New ObamaCare talking points: Forget previous talking points
Some liberal groups are finally acknowledging the obvious: Hardly anyone believed their claims that ObamaCare would “bend the cost curve downward” and help balance the federal budget.
The public rejection of the claims may not be news, but the left’s acknowledgment of this defeat does qualify as a scoop — and Politico’s Ben Smith is the one who got it:
Key White House allies are dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and the deficit and instead stressing a promise to “improve it.”
The messaging shift was circulated this afternoon on a conference call and PowerPoint presentation organized by Families USA — one of the central groups in the push for the initial legislation. The call was led by a staffer for the Herndon Alliance, which includes leading labor groups and other health care allies. It was based on polling from three top Democratic pollsters, John Anzalone, Celinda Lake and Stan Greenberg
The confidential presentation, available in full here and provided to POLITICO by a source on the call, suggests that Democrats are acknowledging the failure of their predictions that the health care legislation would grow more popular after its passage, as its benefits became clear and rhetoric cooled. Instead, the presentation is designed to win over a skeptical public and to defend the legislation — and in particular the individual mandate — from a push for repeal.
The presentation concedes that groups typically supportive of Democratic causes — people under 40, non-college-educated women and Hispanic voters — have not been won over by the plan. Indeed, it stresses repeatedly, many are unaware that the legislation has passed, an astonishing shortcoming in the White House’s all-out communications effort.
“Straightforward ‘policy’ defenses fail to [move] voters’ opinions about the law,” reads one slide. “Women in particular are concerned that health care law will mean less provider availability — scarcity an issue.”
The presentation also concedes that the fiscal and economic arguments that were the White House’s first and most aggressive sales pitch have essentially failed.
“Many don’t believe health care reform will help the economy,” reads another slide.
The presentation’s final page of “Don’ts” counsels against claiming “the law will reduce costs and [the] deficit.”
So, what do the pollsters and advisers recommend? That Democrats and their fellow travelers focus instead on personal stories like greedy doctors who needlessly remove kids’ tonsils — er, I mean, greedy doctors who amputate diabetics’ feet instead of telling them to modify their diets — er, I mean, well, Smith reports the advice here:
“People can be moved from initial skepticism and support for repeal of the law to favorable feelings and resisting repeal,” it says. “Use personal stories — coupled with clear, simple descriptions of how the law benefits people at the individual level — to convey critical benefits of reform.”
And, finally, they recommend telling the public that the law may not be that great, but don’t worry — the great ObamaCare debate of 2009-10 was just a prelude to our efforts to truly fix health care:
“Keep claims small and credible; don’t overpromise or ’spin’ what the law delivers,” it says, suggesting supporters say, “The law is not perfect, but it does good things and helps many people. Now we’ll work to improve it.”
How about this for a tagline: “We had to pass the bill so that we could find out what needed fixing in it.”
(H/t: Hot Air)
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
289 comments Add your comment
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
9:44 pm
And a top ‘o the old Braves cap to the Giants for finally beating Phillie.
@@
August 19th, 2010
9:46 pm
an insane asylum missing its Nurse Ratched.
I heard THAT! I used to go over there to read Ragnar Danneskjold (really good at what he did). He’s gone so no point anymore.
Totally off topic, but I watched two squirrels scurry across my deck today…each had a whole tomato in their mouth. You’d think they could share.
BEASTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
9:46 pm
Well that typ ‘o should be tip ‘o not top ‘o but the comment is on top anyway. What a topsy-turvy place for the page to change too.
Drifter
August 19th, 2010
9:47 pm
LIsten, I’ve voted for Republicans most of my adult life, but Obamacare is the result of GOP failures. If the Republicans I helped elect had done their jobs correctly, had walked the talk when they had the power, they wouldn’t have gotten the boot in 2008. But they didn’t. They grew government just like the Democrats. They got us in two wars and had no intention of ending either of them. They trampled the Constitution in favor of some perceived security. And as for health care, they ignored it.
You can gripe about what the Democrats have done with Obamacare all you want, but at least they’re looking at the problem. We pay 50% more in health care costs (as a product of GDP) than the countries with the best health care in the world and we get much poorer results. We deserve better than that.
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
9:48 pm
RW
That’s the ticket! We might ought to quit calling him Bruin and start calling him Nurse Ratched! Have to give him credit, he certainly knows our personalities…now, Kyle? He’s just TOO nice sometimes…I have, though, been grateful for his generous welcome of us bunch of misfits…
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 19th, 2010
9:50 pm
On prepositions and baseball players:
A while back Bob Costas was interviewing some former umpires on MLB Network. I can’t remember his name but one umpire told of this humorous conversation between himself, as home plate umpire, and Lou Pinella as batter. (From memory, may not be word for word)
Umpire: Strike
Lou: What?
Umpire: It was a strike
Lou: No, it wasn’t
Umpire: Well it looked like a strike to me.
Lou: So, if it was a strike, where was the pitch at?
Umpire: Lou, you know you aren’t supposed to end a sentence with a preposition.
(Lou looks puzzled steps into batter’s box)
Lou: Time out?
Umpire: Time
(Lou steps out of batters box)
Lou: So where was the pitch at, a$$hole?
@@
August 19th, 2010
9:53 pm
Every day, the President looks more and more like the boob he is.
I heard…well read THAT too!
I kept telling myself he’d get better. He didn’t.
I want to have compassion for the dilemma he finds himself in, but DANGIT!!!!!!!! he’s a grown man, and the press has allowed him to remain Mama’s boy (no racial slur intended).
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
9:54 pm
@@
Strange year with the squirrels…they actually left the peaches alone this year and we had a bumper crop of tree-ripened ones…they left the tomatoes alone, too, but they just kept digging up and throwing out the impatiens in the window boxes to bury their whatever it was they were burying…but I could sit and watch the little b*ggers for hours…even if Unmentionable does keep threatening them with the stew pot for raiding the bird feeder…
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 19th, 2010
9:55 pm
Kyle? He’s just TOO nice sometimes
That he is. I actually had to ask him to call me Hillbilly instead of Mr.Deluxe. I appreciated the respect but it sounded too uppity to apply to me. Oops, there I go using the “U” word again.
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 19th, 2010
9:56 pm
they actually left the peaches alone this year
Probably because they’d grown tired of peaches, after they ate all mine.
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
9:57 pm
They got us in two wars and had no intention of ending either of them
Drifter,
Our combat troops are out of Iraq because Obama left the Bush plan and schedule in place. He really ought to thank President Bush, but somehow I don’t see him doing that.
AmVet
August 19th, 2010
9:59 pm
RW and HD, did you see where Clemens was indicted for perjury?
Jeez, what a mess.
Hillbilly, I haven’t followed the Cubbies but was curious if Sweet Lou has had any meltdowns this year.
Just watched a great special about Dawson’s induction into Cooperstown on ESPN. And man did the memories start flooding back in from my visit there. One of the most special places a baseball fan could ever hope to see.
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
9:59 pm
We might ought to quit calling him Bruin
josef,
Who’s this we?
Honu
August 19th, 2010
10:00 pm
Hi RW — I could not have described her blog better!!!
Josef — if I didn’t make myself clear earlier, I totally understand your viewpoint. And yes, teaching is definitely a calling. My sistah and I get along famously — except for the fact she’s a staunch conservative and well. . .I’m not. I think I hear her mumbling the word idiot. . .
@@
August 19th, 2010
10:01 pm
josef:
but I could sit and watch the little b*ggers for hours
Would you sit still and watch ‘em steal your tomatoes? Each time I go to pick, I throw 2 or 3 outside the garden. Do the BEASTS appreciate my generosity? Heck no!!!
Little thieves!!!
AmVet
August 19th, 2010
10:01 pm
Uppity Hillbillies! Well, I do declare!
josef, it was only after I had been back in this country for sometime that I learned they were called Impatiens. I only knew them as Busy Lizzies!
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
10:01 pm
Amvet,
I think Lou said a few weeks ago he had done all he could with that bunch and was gonna be gone at the end of the year. Seems to me like he should have gone as soon as he said that, but maybe he isn’t really leaving.
@@
August 19th, 2010
10:03 pm
Uh Oh! I just remembered…Honu didn’t like Ragner a/k/a jbmlaw.
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:05 pm
Hillbilly
Uppity people of the world unite!
Sorry about the peaches…we had fresh fried peach pies, peach cobbler, some in the freezer and plenty left over for the neighborhood kids to come by and munch on…it WAS really special…
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:12 pm
@@
You and Unmentionable should get together! He’s got a BB gun for ‘em!
Honu
Not to worry…and as for your sistah, and there are still those who think all teachers are liberals! Probably one of the most “conservative” professions out there! Just tune in to the teachers’ lounge…whoo, whee! I sometimes feel like I’m all alone…
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:14 pm
AmVet…
That’s what Granny called them! Haven’t heard it in years…thanks for the pleasant memory…
Rodney S.
August 19th, 2010
10:15 pm
I ain’t got time to read all these stinking comments! I gotta get back to this reality TV show, eat this processed fast food and wait for my government check in the mail. Reading, thinking and words are for losers!
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
10:19 pm
The blogging, baseball, and crop combination just gave me a strange thought. Maybe we all died in that tragic explosion over at Jay B’s and we’re just ghost bloggers transmitting from the edges of Kyle’s cornfield.
Instead of Kookman’s clowns GF will just have to call us the Ghost Bloggers from now on.
Dusty
August 19th, 2010
10:23 pm
Well, the Braves lost today. It is low tide here.
As to Bookman, I am amazed at the abject devotion by some of his followers. Of course he does throw out fresh meat several times a day and speaks a few words of wisdom to the recalcitrants. But it has been a refreshing time without the crazy morning crew here. I bet they are turning blue holding their breath waiting for Bookman’s approach.
But at last, Kyle has gotten hot around the collar on his last two subjects. That’s good. Now there is life here to attack and defend. That thoughtful discussion gets duller than dishwater.
As to squirrels, a pox on all of them. I have a fox aquirrel who marches into my boxy birdfeeder and kicks the bottom out!! I probably have the only birdfeeder in town held together with package tape. Didn’t have duct tape. The doves like the ground spread. They are so regal with their little ground strut..
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:24 pm
RW
Ghost bloggers in the sky? Hmmm, there’s the makings of a song there…
AmVet
August 19th, 2010
10:24 pm
Rodney, LOL!
RW, poor Lou and the North Siders.
I hope I live long enough, that one day I can see them win it all. But damn, I’m running out of time!
And Andy’s beloved Pale Hose are looking kinda weak down the stretch too…
If he builds it, we will come…
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
10:27 pm
Andy’s Pale Hose are taking out some frustrations on the Twins tonight.
You know who should’ve been indicted? Mark McGuire should have been just for going to the hearings and telling them he wasn’t there to talk about the past. I’d of had him held in contempt right then and there.
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:29 pm
Dusty
Hey! Glad to see you even if it is getting time for me to go…but are you SURE you and Unmentionable aren’t, uh, communicating? He has this thing about the doves, too. Squab, I say… them and pigeons…flying rats!
Dusty
August 19th, 2010
10:29 pm
Josef,
Do you think Perdue’s new “investigator” in the almighty test reports will do any good? Supt. Hall has assured everyone that SHE is NOT resigning. OH well. Will Atlanta ever stop its cycle of broken ethics?
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 19th, 2010
10:32 pm
AmVet & RW
Lou hasn’t really had any meltdowns in the last couple years; he’s mellowed I guess. Lou’s contract is up at the end of this year so it’s no surprise that he’s announced his retirement. The last 3 or 4 years, Ryne Sandberg, has been working his way up through the Cubs farm system as a Manager. He’s at AAA Iowa this year and the odds on favorite to get the job in Chicago next year. He’s done pretty well and I think it speaks well of a Hall of Famer, that he was willing to go back to the Minors and ride the buses, rather than just step into a Big League job.
Tyrelle Harris, who was part of the D Lee trade yesterday, pitched 2 scoreless innings tonight in his debut with the AA Tennessee Smokies.
Uppity people of the world unite!
A pet peeve of mine is that I can think of at least 3 terms that Southerners use, that non-Southerners don’t really understand the meaning of. They are “uppity”, “white trash” and “good ol’ boy”.
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
10:32 pm
And while I’m on baseball, do the Phreaking Phillies EVER go on the road?
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:34 pm
Dusty
Being of the discretion is the greater part of valor school of thought, I have to be careful of what i say here since I do use my own name and have paid the price before for exercising my first amendment rights, my opinion is that nothing much will change…some underlings will be sacrificed and the buck will stop there…
Dusty
August 19th, 2010
10:39 pm
Josef,
Unmentionable knows a fine bird when he sees one. Those chesty little smoothies are the elite. Luv the dove!!
As to “squabs”, my great Aunt Kate liked to raise pigeons so she could have squab pie. At my tender age of the time, I thought that was next to murder. Fortunately, I never had to face squab pie. Now Aunt Kate’s coconut cake ,that was different!!!
@@
August 19th, 2010
10:41 pm
According to Stratfor, this guy has returned to Iraq with Iran’s blessing and protection.
The Face of Iraq’s Brutality
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:44 pm
Hillbilly
Those three terms are three of mine, too. The idea that uppity is racist is hilarious to me! I take great pride in being called an uppity whatever the label…outlanders just don’t “get it..” nor do they understand that “white trash” has nothing to do with socio-economic status, but everything to do with “self made.” And “good ole boy (girl)”? The best I’ve ever seen on that is Florence King in “Southern Ladies and Gentlemen…” It’s a COMPLIMENT for G-d’s sake…and I love jer section on “The Good ole boy who’s not…”
Bruno
August 19th, 2010
10:44 pm
AmVet–Personal question for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LukEq643Mk&feature=search
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:47 pm
Dusty
Coconut cake! Ambrosia! Unmentionable claims, and I find no reason to argue, that you have to be at least 80 years old to make a proper one…He’s getting there, though! Makes you look forward to a funeral!
Dusty
August 19th, 2010
10:49 pm
Yes, Josef, I should not have asked you about school matters here. That news is certainly making the rounds of TV shows. Even Perdue was not smiling. Maybe Arne Duncan will come down and put everything in place.! We could have schools like Chicago!!!
RW, shhhhh don’t mention the Phillies. I feel them sneaking up on the Braves. Just my woman’s intuition I suppose.
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
10:52 pm
Dusty,
The Phillies lost today too and as long as the Braves stay pretty much up with them they’ll be in good shape for the wild card even if the Phillies eventually pass them.
josef nix
August 19th, 2010
10:55 pm
OY! Look at the time! Enjoyed the time here with the rest of the misfits. Thanks again to Kyle…hopefully tomorrow night we’ll have our travelling music with Jaybird…
G’night, all….
Bruno
August 19th, 2010
10:55 pm
One more from Jewel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqCTXNMYv2I&feature=related
Dusty
August 19th, 2010
10:59 pm
Josef,
Aunt Kate not only made great cakes, she “canned” a whole pantry full of everything that was edible. She made something callled “acid” which was a very sharp fruit drink, non alcoholic of course. She was Baptist. What a lady! Lived through hard times without complaining and then ended up with only one arm. Yes, doctors removed it and the big lump with it. . She went right back into her garden with her hoe and kept right on working. They don’t make ‘em like Aunt Kate anymore. She had the real “true grit”..
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
10:59 pm
hopefully tomorrow night we’ll have our travelling music with Jaybird…
If not we could always open several of the caves over there and designate the music genre for each. We just can’t announce which is which so we can test the natural order theory.
Dusty
August 19th, 2010
11:01 pm
RW,
Keep your fingers crossed. Go Braves!!!
RW-(the original)
August 19th, 2010
11:03 pm
Dusty,
They have a pretty good track record when bringing in a new first baseman late in the season. Hopefully no stadium boxes will burn up this time though.
@@
August 19th, 2010
11:05 pm
It’s not my intention to put a damper on things here, but this had better work considering that Iran is fixing to cross the threshold.
Turkey has initiated the idea of a conference in Damascus at the end of Ramadan that would aim to solve the Iraqi government crisis at the request of Iraqi elements, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported Aug. 18, citing Iraqi sources in Damascus. The conference would seek to reduce Iranian and U.S. influence in Iraq.
Don't forget
August 19th, 2010
11:06 pm
“That thoughtful discussion gets duller than dishwater.”
Hmm, that’s not the only thing, lol.
@@
August 19th, 2010
11:10 pm
No offense, but it’s kinda rude to hang out here and talk about how eager everyone is to return to jay’s. To borrow from Andy…
just sayin’
@@
August 19th, 2010
11:13 pm
Personally, I’ve always found Kyle’s columns far more thought provoking. A bit more balanced too.
jay’s become way to predictable.
Don't forget
August 19th, 2010
11:17 pm
Now, here’s what Sarah Palin said about Rahm Emanuel’s use of the word “retarded”
“I would ask the president to show decency in this process by eliminating one member of that inner circle, Mr. Rahm Emanuel, and not allow Rahm’s continued indecent tactics to cloud efforts. Just as we’d be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the “N-word” or other such inappropriate language”
So now she’s telling Dr. Laura to “reload” after using the N word 11 times on the air. Hmmmm, sounds kind of hypocritical don’t you think?