War is Peace

I asserted in my George Will post that politicians on the right are no longer arguing in good faith and are simply focused on accumulating power. The best current illustration of this phenomenon is Senate Republicans attempting to characterize the financial regulation bill before Congress as a "continuous Wall Street bailout." Many people are puzzled by this line of attack because Wall Street is aggressively lobbying against the bill. Why would Wall Street lobby against a bill that guarantees it unlimited and never ending bailouts?

The answer is simple: Republicans are lying.

The root of this lie can be traced back to the Republican's wizard behind the curtain: Frank Luntz. (Below is a New Yorker profile on Luntz.)


The Word Lab -

I first noticed Frank Luntz when I saw him in a Frontline documentary "The Persuaders" which I show to my economics students during our consumers and marketing unit. Here he proudly describes his ability to change public opinion by changing words. Perhaps the most famous example is his efforts to change the phrase estate tax to death tax. He muses about how one could get a majority of the public to support a tax cut that only affects two percent of the population? Estate sounds rich and foreign, but everyone know about death.

Genius!

...and evil.

Here is the excerpt from the documentary (Clip begins at 2:18):



Now Luntz's memo to Republicans is advising them on how to defend Wall Street while appearing to be on the side of Main Street.

So to recap:

Estate Tax=Death Tax
Global Warming=Climate Change
Tax Cuts=Tax Relief
Financial Regulation Reform=Wall Street Bailout

Frank Luntz and the Republicans=Liars

I guess Al Franken was on to something.