Daily Kos

Framing Bush's Social Security plans

Thu Jan 13, 2005 at 04:19:50 AM PDT

I noticed the wonderfully descriptive phrase "retirement tax" from Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), as quoted in Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo, as a description of how Bush's Social Security plans will affect seniors. When we talk about framing our issues, we need to be on the lookout for gems like these -- we should watch not only for bad GOP frames to avoid, but also for good frames to adopt.

So, I suggest using the following words or phrases when describing Bush's Social Security plans:

  • "Retirement Tax"
  • Gutting
  • Slashing
  • Looting
  • Plundering
  • Enron-ing
  • "Fuzzy Numbers" (a Bush quote from the 2000 debates)
  • Fixed-Income

...and I'd suggest avoiding these words, which the GOP will use to frame the issue:

  • Reform
  • Crisis
  • "Private Accounts" (we already have them -- they're called "401K"s)
  • Insolvent (simply not true)
  • Bankrupt
  • Investment
  • Market
  • Capital

Other suggestions (from our more experienced framers) are welcome.

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