Frank Luntz is one of the people who gave us today’s GOP–a party that has steadily become more fixated on strategies for winning elections than on fidelity to a governing philosophy. He was the guru who coached candidates for office in “framing”–how to use language to describe policies in ways that would seem acceptable to people who probably wouldn’t find those policies very congenial otherwise.
For most of his (lucrative) career as a political strategist, you wouldn’t find Luntz among the legions of concerned party faithful warning that the party’s longterm electoral prospects are dim. But now, even he is sounding the alarm. And that alarm is not connected to the harm being done to the GOP “brand” by The Donald.
In a March article about young voters, he recited the Grand Old Party’s daunting prospects, noting that
Americans ages 18 to 29 made up 19% of the vote in 2012, and President Obama pulled about 60% of their support. This year, they’re even more engaged: Nearly six in 10 (57%) say they are following the election “extremely” or “very” closely. And it’s just the primaries! What’s more, 87% respond that they are “extremely” or “very” likely to vote in the general election.
And what does this newly engaged cohort think about the GOP?
The Republican Party doesn’t have a problem with younger voters. Younger voters have a problem with the Republican Party, and it is rapidly becoming a long-term electoral crisis.
In our recent national survey of 1,000 first- and second-time voters ages 18 to 26, Republicans weren’t just off on the wrong track. They were barely on the radar with this Snapchat generation, as it is sometimes called….
The problem, or “crisis” if you’re an active Republican, is in their political identification. Fully 44% identify themselves as Democrats, higher in my polling than any age cohort in America. By comparison, about 15% call themselves Republican, lower than any age cohort. The remaining 42% say they’re independent, but on issue after issue they lean toward the Democrats. It’s not that young people love the Democratic Party — they don’t. But they reject the Republican Party and the corporate interests it appears to represent. Democrats can live with this dynamic. Republicans might die by it.
Luntz recognizes the problem, but seems oblivious to the reasons for it. For him, it’s still just strategy–the form of the message, rather than the substance. For example, he blames rejection of the GOP by young Americans in part on the Democrats’ better use of social media, and says the GOP should follow the example of former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who endorsed a presidential candidate via Snapchat.
What Luntz and much of the Republican establishment fail to recognize is that young voters are rejecting what the GOP has become post-Reagan.
My students look at the Republican party and see theocrats. They see stupid bathroom laws and other efforts to marginalize their LGBT friends. They see corporate fat cats prospering at the expense of the hard-working poor. They see efforts to disenfranchise minority voters and cut back on school lunch programs. They see the Congressional “Party of No” rejecting and obstructing a President they admire–and they recognize that the primary motivation for that obstruction is racism and a stubborn refusal to come to terms with the fact that a black man won the White House.
Research confirms that this generation is considerably more inclusive than those that preceded it, concerned about their communities, and critical of entrenched privilege. When they look at today’s GOP, they don’t see principled defenders of liberty and markets and a level playing field–they see oligarchs fielding armies of lobbyists to protect their tax loopholes and subsidies at the expense of the Walmart greeter and the McDonald’s server.
There is no doubt in my mind that this generation will change America’s mean-spirited political culture for the better. I’m less sanguine about what it will take to uproot the entrenched systems–from gerrymandering, to provisions in the tax code, to intimidation of the judiciary, to the growth of “propaganda media”– that make political change much more difficult.
One thing I do know: mastering Snapchat will not bring young voters into the GOP.
Once again, you’ve nailed it.
Excellent as usual.
What Frank Luntz and much of the Republican establishment fail to recognize about young voters is no greater than what the Democratic establishment fails to recognize… Hillary wins not by courting Bernie supporters, but by accepting disaffected Republicans of all ages.
What technique(s) will either party use to GOTV? How many of those who attended Clinton and Sanders rallies are in a data base to be contacted on Election Day?
The reason that republicans attract so few young people is that they have allowed the liberal and progressive propagandists to continue to manipulate the media (and in fact most media) most young people use as the sources of their information.
Mass media is owned by an ever decreasing corporatist collaboration that is restricting the viewpoints presented to the public and failing their duty to examine and hold our elected officials accountable
Comments off to a hilarious start.
Ken, I disagree strongly with your assumption that young people have fallen prey to “liberal and progressive propagandists”. The younger generations are intelligent enough to see recognize that the GOP has consistently favored corporate interests and marginalized the people who are working very hard and struggling just to survive.
I am thankful that they have the intelligence and compassion to show that they care about their fellow citizens. The cold-hearted and hateful GOP members are losing their white male privilege stance in society because they have abused hard working citizens for far too long.
I am hopeful that the younger generations will turn this country around and change it into a nation that is not only compassionate, but creates better opportunities for everyone to earn a decent living. That will go a very long way towards eliminating the hatred in our country.
Ken, you appear to be a die hard member of the white male privileged in this country and refuse to see and accept the selfishness and damage that your kind has inflicted on our society. Hopefully you and your fellow republicans will some day recognize that you are the very people who have been manipulated by hateful propaganda and media. The younger generations are not paying nearly as much attention (if at all) to the media as your favored media or propaganda leads you to believe.
What you sow……you reap. What the uber conservative Rs have been planting and watering for some time may be served to the national GOP for a generation.
Wow, but they don’t see the spying, rights trampling, warmongering, corporate favors, economic elitism in the Democrats?
Man they drank that Kool-Aid. I bet they’re ready to uproot corruption with the same corruption they’re fighting! Yeah, they may not be bigots, but they’re dumber than a bag of rocks and somehow think the same people who helped create and got rich off the problems will fix it…
Kudos. That’s definitely something to be proud of.
Yeah, it’s that ole liberal media… (giggle, snort)
Disappointed Joe – “Wow, but they don’t see the spying, rights trampling, warmongering, corporate favors, economic elitism in the Democrats?”
Please elaborate and give us concrete and current examples of what you were referring to in your above statement.
I have to admit that I have admired the proficiency of the Republican marketing machine for some time. They frame their message well, thanks to Mr. Luntz, and everyone lines up to repeat it over and over again. By the end of the day, those people who watch Fox News will swear to whatever the message was for that day. Roger Ailes doesn’t care if it is all made up as long as his viewers believe.
Young people always have compassion for others and today’s young people have been exposed to far more cultural differences than we ever were. Maybe they’ll do better than we did. I certainly hope so.
Herein lies the hope of our nation:
“My students look at the Republican party and see theocrats. They see stupid bathroom laws and other efforts to marginalize their LGBT friends. They see corporate fat cats prospering at the expense of the hard-working poor. They see efforts to disenfranchise minority voters and cut back on school lunch programs. They see the Congressional “Party of No” rejecting and obstructing a President they admire–and they recognize that the primary motivation for that obstruction is racism and a stubborn refusal to come to terms with the fact that a black man won the White House.
“Research confirms that this generation is considerably more inclusive than those that preceded it, concerned about their communities, and critical of entrenched privilege. When they look at today’s GOP, they don’t see principled defenders of liberty and markets and a level playing field–they see oligarchs fielding armies of lobbyists to protect their tax loopholes and subsidies at the expense of the Walmart greeter and the McDonald’s server.”
@ Ken and disappointed joe:
You both have accused the younger generation of falling prey to liberal media and seem to believe that they are not intelligent enough to see what has been going on in our country.
They actually DO see the white older male privilege abuse of the middle and lower classes that has been taking place for decades. They don’t need any media at all to see what has been going on. They are well aware of the gutting of the middle class. They are also very aware that their own chances for having a middle class livelihood have been fading away. Many are saddled with college debt that they cannot even hope to repay because the bulk of the jobs that pay well and have good benefits have disappeared.
While there are definitely white male congressional democrats that have taken dark money from PACs and lobbyists, it is the republicans (those holding office) who continually force-feed the public with the idea that people who aren’t earning enough money to even cover their own cost of living are just lazy and are choosing to live off of the backs of those with the good paying or average jobs.
You saw right through the clutter Sheila. My 10th grade granddaughter has parents of different political parties, and she’s beginning to form her own political opinions. Her perceptions are as telling as those of your students. She feels the Democrats embrace and include people of all colors, religions, and orientations while the Republicans do not. (She also finds Donald Trump repugnant and ill-mannered. I LOVE that kid.)
When one party blares rhetorical and substantive headlines that so many are not welcome in their party, they should not be surprised when folks go elsewhere.
Liberal media? Where? I want to find a liberal media because the conservative corporations have all bought out the liberal ones and shut them down. I can’t even describe how sad the American media is compared to the rest of the world. If you want facts, don’t watch tv; read.
Ken, I really feel sorry for you. Unlike you the younger people simply don’t buy into the GOP propaganda coming from Fox News, right wing radio, and the various internet sources of right wing “news.” They were not raised in the atmosphere of simplistic cold war propaganda and the resulting knee jerk patriotism, acceptance of authority, and fear of difference. So they are not so much responding to liberal media with acceptance, they are responding to GOP-leaning media by rejecting it.
Frank Luntz is one of a chain of political advisors who sold the GOP the meal that they are now choking on. Lee Atwater seems to have been nearly the first and Karl Rove is prominent too. Rush Limbaugh and Rupert Murdoch are also in the same business but more retail than wholesale.
They are the Wayne StPierre’s of the political world in that their lives are lived only in the Marketing Division and their philosophy is I can sell anything so, to me, product is an externality. Give me anything and I can sell it.
As the GOP starting failing politically they, as many failing businesses might, took all of the effort out of the product and invested it in marketing and sales instead.
What Wayne StPierre was successful at though they have ultimately failed at. Democracy may be susceptible to snake oil salesmen but ultimately not fatally so.
Donald (and Sarah Palin) may go down in history as the ultimate example of what product parties devolve to if all of their resources go to marketing rather than product development.
What these successes at marketing, failures at life neglected to tell those to whom they sold their marketing expertise is that in the absence of a legitimate product to sell they would sell what is easiest to sell and that is power. Join our brand and you’ll get your way.
Perhaps if you could replay that game 100 times in some cases they would have won, we’ll never know.
Of course the marketing gurus will go to their graves believing that the product people failed them not vice versa. The GOP is now swirling the bowl wondering what can be salvaged. Their customers are wondering, where’s the power that we were promised?
Politics is not business and that fact eluded the GOP. In fact what we might be witness to is the end off business and the evolution to commerce. Products that really satisfy and are offered because they’re useful, made by communites for communities, not by megamoney monoliths.
In 2008, after losing the White House, the GOP did some (alleged) soul searching and determined that they needed to be more inclusive, or at least sound like they were. Then they all followed Mitch McConnell in lockstep, opposing everything that Barack Obama did, even if they themselves had proposed it.
2012: same “soul searching,” same results. A minor conservative pundit was quoted as saying that the GOP had to do a better job of “branding,” of marketing what the GOP had to offer. I wrote to him saying, “We heard you the first time. We REJECT your message.”
The GOP still hasn’t learned anything. Unfortunately, the joke is on us, because the Democratic Party has been headed down the same path.
I believe that the first requirement to become a politician is to fully accept that no matter what you do or say only a slight majority will agree and a slight minority will disagree. If you want many to agree with you politics is not your place.
So constituencies dream of a perfect party is just that. It’s never going to happen but it doesn’t need to. Like most of life government is not the search for unattainable perfection but the choice among alternatives on the table.
Don’t look for desert among the vegetable servings.
Why can’t you see that the politicians at both ends of the political spectrum and everywhere in between are whores who court money from mostly the same sources. Whores will do anything you will pay them to do. The enthusiasm of the youth is for the handouts Bernie Samders promised. Robert Reich began to promote the faux issue of income inequality 3 or 4 years ago. Since that time I have been asking a question that no one is willing to answer. How does my neighbor making lots more money than I do impact my life negatively? As I see it, it improves the chances that she can afford the goods or services I provide. Rich people are not the problem. The problem is those who attempt to put one group of Americans against another. Pete’s biggest fear is the evil business owner while mine is the meddlesome government. More government control of healthcare got us 20 million more people insured in the past few years, however, 14 million more joined Medicare and 14 million more got Medicaid so we doubled or tripled premiums and paid billions in subsidies to get 8 million less people covered with worse coverage.
Only some rich people are the problem; they pay less in % of taxes than I do and the GOP policies made sure to continue this nonsense. The rich people have gotten away with low tax rates for decades and this is what we got in return. Medical bankruptcies at an all time high, education that is not affordable (unless you’re rich) and more poor people than ever because the rich people run the corporations and want it ALL and won’t raise the minimum wage or any wages. Rich people are buying our democracy right out from under us and you can’t see it! Pitchforks are coming next so be thankful Ken you aren’t one of them. good grief. Try to see the forest for the trees!
Ken Glass – If my neighbor has money, she can afford my goods and services. But, if she has $1 billion, how much of MY services is she going to need? It is not about money jealousy. If 5,000 of my neighbors each had $200,000, they could and WOULD buy a lot more of my services than the one neighbor that has $1 billion. I admit. I came from white privilege. I never had to worry about paying for college. But, I watch hard-working young people today that are struggling (and their parents are struggling) to catch up and make a life. They just need a fair chance. Rich people are not the problem. But, super-rich, greedy people that see their privilege as a reflection of their moral superiority and the challenges of the poor as a reflection of moral inferiority ARE the problem!
‘When Frank Luntz is worried’ is an interesting thought; however, ‘when George Soros is worried’, I pay extra special attention.
Soros, like the Koch brothers, is one of those Masters of the Universe, so wealthy that we cannot fathom their financial worths. If we can remove our partisan lens for a bit, it’s not a stretch to see that both Soros and the Kochs are profiteers whose only goal is to earn as much money as possible even if off the backs of the less fortunate by shabby treatment of workers (as in the Kochs) or by shrewd manipulation of the market (as in Soros) by betting on the failure of the very policies and politicians he supports across the globe. At present and according to the FEC’s release of monies donated to Presidential candidates, Soros is the #2 contributor to Ms Clinton’s campaign — $7M.
From the Wall Street Journal (June 8, 2016), “A Bearish George Soros Is Trading Again:
Billionaire investor sees opportunities to profit from various economic and political issues afflicting the world” http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-bearish-george-soros-is-trading-again-1465429163
Ken, I’ll answer your question for you.
Your neighbor who earns lots more money than you is not, in and of herself, the problem. The problem is that she’s not buying the goods and services you are offering. She’s buying (most of) them from China or India or Mexico.
In the meantime, our government keeps giving her more tax breaks, to “stimulate” the economy, so there’s less money going in to the Treasury. But the streets still need to be paved, the sewers need to be maintained, the DOD needs ever more money for more whiz bang weapons.
So who pays for that? WE do – in the form of higher taxes, fees for all sorts of things, fewer services that meet our needs, increased sales tax, and on and on.
So, while many of us have lost homes, jobs, and pensions in the last 8 or 9 years, our wages have increased very little. In many cases, they have declined. But everything we need still has to be paid for, and it’s more expensive than it used to be.
Sheila has said this (or something like it) before: the value of “The Commons,” i.e., the goods and services that belong to us as citizens of a country, city and state, has steadily declined because the powers-that-be keep shrinking the government’s investment in them. So we pay more for medical services, a college education, groceries, while getting less for our money – starving public schools or OSHA or the EEOC being good examples of that.
I don’t begrudge your neighbor earning more than me. I mind that I am being asked to devote more of my diminished income paying for the things that belong to all of us, and getting fewer or substandard goods and services for my money.
You have bought the conservative nonsense that we want “free stuff.” We neither want nor expect that. What we want is for the benefits and burdens to be more equitably distributed, and we want more of our tax money to pay for the things that are important to us: affordable college, good public schools, well-maintained roads, clean air and water, etc.
Kansas is an excellent example of what is wrong with the direction of our country.
It’s interesting to see the kinds of comments in social media, and the sort of mentality that pervades many of the remarks. There is a group of people who have locked themselves into a perspective on the world which is continually reinforced by media which confirms their bias and massive civic ignorance. For some reason, they like to parade this, somehow believing that it passes for knowledge. I suspect that Fox News (not exactly liberal bias) informs and reinforces most of these people. It’s like they are locked into an automatic pilot of conspiratorial, anti-Obama civic ignorance that resists basic civics and information that might disrupt these perspectives. When presented with this information, they respond with insults and emotional irrelevant comments, yet they believe that they are patriotic citizens. I suspect that they do not know what it means to be a patriot or a citizen.
I believe that these people are in the ever decreasing minority, and their screaming and high pitched voices overstate their numbers. They are probably among that 25% to 30% right wing authoritarians who will probably not vote but their isolation will reinforce their conspiratorial mindset. I believe that this election will be the beginning of the demise of the low information right wing, but I hope it is also not the beginning of a low information left wing that carries its own diseases.
Ken, in evolutionary biology wealthy people are classified as apex predators. That’s one explanation for their wealth. There are some exceptions like those born into wealth and lottery winners and such but most are the best at taking from others.
Remember wealth is power and power corrupts.
And simply speaking those with exceptional wealth offer no redeeming value to the greater good. Perhaps “no” is too strong. Real philanthropy is good but relatively rare. Look how much Bill and Melinda stand out.
So your question of why should we disparage them is more properly framed why should we tolerate them?
From Wikipedia on George Soros:
“He played a significant role in the peaceful transition from communism to capitalism in Eastern Europe (1984–89)[9] and provided one of Europe’s largest higher education endowments to the Central European University in Budapest.
Ken – How in the world have you come to believe that “income inequality is a faux issue”? If you believe that to be a faux issue then you are definitely living in some kind of bubble that keeps you completely oblivious to reality.
Also, about your numbers regarding health insurance: you stated those same numbers in a post months ago. I asked you back then to please explain your math as to how you arrived at 8 million people covered with worse coverage. Based upon the numbers that you used, your result is mathmatically impossible.
Please take the time to explain the math calculations you used to arrive at an end result of 8 million .
Ken, are you familiar with the study of history. I highly recommend it to you. It’s enlightening.
Note to Ken. My labor (salary and benefits) paid for my Medicare. It has nothing to do with you.
Pete, your biological twist on wealthy people is very interesting. When I was still practicing law many moons ago and often dealing with rich folks, either as clients or in other roles, I was struck by how willing they were to stiff the guy who fixed their plumbing or cut down a tree for them, or not tip the waitstaff. Not all of my wealthy clients or their adversaries were like that, of course. But I came to the conclusion that many of them acquired their wealth (or maintained it) largely by cheating people who were unable to fight back. Donald Trump is Exhibit “A.”
Nancy. The administration boasts 20 million additional people with health care coverage since ACA. HHS reports that 14 million more people have Medicare and 14 million more have Medicaid. 14 + 14 = 28. 28 million more people covered by government programs, but only 20 million more have coverage. 28 – 20 = 8. That is 8 million LESS with healthcare. The new coverage has much higher deductibles and much higher premiums than coverage before ACA. And the govt has provided billions in subsidies. We could have accomplished exactly what we did if the billions of subsidies had been committed to greater expansion of Medicaid and inclusion of all uninsurables in the Medicare program without putting a dramatically increased burden on the middle class
I tempted to say the Republican Party has as a species the – Koch Bros – (No rules or regulations that impede profit and no unions) Crony-Capitalists, Corporatists, the Bible Thumpers (who oppose same sex marriage, LGBT Rights, Birth Control and abortion) and the Wall Street-Security-Military-Industrial Complex plus the NEO-CONs.
If you subtract the Koch Bros and Bible Thumpers add in George Soros among others and you have the Democratic Establishment Party. Refer to Hillary’s Priorities USA Action https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave2.php?cmte=C00495861&cycle=2016
Does anyone who gives any serious thought expect Hillary Clinton to make any serious and needed reforms to Wall Street???? She voted to go to War with GWB in Gulf War 2, and as SOS went with regime change in Libya. So Hillary is going to dial back our aggressive foreign policy??
As Bernie Supporter I see the need for a third party or a fourth. If you go into a grocery store you can buy probably a dozen different brands of soft drinks or beer. If you are looking for new car you not only have all manufacturers to select from and then you have all the models. Yet we have only two political parties – both under the control of the 1%.
Ken ACA expands Medicaid coverage not shrinks it. Neither has anything at as all to do with Medicare which is self funded.
http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/medicaid-moving-forward/
Louis, a majority of Americans support campaign funding reform which if done properly is all that’s needed to address your concerns.
The main force against it are political incumbents because it allows them to have a political career rather than a political adventure.
If you study government or business results more gets accomplished by experienced practitioners. That’s why business rewards experience.
The downside then of the current system is that wealth gets more say in political decisions than democracy allows.
We need to undo Citizens United and to limit political contributions by individuals.
I’m not sure why you’re sure that President Clinton won’t get that done.
@Louie, your post at 1:48 pm today is significant. Interested voters are always saying ‘follow the money’; however, I doubt that many voters or posters on this forum actually ‘follow the money’.
OpenSecrets.org is a nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections and public policy. Whether you’re a voter, journalist, activist, student or interested citizen, use the free OpenSecrets website to shine light on our upcoming election. Follow the money, follow the contributors, and follow the industries making the massive donations.
As a start, visit http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/ and then click on each candidate’s name. After that, click on Contributors. Then click on Industries.
Pete – I’m not sure why you’re sure that President Clinton won’t get that done.
Why would she?? That is not who brought Hillary and Debbie Wasserman Schultz the Super Delegates and the DNC to the Party???
Ken. Thanks for explaining how you arrived at 8M fewer people being insured. However, the problem is that you are combining Medicare and Medicaid in with the people who gained private insurance coverage through the ACA. Those numbers cannot be combined. Medicare and Medicaid coverage are in addition to private insurance through the ACA. So, using your numbers for the ACA would mean that an additional 20 million people did in fact gain coverage.
However, I agree with your conclusion that we should have expanded Medicaid and Medicare. Originally President Obama wanted single payer health insurance for our country. Unfortunately, the insurance and pharmaceutical industries paid Billions (YES, Billions) of dollars to lobby against that. So, we were left with something that the insurance and pharmaceutical companies were willing to accept. They were the true winners because they were able to now force people to purchase insurance or suffer a fine and the pharmaceutical companies made sure that prices could not be negotiated. The developed countries that have universal health insurance coverage absolutely negotiate prices for drugs. I feel safe in assuming that they are still making a profit in those other countries or they would not be selling their products to them.
While premiums and deductibles have increased there are 20 million more people with access to insurance that could not afford it before. If they suffer some type of catastrophic health issue, I hope that they will not lose their home or be saddled by medical bills that only the very wealthy could afford. Health insurance should not be a for-profit industry and insurers should not be allowed to sell Medicare Advantage plans that serve to bilk the taxpayers out of dollars that only line the pockets of the insurers.
Ginny F – your comment regarding wealthy people stiffing people who were unable to fight back brought back a memory for me…..
Many many years ago I worked part time in a local floral shop. The owner made it clear to the employees that she no longer extended credit to the Country Club members. She said she would gladly continue to extend credit to the factory workers and others in the middle to lower classes that always paid their bills and paid them on time. She said it was the country club elitists who didn’t think they should have to pay their bills.
Why would she Louis?
Because it would increase her legacy as President by making America stronger.
She only has one more campaign to worry about in 2020 and that will be funded by the DNC.
The problem with our current campaign funding lack of regulation is that it’s become an arms race, the only dollars that give you an advantage over your opponent are the dollars you raise in excess of his.
Also the only use for campaign dollars are competing for the job.
The real financial advantages of being President are that you don’t spend your money during your term and the celebrity that you gain can be marketed after you’re done.
I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Ken,
Put yourself in the other house the one where the neighbor has no money to buy what you produce…How then do you make your way in the economy. I guess just like the Koch brothers and Wally world. Wring it out of the poor?
Nancy. If you were right, the total new covered people would be 48 million (14 + 14 + 20). Which would me no one is still uncovered. I know you have been paying close enough attention to know there are still lots of people with no coverage. So what did we get for the billions of tax subsidies and the billions of extra premiums? Worse coverage and less Americans with healthcare than would have had it with just the expansion of Medicaid.
Ken, the ACA was not involved with Medicare. New people are added each year when they turn 65.
I will not argue with your position on expanding Medicaid. SCOTUS should not have ruled that it could be up to the individual states to to choose to expand Medicaid or not. The states with GOP govs are the ones that typically refused to expand it. Ohio was one red state that did expand MCaid. I can tell you why Pence expanded MCaid, even though he was against it. The hospital execs pressured him to expand it because they were being forced to write off too much debt from the uninsured. They made it clear to him that they could not continue to provide millions of dollars of care without reimbursement. He had no choice but to cave in. But, he attenpted to appease his supporters by demanding that CHS accept HIS plan that involved premiums. While he fought with CMS thousands of uninsured patients were still racking up medical bills that they could never pay and millions of other people just went without care.
Ken, I can also tell you that the Healthy Indiana Plan ( Indiana’s Medicaid for adults without dependent children) does not provide the same coverage as regular Medicaid. He cut out some services.
The younger generations have a problem not only with Voter ID, but mostly with Voter ADHD.
They cannot reason, they want instant Bernish solutions, and they are devoid of common sense and respect to dissent.
Nancy. Total increase uncovered people is 20 million from all sources minus 14 million for Medicare minus 14 million for Medicaid equals 8 million LESS people covered by the “stuff” that ACA subsidies and premiums paid for.
BTW, those who suggest that if only we had single payer all of our problems would be solved should still be upset with a program that cost billions of dollars and protects less people than before with worse coverage for most of them.
“Research confirms that this generation is considerably more inclusive than those that preceded it, concerned about their communities, and critical of entrenched privilege. When they look at today’s GOP, they don’t see principled defenders of liberty and markets and a level playing field–they see oligarchs fielding armies of lobbyists to protect their tax loopholes and subsidies at the expense of the Walmart greeter and the McDonald’s server.”
I am assuming your reference to “this generation” is carried over from your reference to your student’s generation. As a member of the much earlier generation who can remember the GOP who had their community’s best interests as part of their foundation, even when we disagreed with their tactics and the choices they made to maintain or better conditions for all, is agreeably NOT today’s GOP. They have become the GOP of takers; taking all benefits by giving away government jobs and public properties to the highest or lowest bidder, depending on the circumstance at issue. Due to this money-hungry generation of Republicans we find ourselves facing the possibility of being ruled by our nationally recognized fool – the 21st Century version of a Court Jester – known as “The Donald”.
My once middle-class neighborhood (totaling approximately 13-14 city blocks with one way in or out) is struggling to maintain low-middle-class status. The Trump yard signs outnumber the Bernie yard signs by 6 to 2, no Hillary yard sign in sight, proving the lack of knowledge or understanding of the actual possibility of lowering our current, struggling “status” due to their support of the party working against them/us. They are of the generation of the real GOP but seem unaware of the backward movements of the party today; thus the 6 Trump yard signs.
I had the opportunity to speak at length with my 17 and 14 year old grandsons yesterday as they helped me with painting and yard work and then lunch at Steak & Shake – to us, the ultimate in dining. Their knowledge and awareness of what is going on around them, and in turn, all of us, amazed me. They are both home-schooled after years of bullying in public and private schools due to the disability of the eldest. They make consistently top grades and keep up with all of the current candidates and have formed informed and intelligent observations of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and have paid close attention to Donald Trump. The political makeup of the family is mixed. They know nothing of the once “Grand Old Party” but are fully aware of today’s GOP and their standard bearers. They are more qualified to vote in the upcoming November election than many adults of all generations.
As an aside regarding those Walmart “greeters”; they perform a service much more important than smiling and saying “hello” and “goodbye” to shoppers. Those bringing in items to return must stop and allow the “greeter” to check the item, apply a sticker which is removed at the Service Desk during the transaction. They stop all shoppers with large, unbagged items in their carts to check them against the cash register receipt. Their job protects customers and the store.
As always, (and I do mean always), I enjoyed Sheila’s post. Her view is well supported by her examples and the logical conclusions drawn. The icing on the cake, however, are the devastating responses to Ken Glass’ patchwork of right-wing talking points, (which he so carelessly assembled).
Finally, woe be unto those who don’t recognize how that same young cohort rejects the Democratic Party apparatchick’s tone deaf fixation on Hillary Clinton.