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I like some of his ideas, especially the tack that there is no "free market" and that "real accounting" would include ecological accounting (such as the clean air you use to make your profits). The whole notion of framing the issue is, as any law student knows, central, and conservatives do excel at it where liberals do not.
He also accurately identifies why liberals do not excel at it, thinking people can look at simple facts and become outraged without someone putting a "spin" or "catch phrase" on it. WRONG. If you can't make it sound pithy and catch someone's attention in 5 seconds in this day and age, you've lost before you've begun.
There are some places where liberals have caught on to framing the issue. "Frankenfoods" for instance. Insults conservatives almost as much as "tax relief" insults liberals. And both phrases incorrectly depict the issue as one-sided.
He is wrong on his tax analysis, I will note. While it is true that liberals need to think of some spin on tax policy, as the bald fact that the richest 1% get 90% of the benefit from a tax cut is too raw a fact to insult us and incite us, he is nevertheless wrong on his "spin" and needs some help. His notion of thinking of paying taxes as dues to a Country Club, where the richest use the majority of the social benefits (e.g. 90% of the federal court docket is corporate-only cases), has problems. Yes, the richest use social services more, generally. BUT NOT WELFARE. In fact, when he tries to turn this into a "pay your dues" thing, he shoots himself in the foot (something he accuses other liberals of doing) by making it painfully obvious that the poor don't pay dues, yet take a lot of benefit out of the system. In his metaphor, why would any poor get to belong to the country club?
But, in the end, I must say he should be kept behind the scenes framing issues and not be put in front of a camera or have an interview. Having an overweight guy sit there sipping his $5.50 500-calorie mocha latte sugar-whip while telling me about taxes and the conservative "moral father" vs. the liberal "nurturing parent" philosophy just seems goofy. Take your own advice, dude. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
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