Push back on the $716b is fine but it is too broad. Maybe it is just how we think, but after years of watching the other side turn our strengths into weaknesses we seem not to have learned the lesson. You have to break it down. "Mitt wants restore Waste and Fraud".
We have to hit one bit of the logic chain hard and repeatedly until it penetrates the media. Collectively we still have that much power. Variations with a positive spin are also good "Obama Cuts Fraud in Extends life of Medicare / Romney wants to take it all back". The key as I see it is to push one detail continuously and relentlessly until the other side starts negotiating the price. "Well just how much of the savings will Mitt put back?". That is the jugular gotcha kind of question the press and the pundits love.
Then and only then can you follow up with the next detailed attack. I believe that this should be "Republicans say: Entitlement reform must hurt consumers". I think it is important to follow up with a myth enforcing line. This small foray into the village obsessed call for reform can be used to broaden the debate and shift the frame in our direction. It held and expanded benefits something we will be fighting for. It squeezed the profits of the suppliers. Romney and all of the defenders will be arguing to restore them. That plays on the who do you really trust to reform Entitlements, the Democrats protectors of the little guy or Republicans the protectors of big business.
Any way you see the pattern. I only wish I was a skilled enough writer to contribute this and the following deconstructions.
2:07 AM PT: Changed Title