Western Washington - I was just push-polled twice by Citizen's United -so fast that I didn't have time to write in between.
Robo-caller, live person describes as a one- question poll on presidential leadership and asking me to listen to a recorded message from Dick Morris. Recorded combined push poll, setup for fundraising ask and commercial for Morris' forthcoming book on how conservatives can take back the Congress and repeal health insurance reform. Shift back to a different live person who asks another deceit-loaded push question about Obama. Live persons are paid so I didn't go too hard on them.
Western Washington - I was just push-polled twice by Citizen's United -so fast that I didn't have time to write in between.
Robo-caller, live person describes as a one- question poll on presidential leadership and asking me to listen to a recorded message from Dick Morris. Recorded combined push poll, setup for fundraising ask and commercial for Morris' forthcoming book on how conservatives can take back the Congress and repeal health insurance reform. Shift back to a different live person who asks another deceit-loaded push question about Obama. Live persons are paid so I didn't go too hard on them.
Since I don't have a recorder handy and I am not a stenographer, my description is not verbatim, but based on typed notes taken during second run.
Morris recording says that Dave Bossey of Citizen's United prepared The Question. Morris says he has spent the last several months writing his forthcoming book with a specific battle plan to take back government in the 2010 elections. He wants to take back government to repeal health care and do away with:
- 159 new agencies and programs
- death panels
- 16,500 new IRS agents
- public funding for abortion
Waves a signed copy of his new book as a teaser, though I am sure that comes with the donation pitch later for those who answer the poll correctly.
The second live person reads the question: whether you approve of Obama's efforts to:
- socialize healthcare,
- disarm the military and
- create the biggest expansion of government in American history.
Pretty naked abusive push-polling and I have every reason to believe it is a fund raiser as well.
Really good way to make the case for prohibiting corporations from committing the political equivalent of prostitution by renting the speech of real persons.
If you might get one of these calls and can record or transcribe, get ready - a recording or transcript would be worth having. Anybody could be on their list - they said I had been selected because I was a leading conservative supporter - which means they are casting the net and the flattery quite wide. (I did caucus with the Anderson folks in 1980 and on occasion supported an Republican or two, but it has been a while.)
If this happens to you, beyond recording or taking notes, I suggest some mix of:
- asking how to contact the sponsoring organization
- tell them you are concerned about abuse of government power, but aren't convinced that they have their facts right. That way they'll keep you on the target list and you can report their tactics - they won't be calling me again.
- pointing out to the poor underpaid phone workers that it is full of lies:
* there are no death panels,
* even without Iraq and Afghanistan Obama's defense budget is larger than the combined defense budgets of China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela etc
* there is no public funding for abortion
* if Health Insurance reform is socialized health care, so is Medicare
* Citizen's United isn't carrying on about 16,500 additional IRS agents because of Health Care reform, they are really trying to protect the tax dodges of their sponsors, anonymous corporations and the banks and foreign investors who own them.
PS - At the moment, Dick Morris may be the thing I have most trouble forgiving Clinton for. And considering Lewinsky, Carville, repeal of Glass-Steagle and other deregulations, thats a lot.