Time to Raise Hell About the Catfood Commission - Jane Hamsher/FDL

[WillyT]

Time to Raise Hell About the Catfood Commission
By: Jane Hamsher
Wednesday September 1, 2010 8:42 am

<snip>

More than 31,000 people signed our petition to Can the Catfood Commission. Sadly, the White House says that Alan Simpson will remain as co-chair of the President’s deficit commission.

Simpson says that Social Security is “like a milk cow with 310 million tits.” He and other members of the commission are determined to cut the deficit by slashing Social Security benefits.

The time to raise the red flags is now, before the November election. But many people who care very much about this issue don’t know what’s going on.

We want to micro-target likely voters in key districts with online ads, and let them know that now is the time to protect their future by raising hell.

People who have been around FDL for a while remember the moment the Catfood Commission got its name in February of 2009, when it was a still glimmer in Pete Peterson’s eye. It represents the outrage against a hedge fund billionaire who got rich because he didn’t pay his taxes, who thinks that senior citizens should pick up his tab – even if it forced them into poverty and onto a diet of cat food.

Since that time, the “Catfood Commission” monicker has spread like wildfire throughout the online world, with 70,000 mentions on Google. The forceful imagery instantly communicates what’s at stake.

But the same media elites who believe it’s a sign of “seriousness” and “fiscal responsibility” to support slashing Social Security benefits are not covering the story. They never have. And they’re not going to.

FDL was virtually the only media outlet covering this issue for a very, very long time. But if we’re going to alert the public in time to derail the commission, we really need to step up our campaign, and quickly.

It’s clear cutting Social Security is the Catfood Commission’s goal. And we’re going to have to go directly to the public to alert them, because we can’t rely on traditional media to get the word out.

Can you please help us run online ads to call out the Catfood Commission?

Every $5 will show our ads 500 times. Click here: http://www.actblue.com/page/catfoodads to donate now and help step up our campaign to save Social Security from the Catfood Commission.

<snip>

Link: http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/09/01/help-us-sound-the-alarm-about-the-catfood-commission/

:kick:

[chimpymustgo]

1. K&R. It's time to get out the pitchforks. Or least send money.

[nashville_brook]

2. under no circumstances is it sensible to cut SS or raise the age for eligibility -- that's betrayal.

[customerserviceguy]

3. It's happened twice before

Both in the Carter and the Reagan administrations. The 'reforms' they passed in similar commissions simply kicked the can down the street to the point we are at today.

[customerserviceguy]

4. Cute graphic with Simpson

However, I've never seen a full list of the members of this commission, anybody have a link to one?

[ljm2002]

7. At your service...

...here is a link to a great synopsis over at TPM:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/meet-the-16-men-and-two-women-who-could-determine-the-fate-of-social-security.php

[seafan]

10. Here's a chart of the 18 members of the Catfood Commission:

scroll down slightly


Time is perilously short.

[Political Tiger]

5. "People...around FDL for a while remember the moment the Catfood Commission got its name...

...Since that time, the “Catfood Commission” monicker has spread like wildfire throughout the online world."

Ah! FDL has learned the power of propaganda! Take a complex issue, reduce it a catch phrase, repeat it over and over and watch the masses fall for it. How proud they must be.

[WillyT]

6. Well Gibbsie... Unlike The White House, They Know How To Get An Effective Message Out...

maybe you guys should hire 'em.

:shrug:

[Jim Sagle]

8. Hey Gibbs, tell yer boss to keep his hands off Social Security.

[scarletwoman]

9. Since it's "the masses" who stand to get screwed, I have no problem whatsoever with this.

If "propanganda" motivates people to fight FOR their own interests, I'm all for it.

People rarely respond to long-winded wonky explanations of policy, they just tune out. It's perfectly acceptable to simply yell "Fire!" when there's a fire.

And there IS a fire. TPTB want to rip off the money that everyone has been paying, and will be paying, into Social Security via FICA. Mobilizing the working class to resist this is a noble work, indeed.

We need all the "propaganda" we can muster in order to mobilize our fellow citizens. Bring it on!

sw

[bobbolink]

12. Catapult at the ready.....

:patriot:

Its either that, or...

[mmonk]

11. Thanks.

The fight against our best interests never seems to let up.

[WillyT]

13. Anytime m !!!

:hi: