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Corporateering, How
Corporate Power Steals Your Personal Freedom...and What You Can Do
About It
The Bush Tax Increase by Center for American Progress
Greed by Eric
Von Stroheim
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Eric Von Stroheim's classic movie "Greed", 1924
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Tax Benefits &
Responsible Government |
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Position statement:
Democrats believe that taxes should be fair and provide
a tangible benefit to every American. We believe
that taxpayers have the right to a responsible
government that budgets, spends and invests wisely on
their behalf.
By contrast, radical
Republicans believe that the best government tax system
is one that is bankrupt for our family's needs and open
for business, including near zero taxes and no-bid
contracts, for huge corporations.
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Make "frame
sandwiches" using any of these values:
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-
Health
-
Protection
-
Security
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Wealth
-
Safety
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Opportunity
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Spirituality
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Community
-
Patriotism
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Repeat these ready-made frames:
"Tax Cuts for the Conservative
Elite"; "Taxes are investments"; "Tax
dividends"; "Tax Justice";
"Put Kids
First" |
| Use these
themes:
Taxes pay benefits (dividends); Taxes are patriotic (they make America strong); Strength; Health;
Safety; Opportunity, Fairness, Value |
| Reframe using these
concepts: Taxes are investments in our future;
Taxes pay dividends, Taxes buy benefits; Taxes are the
dues we pay to live good in this Country; Democrats give
you more bang for your buck; Democrats are responsible
money managers; Democrats are thrifty with a buck; Taxes
power our Country (forward); Radical Republicans believe that some people are better
than others, that some people deserve more.
Irresponsible tax-cuts mortgage our
children's future; Tax cuts shift the tax burden to the
middle class; The rich get richer at our expense;
No taxes? No services; Weak taxes—weak Country; Fat cats
don't want to pay their fair share; "Enforce Corporate
Patriotism"; "Fight Corporate Tax Dodgers"; Corporations
given free-ride on your back; You pay more taxes than WalMart; Federal tax
cuts raise your taxes — higher state taxes and bigger
fees for everything from hunting licenses to bridge
tolls; tax
cuts spell disaster (firing teachers, releasing convicts
early, drop in our health, safety and welfare); unfair
to let corporations use what our taxes pay for (roads,
banking system, scientific innovations, etc);
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| Contrast
using these words: Radical "Robber
Baron Republicans"; Irresponsible "Credit Card
Republicans"; Reckless "Borrow and Spend Republicans";
"Red Ink Republicans"; "Pirates of Irresponsibility";
"Corporate Gravy Train"; |
| Avoid repeating these
words:
tax "relief" reframe to "tax investments"
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Know the tools in the
radical Republican tool chest:
1.
The Environment (original Luntz framing memo);
2.
Privatizing Clean Water
(PDF. Luntz memo revealing that corporate control of clean
water is on the to-do list);
3.
The Orwellian Language of Big Government
by the National Taxpayers
Union;
4.
The Radical Republican
Manifesto:
The Integration of Theory and Practice: A Program for
the New Traditionalist Movement by Eric Heubeck;
5. Frank
Luntz Republican Playbook — Searchable Text-Version;
6. "14
Words Never to Use"
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Quick facts*
(statistics reflect Bush Administration pro-polluter
environmental policy):
- What our taxes buy — military
defense, schools, roads and infrastructure, banking
system, medical breakthroughs, the Internet, police
and fire responders, clean air and water,
recreation, libraries, —list more—
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Sources:
Communicating on Taxes and Budgets, Frameworks
Institute
Positive Frames for Taxes, Rockridge Institute
The Great Tax Shift, Center for American
Progress
60%
of U.S. Corporations Pay No Taxes, Citizens for
Tax Justice
Corporate Tax Dodgers, Citizen Works
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