In being 52 years of age, Medicare is certainly not a certainty for me. And they won’t stop until it is completely destroyed anyway, so I’ve been wracking my brain for a way to get the message out that I want it to stay.
First off, I totally believe that we must be as bald faced as the opposition. Obfuscate, confuse and illustrate imaginary outcomes, just as they do every time a socially forward piece of legislation is pursued (Hillarycare’s Harry and Louise, anyone?).
Second, it must be in a medium that Rebublicans see/watch/spend time on: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. This should be much less expensive to crowd-source than regular tv commercials.
Third: we must stay away from complex messaging. Don’t try to make it exactly right, get the emotions involved, don’t use all your arguments up front. Use basic debate skills.
I have some ideas for video skits I’ll just run by you. I’d like to get them or some like them produced, even though I have absolutely no video skills (despite trying to do cooking videos), and get them out there. I am giving you several scripts, let me know if I am on the right track.
Gossip
Two women, mid 50s, talking in the grocery store.
Woman 1: "I heard your mother-in-law moved in."
Woman 2: Yes, she had to sell her house to pay for her last hospitalization.
Woman 1: Are you kidding? I thought Medicare took care of that.
Woman 2: Not since Paul Ryan gutted it. He made seniors get Obamacare and now she can't afford the premiums or the deductibles. After this last surgery, they won't even insure her.
Woman 1: Wow - He turned Medicare into Obamacare? I hated Obamacare! How horrible!
VO: Don't let this happen to your family. Call Paul Ryan and tell him to leave your mother's Medicare alone!
Caretaker
Woman, helping older person into passenger seat, closes door, turns, crosses arms and leans against the car:
Monologue: When my mom (dad) was still working, she (he) had a compact with America, pay into Medicare and Medicare will be there when he got old. Now, they are telling us that Medicare is going bankrupt and they have to get rid of it, but I checked; Medicare isn't going bankrupt. In fact, the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities* says it "can't (even) run short of funds," the way it's designed. All that bankruptcy talk is about certain politicians taking our hard earned entitlements away from us and giving them to the insurance companies. That sounds kinda fishy to me, kinda like they were doing something... illegal?
VO: Call your congressman and tell him you want what you paid for. Keep Medicare like it is.
*http://www.cbpp.org/research/health/medicare-is-not-bankrupt
The Small Business
Woman in business casual, walking and talking to camera
Monologue:
"I'm a small business owner and have worked my whole life to build a business I love. I've also paid my payroll taxes my whole life because, well, I had to. They weren't fun to pay, but I knew that if I did, then all those payroll taxes would help me when the time came to retire. Now congress is telling me that I won't get what I paid for when I retire. They're breaking their word. Oh, they say they are "saving" (air quotes) it, they want me to think they are "fixing" things, but really what they are doing is Breaking Their Word! They want to give my hard-earned tax money to their cronies instead of me! That's just not right. I called my senator and you should too, tell him that you don't want Medicare taken away, you want what you paid for."
Middleman
65 - 70 year old man- incredulous - slight snark
Monologue: "Paul Ryan, let me get this straight, you want to put a middleman in-between me and my doctor? You tell me that Medicare is going bankrupt and to save it you need a, a MIDDLEMAN? How do you see that working, exactly? Because when I was working, the middleman was the guy who essentially did nothing and then sent you a bill. They were the vultures picking at road kill. And that's supposed to keep Medicare from going bankrupt? I'll tell you what will help Medicare. You and your cronies pony up your share of taxes, pull your own weight, for a change. That would help. Yeah, Medicare could stay solvent for our children, and our children's children. But Nooo, you think we need a middleman. (Humph) Some guys just think they're so smart.
Call Paul Ryan and tell him you don't need a middleman between you and your doctor."
Wanna go to College?
Parents talking to their kid
Dad (taking the ear buds from Junior's ears): We called this family conference to discuss your options for college. It turns out Grandma can't help with tuition because her health insurance premiums just went up again.
Mom: Yes, with her deductibles and copays, she's tapped out. So you're going to have to pull your own weight if you want to go to school.
Kid: Wait, what? Why?
Mom: Well, she only gets a small subsidy from the government to buy health insurance and they just keep upping her rates. The older she gets, the more it costs.
Kid: I thought that was all taken care of?
Mom: It was all taken care of, it worked fine, until Paul Ryan and his cronies "fixed it."
Dad: It turns out that it wasn't fixed, it was destroyed.
Mom: Even though we still pay into it.
Dad: We will never see a penny.
Mom: And will probably have to eat cat food in our old age.
Dad: But not the good kind.
Mom: So we need you to go to college.
Dad: I don't like cat food.
Mom: Shush, I'll make it into a meatloaf, you won't even be able to tell.
Kid: So I can't go to college?
Dad: You have to go to college. Son, it is your destiny!
Kid: What are you talking about?
Mom: Grandma's health insurance.
Voice Over: Call Paul Ryan and tell him he can keep his cat food meatloaf. Paws off my Medicare.