Lies and Lying Luntz

Posted on 02/04/2010 at 9:08 am by Bob Cesca

Circling back to the new Luntz memo, this is the most enormous lie in the batch:

Congress is preparing to enact legislation to pass a law with $4 trillion more for more bailouts. Should people who write the financial reform laws be the same ones who helped cause the crisis? Should taxpayers be punished and the big banks and credit card companies be rewarded? The time has come to take a stand. Oppose the big bank bailout bill. ["$4 trillion more for more" is a typo in the memo.]

Uh what now? The financial regulatory reform plan is absolutely not a $4 trillion bailout. Obviously. In fact, the proposal is the exact opposite of a bailout.

Jon Chait writes that this is the equivalent of the Democrats campaigning against Sam Alito’s Supreme Court nomination by suggesting that Bush had really nominated Charles Manson.

But the good news here is that it commits in writing the ongoing Republican strategy of making shit up. That’s something.

This entry was posted in Economy and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
  • Heathcliff

    Only if the Dems take it and talk back. Not in a defensive posture, but to point out that the mess we’re in was created by the GOP. Memories are short in the MSM, unfortunately, so you need to keep going back and repeating yourself.

  • Georgette Orwell

    The bad news is that this will go unchallenged and become The Truth.

  • eljefejeff

    Unfortunately, these lies have worked in the past and it wouldn’t surprise me if it worked again. It’s not like the average voter knows who Frank Luntz is.

  • http://politicalpartypooper.wordpress.com/ Political Party Pooper

    I recommend taking lies like this one right at Conservative websites and talk shows. As much as I think Rachel Maddow tries to be a serious news person, she’s preaching to the choir and has almost no effect on the national debate. She’d be better suited as a visiting pundit.Likewise, when all we do is visit sites that agree with us and leave comments like, “Way to go Bob!” at every site, we are not advancing the debate, because we are not changing minds, and changing minds is the very business of politics.Independents visit both Left and Right sites, and sort of click through cable news programs, going back and forth while whining about the fact that every channel is on exactly the same commercial break schedule. They regularly wear out one Remote a year.The point is, the base of the Left and Right cannot change minds by only engaging with themselves. They also cannot change minds by calling every opposing or Independent visitor a “troll”.The debate has rules, and those who are still deciding absolutely pay attention to manners and disposition when these debates start.Here’s the deal: If the Left won’t leave home, the Left will lose. The Right was forced to leave home, because their home burned down.Right now, on channel after channel, you mostly see Republicans engaged in the debate, and who are they debating? It almost looks like the answer is “no one”. Where are the Democrats? What are they waiting for? Do they even realize that there is a national debate taking place?

  • roxsteady

    What the Dems should do is hold a press conference this afternoon. Bring this memo and read off a list of the talking points that we should expect to hear. They could warn us to be aware of these phrases. By the way, that photo that Luntz used to illustrate small business owners, which was a photo of a Democrat was hilarious!

  • jhw22

    Funny title since I just started re-reading “Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell…” last night. The story itself is not so funny. It’s infuriating.Jennifer

  • indyinwc

    I was enjoying “Lost” on Monday night, when some political ad floated by espousing basically the same thing. I generally walk away during commercials, so I only caught part of it, but enough to know it was complete and utter nonsensical propaganda. Anybody else catch this?

  • Rogect8

    The automatic response to anything along these lines should be – “Then I suppose the banks are in favor of the legislation you’re talking about, right?”I’d say that there’s nowhere for wingnuts to hide afterwards, but we all know they’re capable of some pretty elaborate mental gymnastics.Jesus. What a confederacy of dunces.

  • Irish Girl

    Yes, where are the Dems on this? Why aren’t they in the media, ahead of the curve on the Luntz memo? And where are the left-leaning protestors? I honestly can’t tell if there simply aren’t as many left-leaning protestors out there or if the MSM isn’t covering them the same as the wingnuts.

  • brutlyhonest

    Another classic fail by the dems :( The ad indyinwc mentions has been running here in Va Beach for about a week. It is ridiculously illogical, but I know I’m not the target. It has pictures of all the liberal bogeymen (and women) and basically says that the proposed financial reform regulations are really another giveaway to the fatcats. We’re encouraged to call our Senators to stop the insanity.

    I should write down the name of the group that paid for the add – it was a classic “name it the opposite of its real intent” moniker.

  • phastphil

    Actually it was Judge Roy Bean, but I digress.

  • Wolfe_Tone

    Though not specific to the topic, another example of Right Wingers simply making shit up.