Posted on 10/28/2021 8:06:47 AM PDT by Kaslin
It's open enrollment season for Medicare. Local TV stations and cable networks are flooded with ads for various insurance supplements. They promise "free" dental care, free transportation to doctors, free drugs, free dentures, and lots of other free stuff. Paid spokespersons speak of "benefits" and "entitlements." They say subscribers could receive as much as $100 a month back into their Social Security checks. Even the phone number to call to sign up is "absolutely free." Read the small print and you'll find that some of the plans vary by region, some by ZIP code. Sometimes there's a nominal cost, so it's not actually "free." Call a "licensed" insurance agent for more details. Licensed by whom? Probably the companies selling the plans.
Some of the ads pay aging celebrities like quarterback Joe Namath, basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson and comedian Jimmie Walker to pitch their products.
Notice the use of certain words and how they also are used by politicians to dupe people into believing they are not getting what they "deserve" because "the rich" - those predatory, stingy, and greedy people -- are not paying their "fair share" in taxes.
Selective language has long been used by snake oil salesmen and politicians to flim-flam the public. That is why propaganda messages from dictators are effective. resident Biden's falling approval numbers suggest a dwindling number of people believe his claim that taxing billionaires will pay for the trillions he wants to spend. Even the word "infrastructure" is manipulative because only a small percentage of the proposed spending is targeted to repair roads, bridges, and airports. The rest will be spent on other things unrelated to infrastructure and drive us deeper into debt, along with a separate social spending bill to expand "entitlements" that will addict more people to government.
People not only have to read between the lines to find the truth, but also explore different sources of information. If you read only, say, The Washington Post and The New York Times and watch CNN and MSNBC, you will likely believe what comes from their worldview - government is good and here to help you, at least when Democrats are in control. If you read other publications, say, The Washington Times and The Wall Street Journal, watch Fox News and listen to conservative talk radio, you will learn things you didn't know by consuming only left-of-center media. The media also have the power to ignore certain subjects that would give consumers a more balanced information diet.
The problem is that too many people read and tune into only those sources that reinforce what they already believe. That, too, is a type of propaganda.
In a letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal, Daniel C. Oliverio of Buffalo, N.Y., deconstructs the "fair share" lingo with his personal story: "As a self-employed professional in a law partnership, I am one of those high-wage earners. I pay over 45 percent of my income in taxes to New York and the U.S. Treasury. That's not counting real-estate tax, both sides of Social Security and Medicare taxes, sales tax and lost deductions. I have no trust fund and can't rely on interest and dividends alone." Here's the key part which flies in the face of the envy and entitlement crowd: "I have worked and saved my whole life ... I have paid my bills and aggressively funded a retirement. To hear ad nauseam the lie that I am getting away with something at tax time ... is frustrating. Now resident Biden wants even more on the false premise that people like me aren't paying enough. Half isn't enough?"
Once we celebrated and encouraged success. Now we subsidize mediocrity and failure. We are then surprised we are getting more of the latter and less of the former. Do your homework. Don't be manipulated by the language used by politicians and TV ads promising free stuff.
Typical low-information Democrat voter's response:
"Well, it's free to ME, so I don't give a rip."
Joe Namath missed his calling. He's one of the best hucksters I've ever seen on TV.
For crying out loud.
The Welfare Queens know that welfare isn’t free.
They understand money.
The government isn’t giving them an hour at the government grocery store.
They receive money.
Ask any inner city Democrat voter if they would rather have $10 or $1000?
They will go for the greater amount of money every time.
The Medicare Advantage plans (which include Part D prescription coverage) are okay as long as you don’t need an expensive brand-name drug. Then it could cost you thousands of dollars. The drugs seen on those glitzy commercials that play constantly all day long can cost up to $10,000 a month or more. Those are “Tier 5” drugs and Medicare patients must pay 33% of the retail cost. Your “out of pocket maximum” does not include prescription drugs. They don’t tell you that in the commercials.
Those commercials drive me nuts and have for years.
They want everyone to feel entitled and run to them to squeeze some more benefits coromandel somewhere.
“I got to gets what I be entitled to “ 🤪
The inner city Democrat voters don’t care if money is taken from you (money you worked for to receive) and given to them.
They just don’t care.
They don’t see you dealing with customers or skinning your knuckles or coming home late at night.
They don’t care.
They don’t have to.
Not only Namath, but the DYN-O-MITE fella add William Shatner. They all advertise these Medicare "HELP" Lines, which they may be. But in reality they are "SALES" lines that talk seniors into moving their medicare funds to their Medicare advantage company for commissions. It's advertising fraud and Merrick Garland is too busy focused on parents disrupting the teacher union gravy train.
Even Joe Montana (say it ain’t so Joe!) is hawking these Medicare plans.
Pathetic.
I don’t think he ever inquired about getting a hundred dollars added to his Social Security check. LOL. He’s got a big fat pension from the NFL, and probably millions in the bank.
A portion of the money you receive for working is taken from you and given to the inner city Democrat voters.
The inner city Democrat voters believe that it is only because of this harsh confiscation of your earned money that they can live.
The Democrat politicians have convinced them of this.
That is why they vote for Democrats.
That is why they like loud mouthed Democrat politicians.
The inner city Democrat voters believe that the loud mouthed Democrat politicians are harsh enough to take money from working people.
Mr Howdy Doody himself. I wonder if he realizes his looks evolved into Howdy Doody...or the cover guy of Mad Magazine.
He certainly is pretty goofy-looking. But I think that adds to the homespun charm he projects, even though there's nothing homespun about him. I'm sure he doesn't agonize over his insurance premiums.
When I go to Walmart, there are signs near the entry that you can get a vaccing “at no cost to you”. I take Post-Its saying. “Not true. You ARE paying” and stick them on the signs. When I leave, sometimes they’ve been removed, and sometimes not.
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