AIG, a crucial turning point in American political history
ILLUSTRATED: The GOP is discussing the AIG issue from a progressive point of view.
In 2005, George Lakoff's theory of "Framing" was the flavor of the year among Democratic activists. His theory stresses the importance of the vantage point from which issues are discussed. The famous example is "tax relief", which implies taxes are oppressive, a bad thing. As opposed to taxes being the dues of citizenship, the funding of a public trust.
This week, the second week of March 2009, I see as a turning point in the dialog of American politics. Words are thoughts, thus the thinking of the country is changing.
This week, the dominant story in the news is the bipartisan outrage of bonuses paid to AIG, the insurance company which was central to the meltdown of 2008. As of this week $170 billion had been paid in bailout money.
By complaining about these bonuses, Republicans are 1) suggesting the bonuses be taxed, 2) criticizing the Obama Administration for not attaching strings to the bailout, and 3)suggesting that these companies should be regulated.
In other words, Republicans are debating this issue in a progressive frame. Democrats now have the political cover to argue for sensible regulations, and sensible taxes on the very wealthy.
In 2005, George Lakoff's theory of "Framing" was the flavor of the year among Democratic activists. His theory stresses the importance of the vantage point from which issues are discussed. The famous example is "tax relief", which implies taxes are oppressive, a bad thing. As opposed to taxes being the dues of citizenship, the funding of a public trust.
This week, the second week of March 2009, I see as a turning point in the dialog of American politics. Words are thoughts, thus the thinking of the country is changing.
This week, the dominant story in the news is the bipartisan outrage of bonuses paid to AIG, the insurance company which was central to the meltdown of 2008. As of this week $170 billion had been paid in bailout money.
By complaining about these bonuses, Republicans are 1) suggesting the bonuses be taxed, 2) criticizing the Obama Administration for not attaching strings to the bailout, and 3)suggesting that these companies should be regulated.
In other words, Republicans are debating this issue in a progressive frame. Democrats now have the political cover to argue for sensible regulations, and sensible taxes on the very wealthy.
posted by Teka Thomas at 6:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home