The next time we see or hear a negative political campaign ad, we should just laugh.
Laugh in disbelief. Laugh out of frustration. Laugh because we’re not stupid. Laugh because no one can buy our votes. Laugh to chase away our fears. Laugh because we won’t be manipulated. Laugh because we’re keeping score.
Laugh in disbelief because political ad spending across the U.S. will reach about $10 billion in 2012, up from $7 billion in 2008. Just what our country needs, a 40%ish increase in anything involving politics.
Laugh out of frustration because negative political ads hijack our time. Between January 23th and 29th, 11,586 television spots ran during the Republican primary in Florida. So far in 2012, 69% of all presidential campaign TV ads have been negative. Just imagine between now and November.
Laugh because we’re not stupid. Super PACs (political action committees) are formed to influence the outcome of elections. A super PAC can legally receive unlimited donations as long as the money is spent independently from a candidate’s campaign. Any cooperation or coordination would be illegal. Yet family members of candidates have set up super PACs. Candidates and super PACs share consulting firms. Former campaign officials of 2008 are staff on super PACs for the same candidates in 2012. Now consider that through mid July, super PAC’s have received $306 million in contributions. Part of this money has been used to fund political ads. Presidential campaign TV ads from the top 3 super PACs have been 90% negative. So laugh because we’re not stupid and we know that super PACs are just ways to manipulate the law and fill our heads with negative political ads.
Laugh because no one can buy our votes. Almost $100M or 63% of total donations to super PACs have come from 50 very wealthy contributors. Forbes has reported that one billionaire may contribute $100M to super PACs in 2012. Much of this money will finance political ads to buy our votes. 90% of the presidential campaign TV ads for the top 3 super PACs so far have been negative. These wealthy contributors spend their money to promote their agenda for our country. But what does their agenda have in common with the agenda of middle class Americans? Healthcare? Jobs? Home ownership? Education? Retirement? Social security? Medicare? Common sense says we shouldn’t buy the agendas that super PACS are selling. And as a result, super PACs won’t be able to buy our votes.
Laugh to chase away our fears because millions of dollars from anonymous donors have poured into politically active nonprofit groups (501(c)(4)s) who do not have to disclose the names of these donors due to certain provisions in our tax and election laws. Super PACs, however, must disclose their contributors to the Federal Election Commission. Crossroads GPS, is such a politically active nonprofit group. It has received 23 contributions of $1 million or more totalling $67 million from undisclosed donors with one donor giving $10 million. The advertising for Crossroads GPS has been 100% negative. So who are these donors? People? Corporations? Foreign interests trying to influence US politics? What do they expect in return for such large political contributions? Because we don’t know and because they are spending millions to influence our voting, we should be very afraid.
Laugh because we won’t be manipulated. Product advertising relies upon information to persuade us to buy something. There are legal consequences to false product advertising. Yet negative political advertising relies on misquotes, soundbites, distortions and misinformation all of which are methods of manipulation and not persuasion. A recent Annenburg study found that the top politically active nonprofit groups spent 85% of their dollars on ads that were deceptive. We should make it very simple for ourselves as voters in 2012. There will be consequences this year. Candidates who rely heavily on negative political ads are manipulative people and we won’t be manipulated by them.
Laugh because we’re keeping score. We will experience a blizzard of campaign ads between now and November. Candidates and their super PACs and non profits who extensively use negative campaign ads will tell us what lengths they will go to to defeat their opponents and little if anything about their own candidacies. Candidates using more neutral to positive ads are likely to tell us what they will do if actually elected with less emphasis on their opponents. Political ads do affect our opinions so we all wind up keeping a mental score card. We should keep the scoring simple. The candidate who runs the fewest negative ads is the candidate we prefer.
Let’s establish a standard for ourselves and candidates regarding political ads. The only ads that we should consider are ads that start or end with a statement or graphic that says the candidate endorses this ad. The ad material should tell us what the candidate’s position is on an issue or policy and why his/her position is better than their opponent’s positions. That’s it. Anything else will probably be laughable.
You may think this is no laughing matter. You may feel there is nothing you can do. But our laughter empowers us. We can refuse to listen. We can refuse to be manipulated. We can laugh privately. We can laugh out loud. We can laugh with a friend. We can hold a political laugh-in party. After all, our laughter will cause those running negative political ads to throw away billions of dollars.
I’ve tried to keep this as non-partisan as possible. If you want to determine which party relies more heavily negative ads, then use Politico or The Center for Responsive Politics to begin your research.
Our nation faces numerous and significant issues in large part because our politicians have become so ideological and polarized that government has become dysfunctional. We may disagree on priorities and policies but we should agree that it is time we demand political campaigns that elect candidates who will govern using solutions not slogans, statesmanship not street fighting, compromise not conflict, responsibility not recklessness, facts not fiction, decision not deferral, commitment not contradiction and patriotism not partisan politics.
Share this far and wide across your social network. If our laughter becomes loud or “viral” enough, it will be the message to politicians that becomes the 99% solution to negative campaign advertising in our country.
This blog was first published as an article in Technorati entitled “Laughing Matters: Our 99% Solution for Negative Political Ads.”
Twitter: http://twitter.com/frogno
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Message to Washington: We the People Have Political Power Through Our Purchasing Power. And Now We're Going To Use It.
Are you angry, dissatisfied and concerned enough to actually do something right now about Washington politicians who are incapable of governing our United States of America?
We the People have political power through economic power. Seventy per cent of our economy is based on what we buy as consumers.
Money is apparently the native language in the land of Washington politics. If we talk and act in terms of money, we can influence Washington for the benefit of our country. But we have to act together
.
What should we do? Buy New Balance shoes. Do not buy gas from Exxon Mobil, aka Exxon, Mobil and Esso. These actions should begin immediately and continue through December 31, 2011.
What is our message? Put Country First! If Washington politicians need further explanation, then they should hear this: Put country before party. Put country before lobbyists. Put country before campaign contributions. And put country put before ideologies.
Why buy shoes from New Balance?
New Balance is the only and last manufacturer of athletic shoes in our country. Their management has made a commitment to U.S. workers. They could make more money by moving all their manufacturing offshore. But instead they choose to employ a 1000 Americans in America [1]. We can reward their commitment and courage. We must show Washington politicians how we are prepared to protect and create American jobs even if they aren’t. And we need to tell Nike and other American manufacturers that they should return the jobs they moved offshore back to the U.S. So buy a pair of New Balance athletic shoes between now and December 31, 2011, and buy American for America.
Why not buy gas from Exxon Mobil?
Our country is significantly in debt and can no longer afford to provide annual subsidies of nearly $4B to the very profitable oil industry. The oil industry uses its financial power to “buy” enough Washington politicians so that the House and Senate will not discontinue these subsidies. Exxon Mobil is the largest and most profitable oil company. Not buying gas from Exxon Mobil will send a message to Washington politicians that we want these subsidies stopped now.
In the past 5 years the top oil companies in Fortune’s annual ranking had $350B in profits. In the same five years Exxon Mobil had $175B in profits. In fact, according to Fortune, Exxon Mobil has been the most profitable company in its overall annual ranking for the last 8 years [2]. In 2011, Exxon Mobil’s profits have increased 41 per cent from $7.6B in Q2 2010 to $10.7B in Q2 2011 [3].
The oil industry uses its profitability to “buy” Washington politicians for its continual financial advantage. Since 1998, oil and gas companies have spent $1 billion on lobbying related activities [4]. In 2010 Exxon Mobil spent $27M lobbying congress and another $3.3M through May of this year [5].
An important example of the success of the oil industry in “buying” senators occurred this May when an effort to repeal some but not all of the oil industry subsidies failed in the U.S. Senate. Those “bought” senators who voted with the oil industry have received over $21 million in career oil contributions. The senators who voted against the oil industry received only $5.4 million in career contributions. The net result is that those senators who supported the oil industry have received 5 times as much career oil money donations as those who opposed the industry [4].
Unless something changes, the oil industry will receive about $44B in subsidies over the next 10 years.
We the People should ask this reasonable question. Is $44B in subsidies to the highly profitable oil industry a priority for our country now? A reasonable answer is no.
We the People should also ask this reasonable question. Would we pay less at the pump if the oil industry did not spend so much money on lobbying, political contributions and all related activities? A reasonable answer is yes.
One cent in the price of gas equals about $600M of our consumer disposable income [6]. If the oil industry would find ways to reduce the price of gas by just one cent, an additional $600M would be available for our economy in this serious recession. Two cents would be an additional $1.2B for us to spend on food, housing and other essentials!
Suppose enough Americans decide to not buy gas from Exxon Mobil and there is an impact on its October-December sales and earnings. What is Exxon Mobil likely to do? Put its marketing spin machine on high speed in an attempt to convince us that not buying their gas for 90 days is unfair and inappropriate.
This is what their spin machine had to say in the past when wind fall profit taxes or elimination of subsidies have been considered in Washington and what it is likely to spin now.
The spin: The oil industry employs millions of Americans and provides income for retirees who invested in the oil industry. The reality: Yes, but this has nothing to do with whether the highly profitable oil industry should receive $44B in subsidies over the next 10 years.
The spin: “We already are probably the most heavily taxed industry in this country”, which is quote from Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson on CNBC in May 2010. The reality: They pay taxes like other companies. Forbes, who believes the subsidies should end, does acknowledge that the oil industry pays higher federal taxes than other industries [7]. CNN Money, however, points out that during the first three months of 2011 when efforts were underway in Washington to end oil subsidies, Exxon Mobil said it paid $3.1B in taxes in the US which is more than the $2.6B it made in profits selling oil and gas. How? Because Exxon Mobil chose in that spin to include federal and state gasoline taxes the company collects from drivers but which it passes on the government. It also included the payroll taxes Exxon Mobil pays on behalf of its employees [8]. Why the need for such inappropriate exaggeration? Perhaps to undermine American Progress, who has looked at the taxes paid by Exxon Mobil and concluded that the company’s effective tax rate is only 17.6 percent, which is below the average individual federal tax rate of 20.4 percent [9]. This would mean that Exxon Mobil pays less in taxes than We the People!
The spin: Exxon Mobil uses oil subsidies for investments in clean and renewable energy. The reality: Exxon Mobil is only an oil business. The Center for American Progress points out that in 2008 when Exxon Mobil had $45B in net income, it invested less that 1 percent in renewable energy. That was the least in percent and absolute dollars in the oil industry, which only invested about 4 percent of its 2008 profits in renewable or alternative energies [10].
The spin: Exxon Mobil may have to lay off employees if enough Americans do not buy their gas. The reality: The focus of our efforts will last for only 90 days. Exxon Mobil’s industry leading levels of profitability should enable it to absorb the financial impact of our actions. We should also understand that it has the option of reducing pay for its executives before laying off employees. Consider that in 2010 just the top 5 executives of Exxon Mobil received $16.2M in salaries and bonuses as well as $39.8M in stock awards [11]. They have this choice: Put employees before shareholders or put shareholders before employees.
We the People can put country first by using our economic power as political power. We should buy New Balance athletic shoes and not buy gas at Exxon, Mobil and Esso between now and December 31st. Both of which are legal, peaceful and will involve little if any sacrifice by us.
These two actions will make this clear to Washington: 1) Americans needs jobs in America now; and 2) Discontinue $44B in subsidies to the highly profitable oil industry over the next 10 years as part of our national debt reduction.
Do We the People put our country first and take these actions through our commitment, determination and courage? Or do we do nothing because of our cynicism, complacency and indifference and let Washington politicians put party, lobbyists and ideologies before country?
To use the language of Main Street, U.S.A., we need to get pissed off and legally and peacefully show these god damn Washington politicians that we’ve had enough of their bullshit.
Send this to everyone you know using every means possible and let them decide for themselves whether they will buy New Balance shoes and not buy gas from Exxon, Mobil and Esso between now and December 31st.
This post was originally posted at Technorati.
Email: jlfrogno@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/frogno
Reference Links:
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/new-balance-struggles-as-sole-remaining-major-us-athletic-shoe-manufacturer/2011/07/22/gIQAZsq9eI_story.html
[2] http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/index.html
[3] http://checksandbalancesproject.org/2011/08/03/the-market-has-spoken-it%E2%80%99s-time-to-end-big-oil-subsidies/
[4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/18/oil-subsidies-vote-fails_n_863734.html
[5] http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2010/05/11/205973/exxon-ceo-oil-subsidies/
[6] http://investmentwatchblog.com/every-1-cent-increase-in-gasoline-decreases-u-s-consumer-disposable-income-by-about-600-million-per-year-the-move-in-oil-in-the-past-week-alone-has-almost-entirely-wiped-out-the-most-recent-stimulu/
[7] http://www.forbes.com/2011/05/02/eliminate-oil-subsidies.html
[8] http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/04/news/companies/exxon_oil_taxes/index.html
[9] http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/05/tax_man.html
[10] http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/03/big_oil_misers.html
[11] http://marketbrief.com/xom/def%2014a/definitive-proxy-statement/2011/4/13/7811937?secwatch
We the People have political power through economic power. Seventy per cent of our economy is based on what we buy as consumers.
Money is apparently the native language in the land of Washington politics. If we talk and act in terms of money, we can influence Washington for the benefit of our country. But we have to act together
.
What should we do? Buy New Balance shoes. Do not buy gas from Exxon Mobil, aka Exxon, Mobil and Esso. These actions should begin immediately and continue through December 31, 2011.
What is our message? Put Country First! If Washington politicians need further explanation, then they should hear this: Put country before party. Put country before lobbyists. Put country before campaign contributions. And put country put before ideologies.
Why buy shoes from New Balance?
New Balance is the only and last manufacturer of athletic shoes in our country. Their management has made a commitment to U.S. workers. They could make more money by moving all their manufacturing offshore. But instead they choose to employ a 1000 Americans in America [1]. We can reward their commitment and courage. We must show Washington politicians how we are prepared to protect and create American jobs even if they aren’t. And we need to tell Nike and other American manufacturers that they should return the jobs they moved offshore back to the U.S. So buy a pair of New Balance athletic shoes between now and December 31, 2011, and buy American for America.
Why not buy gas from Exxon Mobil?
Our country is significantly in debt and can no longer afford to provide annual subsidies of nearly $4B to the very profitable oil industry. The oil industry uses its financial power to “buy” enough Washington politicians so that the House and Senate will not discontinue these subsidies. Exxon Mobil is the largest and most profitable oil company. Not buying gas from Exxon Mobil will send a message to Washington politicians that we want these subsidies stopped now.
In the past 5 years the top oil companies in Fortune’s annual ranking had $350B in profits. In the same five years Exxon Mobil had $175B in profits. In fact, according to Fortune, Exxon Mobil has been the most profitable company in its overall annual ranking for the last 8 years [2]. In 2011, Exxon Mobil’s profits have increased 41 per cent from $7.6B in Q2 2010 to $10.7B in Q2 2011 [3].
The oil industry uses its profitability to “buy” Washington politicians for its continual financial advantage. Since 1998, oil and gas companies have spent $1 billion on lobbying related activities [4]. In 2010 Exxon Mobil spent $27M lobbying congress and another $3.3M through May of this year [5].
An important example of the success of the oil industry in “buying” senators occurred this May when an effort to repeal some but not all of the oil industry subsidies failed in the U.S. Senate. Those “bought” senators who voted with the oil industry have received over $21 million in career oil contributions. The senators who voted against the oil industry received only $5.4 million in career contributions. The net result is that those senators who supported the oil industry have received 5 times as much career oil money donations as those who opposed the industry [4].
Unless something changes, the oil industry will receive about $44B in subsidies over the next 10 years.
We the People should ask this reasonable question. Is $44B in subsidies to the highly profitable oil industry a priority for our country now? A reasonable answer is no.
We the People should also ask this reasonable question. Would we pay less at the pump if the oil industry did not spend so much money on lobbying, political contributions and all related activities? A reasonable answer is yes.
One cent in the price of gas equals about $600M of our consumer disposable income [6]. If the oil industry would find ways to reduce the price of gas by just one cent, an additional $600M would be available for our economy in this serious recession. Two cents would be an additional $1.2B for us to spend on food, housing and other essentials!
Suppose enough Americans decide to not buy gas from Exxon Mobil and there is an impact on its October-December sales and earnings. What is Exxon Mobil likely to do? Put its marketing spin machine on high speed in an attempt to convince us that not buying their gas for 90 days is unfair and inappropriate.
This is what their spin machine had to say in the past when wind fall profit taxes or elimination of subsidies have been considered in Washington and what it is likely to spin now.
The spin: The oil industry employs millions of Americans and provides income for retirees who invested in the oil industry. The reality: Yes, but this has nothing to do with whether the highly profitable oil industry should receive $44B in subsidies over the next 10 years.
The spin: “We already are probably the most heavily taxed industry in this country”, which is quote from Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson on CNBC in May 2010. The reality: They pay taxes like other companies. Forbes, who believes the subsidies should end, does acknowledge that the oil industry pays higher federal taxes than other industries [7]. CNN Money, however, points out that during the first three months of 2011 when efforts were underway in Washington to end oil subsidies, Exxon Mobil said it paid $3.1B in taxes in the US which is more than the $2.6B it made in profits selling oil and gas. How? Because Exxon Mobil chose in that spin to include federal and state gasoline taxes the company collects from drivers but which it passes on the government. It also included the payroll taxes Exxon Mobil pays on behalf of its employees [8]. Why the need for such inappropriate exaggeration? Perhaps to undermine American Progress, who has looked at the taxes paid by Exxon Mobil and concluded that the company’s effective tax rate is only 17.6 percent, which is below the average individual federal tax rate of 20.4 percent [9]. This would mean that Exxon Mobil pays less in taxes than We the People!
The spin: Exxon Mobil uses oil subsidies for investments in clean and renewable energy. The reality: Exxon Mobil is only an oil business. The Center for American Progress points out that in 2008 when Exxon Mobil had $45B in net income, it invested less that 1 percent in renewable energy. That was the least in percent and absolute dollars in the oil industry, which only invested about 4 percent of its 2008 profits in renewable or alternative energies [10].
The spin: Exxon Mobil may have to lay off employees if enough Americans do not buy their gas. The reality: The focus of our efforts will last for only 90 days. Exxon Mobil’s industry leading levels of profitability should enable it to absorb the financial impact of our actions. We should also understand that it has the option of reducing pay for its executives before laying off employees. Consider that in 2010 just the top 5 executives of Exxon Mobil received $16.2M in salaries and bonuses as well as $39.8M in stock awards [11]. They have this choice: Put employees before shareholders or put shareholders before employees.
We the People can put country first by using our economic power as political power. We should buy New Balance athletic shoes and not buy gas at Exxon, Mobil and Esso between now and December 31st. Both of which are legal, peaceful and will involve little if any sacrifice by us.
These two actions will make this clear to Washington: 1) Americans needs jobs in America now; and 2) Discontinue $44B in subsidies to the highly profitable oil industry over the next 10 years as part of our national debt reduction.
Do We the People put our country first and take these actions through our commitment, determination and courage? Or do we do nothing because of our cynicism, complacency and indifference and let Washington politicians put party, lobbyists and ideologies before country?
To use the language of Main Street, U.S.A., we need to get pissed off and legally and peacefully show these god damn Washington politicians that we’ve had enough of their bullshit.
Send this to everyone you know using every means possible and let them decide for themselves whether they will buy New Balance shoes and not buy gas from Exxon, Mobil and Esso between now and December 31st.
This post was originally posted at Technorati.
Email: jlfrogno@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/frogno
Reference Links:
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/new-balance-struggles-as-sole-remaining-major-us-athletic-shoe-manufacturer/2011/07/22/gIQAZsq9eI_story.html
[2] http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/index.html
[3] http://checksandbalancesproject.org/2011/08/03/the-market-has-spoken-it%E2%80%99s-time-to-end-big-oil-subsidies/
[4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/18/oil-subsidies-vote-fails_n_863734.html
[5] http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2010/05/11/205973/exxon-ceo-oil-subsidies/
[6] http://investmentwatchblog.com/every-1-cent-increase-in-gasoline-decreases-u-s-consumer-disposable-income-by-about-600-million-per-year-the-move-in-oil-in-the-past-week-alone-has-almost-entirely-wiped-out-the-most-recent-stimulu/
[7] http://www.forbes.com/2011/05/02/eliminate-oil-subsidies.html
[8] http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/04/news/companies/exxon_oil_taxes/index.html
[9] http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/05/tax_man.html
[10] http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/03/big_oil_misers.html
[11] http://marketbrief.com/xom/def%2014a/definitive-proxy-statement/2011/4/13/7811937?secwatch
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