCare in its entirety\u2026We urge providing a health insurance tax credit of $2,000 for individuals and $3,500 for families, with extra support for low-income families.<\/p>\n

On government and taxes, Heritage Foundation says\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan rolls back non-defense spending to 2008 levels, moves some federal programs back to the states, privatizes others and ends some altogether. It also sells $260 billion in federal assets over 15 years. Here, we\u2019re guided by the principle that government should only do what is authorized by the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan would replace today\u2019s complex tax system with a single rate for all, holding the government\u2019s take at no more than 18.5 percent of the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our key goals here is to persuade the American public to stop thinking of Social Security and Medicare as open-ended \u2018defined-benefit\u2019 entitlements, and start thinking of them as insurance designed to provide real economic security for those who need it most. We know that this will be an uphill battle, as Americans have been conditioned to believe that since they \u2018paid into\u2019 the programs, they\u2019re entitled to all those benefits. But they need to understand that the system can no longer deliver on these promises\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Scare tactics, words of fear and other baloney<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can practically hear the wails of the liberals and their defenders in the news media already,\u201d it says here on page 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will take real courage to stand up to the demagoguery, the lies, and the fear-mongering thrown our way by the voices who want to see our nation go the way of Europe\u2019s socialist welfare states.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aim to\u2026take on all those who say there\u2019s no turning back from our current road to socialism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[Liberals are] reduced to trotting out their old-style class warfare rhetoric to try and fire up their troops, while hordes of angry, bitter Leftists take to the streets to try and \u2018occupy\u2019 Wall Streed and demand more redistribution of wealth. Theirs is not an optimistic vision of the future. They see a tomorrow of bitter clashes over diminishing resources, of using the government to take from those who\u2019ve earned it to give to those who demand, of constant screaming and protesting and temper tantrums. That\u2019s not an American dream, that\u2019s an un-American nightmare!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottom line<\/strong><\/p>\n

This kind of language and persuasion is dangerously effective, and that’s why progressives need to get over our disappointments over President Obama’s lack of perfection and make sure that he is re-elected in November 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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