Anyone switching to a credit union with what's going on?

[J T]

Here's what our president has to say about this topic:

Full speech

Highlight reel

I'm proud of Obama for this speech. I've been waiting for him to come out and say something like this.

[J T]

Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist, gave this advice recently in a speech to The Republican Governors Association, instructing other Republicans in how to talk about/talk to Occupy protestors.

1. Don't say 'capitalism.'

"I'm trying to get that word removed and we're replacing it with either 'economic freedom' or 'free market,' " Luntz said. "The public . . . still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we're seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we've got a problem."

2. Don't say that the government 'taxes the rich.' Instead, tell them that the government 'takes from the rich.'

"If you talk about raising taxes on the rich," the public responds favorably, Luntz cautioned. But "if you talk about government taking the money from hardworking Americans, the public says no. Taxing, the public will say yes."

3. Republicans should forget about winning the battle over the 'middle class.' Call them 'hardworking taxpayers.'


"They cannot win if the fight is on hardworking taxpayers. We can say we defend the 'middle class' and the public will say, I'm not sure about that. But defending 'hardworking taxpayers' and Republicans have the advantage."


4. Don't talk about 'jobs.' Talk about 'careers.'

"Everyone in this room talks about 'jobs,'" Luntz said. "Watch this."

He then asked everyone to raise their hand if they want a "job." Few hands went up. Then he asked who wants a "career." Almost every hand was raised.

"So why are we talking about jobs?"

5. Don't say 'government spending.' Call it 'waste.'

"It's not about 'government spending.' It's about 'waste.' That's what makes people angry."

6. Don't ever say you're willing to 'compromise.'

"If you talk about 'compromise,' they'll say you're selling out. Your side doesn't want you to 'compromise.' What you use in that to replace it with is 'cooperation.' It means the same thing. But cooperation means you stick to your principles but still get the job done. Compromise says that you're selling out those principles."

7. The three most important words you can say to an Occupier: 'I get it.'

"First off, here are three words for you all: 'I get it.' . . . 'I get that you're angry. I get that you've seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system."

Then, he instructed, offer Republican solutions to the problem.

8. Out: 'Entrepreneur.' In: 'Job creator.'


Use the phrases "small business owners" and "job creators" instead of "entrepreneurs" and "innovators."

9. Don't ever ask anyone to 'sacrifice.'

"There isn't an American today in November of 2011 who doesn't think they've already sacrificed. If you tell them you want them to 'sacrifice,' they're going to be be pretty angry at you. You talk about how 'we're all in this together.' We either succeed together or we fail together."

10. Always blame Washington.

Tell them, "You shouldn't be occupying Wall Street, you should be occupying Washington. You should occupy the White House because it's the policies over the past few years that have created this problem."

BONUS:

Don't say 'bonus!'

Luntz advised that if they give their employees an income boost during the holiday season, they should never refer to it as a "bonus."


"If you give out a bonus at a time of financial hardship, you're going to make people angry. It's 'pay for performance.'"


Source

[Hatta]

I'm proud of Obama for this speech. I've been waiting for him to come out and say something like this.

I don't see anything about the violent crackdown on free speech taking place across the country. I don't see anything about actually enforcing the regulations that were already in place in 2008. I don't see anything about putting billion dollar fraudsters in jail. Looks to me like a pile of platitudes to shut people up.

[J T]

I'm proud of Obama for this speech. I've been waiting for him to come out and say something like this.

I don't see anything about the violent crackdown on free speech taking place across the country. I don't see anything about actually enforcing the regulations that were already in place in 2008. I don't see anything about putting billion dollar fraudsters in jail. Looks to me like a pile of platitudes to shut people up.

I expected someone to say something to this effect. Fair enough.

I want to see action, but for now, I am impressed with the speech. Something like this needed to be said and it needed to be said by Barack. There is very little in this entire speech that I disagree with (though I think there is some naive optimism about businesses working unselfishly for the good of the country, and some unfounded ludditism about machines stealing jobs rather than freeing up labor for other purposes). And yes, I want to see Obama put his money where his mouth is now, but at least he's saying what needs to be said.

[Hatta]

Politicians are good at talking the talk. We'll see if he walks the walk.

[noiseredux]

Politicians are good at talking the talk. We'll see if he walks the walk.

?

[J T]

Bush wasn't good at talking the talk, and he walked all over everything. I prefer Obama... although I think I'd have prefered a spatula for president over George W. Bush, so that's not saying much.

Nevertheless, Obama has a fairly good track record for keeping his promises...
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... mise-kept/

Although, there are still some big ticket items he hasn't made good on...
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... se-broken/

[Stark]

Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist, gave this advice recently in a speech to The Republican Governors Association, instructing other Republicans in how to talk about/talk to Occupy protestors.

I like this guy. I'm not sure if this was posted as "gasp...look what they're doing now", but seems to me this guy gets how people think.

[MrPopo]

Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist, gave this advice recently in a speech to The Republican Governors Association, instructing other Republicans in how to talk about/talk to Occupy protestors.

I like this guy. I'm not sure if this was posted as "gasp...look what they're doing now", but seems to me this guy gets how people think.

You might remember this guy from several appearances on the Colbert Report. Regardless of what you think about the positions he advises, he is a master of applied language.

[Hatta]

Yeah, that was cliched. My point is politicians are good at saying what people want to hear. Doing what should be done is an entirely different thing. If we can't enforce the laws we already have in place, what good are new regulations going to do? This is him pandering to the masses with toothless rhetoric in preparation for the next election, this is nothing of substance.