Obama's Health Insurance Plan Channels...The Heritage Foundation?
| Thu Aug. 13, 2009 12:41 PM PDT
During his New Hampshire town hall meeting on health care reform in mid-August, Obama explained that under his plan, people who lack health insurance would be able to purchase it in a new exchange that offered a similar “menu of options that I used to have as a member of Congress.” Obama said that by creating a big pool of potential customers, the exchange would allow the uninsured and even small businesses to shop around, easily compare various private health care plans and get a better deal than they could on their own.
Most of the health care reform bills circulating in Congress contain some form of this concept. The exchange, in fact, is now the centerpiece of proposed plans drafted mainly by Democrats. It’s a curious development, because the concept was largely popularized by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank best known in recent years for advocating Social Security privatization during the Bush administration. Its track record ought to make Americans more wary of Obama's proposals than any talk of "socialized medicine."
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Heritage is the source of a number of radical free-market and socially conservative policy plans that have occasionally worked their way into law, with questionable results. Among the most prominent: welfare reform, which it advocated in the mid-1990s as a means of reducing out-of-wedlock births and restoring “personal responsibility.” The idea—also embraced by a Democratic president—was considered a resounding success during the boom years of the late Clinton era when millions of poor single mothers went to work. But now that the country has hit a major recession, it has become clear that welfare reform mostly succeeded in shredding the safety net for poor children. (Incidentally, out-of-wedlock births have never been higher).
More recently, Heritage has promoted the idea that what poor women really need to get themselves out of poverty is a good man. At its urging, the Bush administration gave more than $100 million in grants to “marriage entrepreneurs” charged with encouraging poor single mothers to get hitched rather than to get welfare. Needless to say, the poverty rate is still on the rise.
Like many of the foundation’s ideas, a health insurance exchange looks better on paper than in practice. When Massachusetts launched its health reform experiment in 2006, it relied heavily on Heritage's policy prescriptions. Under then-Governor Mitt Romney, Massachusetts created a voluntary insurance exchange similar to the one Obama often promotes. Massachusetts outlines some basic requirements for plans that participate but it doesn’t set rates or reimbursement levels. And far from revolutionizing health care, the exchange—known in Massachusetts as the Connector—is demonstrating the limitations of relying solely on the market to solve the nation’s health care woes and rein in skyrocketing medical costs.
Trudy Lieberman, a contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review, has done a stellar job of reporting on the Massachusetts initiative. She recently found that the Connector had all but failed to create more affordable insurance options for people in Massachusetts as promised. Using a hypothetical family from Pittsfield in western Mass, Lieberman went shopping on the Connector website. She found that coverage for a 44-year-old couple with an income of $66,150, slightly over the eligibility limit for a state insurance subsidy, “All but three of the fourteen Connector policies cost at least $1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year—eighteen percent of their income.” The cheapest policy, at $820 a month, was no bargain. Yet according to the state’s own guidelines, a Pittsfield family with kids could only afford $364 in monthly premiums.
Those prices also vary by age. Lieberman found that if she changed the age of her Pittsfield family to 54, the premiums jumped significantly. And Lieberman reports that it’s not just consumers who are complaining. Insurance companies have failed to garner the promised deluge of new customers, who’ve been deterred by the high prices.
In the reform bills currently pending in Congress, Democrats have modified the Connector model by introducing a public plan that would compete in the exchange to help keep costs down. But the public option seems increasingly doomed, in no small part to the Heritage Foundation itself, which is apparently horrified by Obama’s embrace of its pet policy.
In July, Heritage released a report warning that a public option would cause millions of people to lose their private insurance and serve as a Trojan horse ushering in a single-payer system. Heritage also has decried the way Obama and congressional Democrats have morphed its voluntary free-market concept into a vehicle for more federal regulation. Several of the congressional proposals would use the structure of an exchange to impose new requirements on insurance companies.
Robert Moffit, director of the foundation’s Center for Health Policy Studies, wrote in July, “If the objective of the President and Congress is to expand the role of the federal government in providing health insurance and determining the kind of health insurance that Americans will get, the national health insurance exchange is a convenient tool for that federal expansion and control.”
Obama, then, is running a big risk. The Massachusetts model suggests that if he fails to win a public option for his federal exchange plan, he could leave Americans with a largely useless shopping program cooked up by the same people who brought us marriage counseling as a poverty cure. It's hard to call that real reform.
Comments
Health Care Cost
Submitted by AquiferA on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 5:47 AM PDT.
According to recent findings, just over half of the $2 trillion of health care costs in the US each year is due to wasteful practices. The health care costs that are indicated to be wasteful are behavioral, clinical, and procedural – what that means is that behavioral patterns could be addressed by someone other than a doctor, clinics order unnecessary tests, and health insurance companies might be padding their bills. The biggest cause of people needing an extra cash advance for medical care is over testing – unnecessary procedures so the physician can cover himself legally, or just gouge patients for cash. Doctors padding bills – no wonder health care costs drive people to needing a personal loan for a simple check up. Visit this site to read more: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/08/11/healthcare-dollars-dr...
Health care
Submitted by Sean Baines (not verified) on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 9:38 AM PDT.
Health Care can only be made less expensive when everybody involved in Health Care takes out a bit less. In other words Doctors lower their wages say 10 % and nurses give up 10 %. Lawyers sue less. You think this is going to happen . ?
Dream on people. It is simple. Insurance companies spent a lot of time trying to pay fewer people for the diseases so a lot of money is spent on doing the paperwork .
In other words if we want less expensive Health care, Farm it out to India or Perhaps China. We are screwed.
SB
So, you think that if heath
Submitted by critical care attorney (not verified) on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 2:44 PM PDT.
So, you think that if heath care providers (you used doctors and nurses as an example) take voluntary pay cuts, that the cost of health care will decrease? You suggested 10% reductions for each of those providers, were you thinking that added up to 20% of total costs? A 20% reduction in the cost of health care overall? By that logic, I could argue that the price of food or gasoline is too expensive and therefore the checker at the supermarket or the attendant at the gas station should take 10% pay cuts. You probably don't realize that only pennies of every dollar spent on health care actually go toward the delivery of health care. The overwhelming majority of it is spent on non-delivery related costs, like the insurance companies' executive compensation and the pharmaceutical industry's advertising. If you want people to tighten their belts and go talk to big pharma and the medical device manufacturers, talk to the insurers that spend more money looking for ways to deny coverage than they actually reimburse the providers and hospitals.
We do live in a litigious society, and perhaps some form of tort reform would be helpful; but this is a difficult problem to address. On the one hand you have physicians practicing a "defensive" form of medicine, utilizing resources that would be better used elsewhere and running up costs. Yet at the same time, if you or a loved one sustained a significant injury at the hands of a negligent or impaired provider (imagine having a limb amputated in error), shouldn't you be compensated? There needs to be some balance built into the system, because at present it's way out of balance. Hungry lawyers sue everyone and doctors pracitce expensive defensive medicine.
The concept of farming out heath care isn't new, the wealthy have been doing this for a generation. India and Pakistan are English speaking countries and many of their physicians train in the US and UK. It is far less expensive to travel there for elective procedures than to pay and wait for them here. It's not a long term strategy for reducing costs in the US though. Emergent care cannot be provided abroad, and we cannot import cheaper labor for this. Perhaps, you are correct in your assessment that we are screwed.
Lawyers
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed Aug. 19, 2009 9:38 PM PDT.
Lawyers are not the problem. The number of suits and the amount paid has been going down for years. The fact is, even if you win a law suit, you have only a 30% chance of ever getting any money. The call for tort reform is really another call to privatize the profit and socialize the risk. If you cap the award at say $500,000, and a person suffers a problem that will cost that much every year, the tax payer will end up with that bill.
George Carlin said
Submitted by Fingal (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 11:48 AM PDT.
"We're all f---ed. It helps to remember that."
More George Carlin Wisdom...
Submitted by blakeart on Tue Aug. 25, 2009 3:58 PM PDT.
George is my “Guest Blogger” this week in my latest post—about the Health Care Debacle and who really runs the show in Washington—check it out!
Health Care
Submitted by Macduff (not verified) on Mon Aug. 17, 2009 10:05 AM PDT.
Instead of hitting on the people that actually provide health care (doctors, nurses) how about hitting on the insurance companies that add very little if any value to our health care dollars. Remember that Medicare manages 50 odd million customers at about 3% overhead, the insurance companies take 20 to 25% according to a study performed by the Harvard School of Medicine. We should all seriously consider medicare for all, H.R. 676
read about it at thomas.gov search on bill number h.r.676
Medical care
Submitted by John Whiting (not verified) on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 12:52 PM PDT.
I am an American citizen who has lived in Britain for forty years, which is half my life. I have no debilitating illnesses, but I am borderline diabetic, have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I was recently in hospital after a mini stroke and as an outpatient being treated for basal cell carcinoma. I am on five daily medications. My treatment throughout has been at the highest level, both as to competence and consideration, and it hasn’t cost me a penny.
In America, you have freedom of choice in medical care in exactly the same way that you have the freedom to purchase either a clapped-out jalopy or a Rolls Royce. Fine for the rich. Terrible for the poor.Two kinds of Americans in Britain will tell you that they would rather be treated back home – those who are wealthy and those who are liars.
Britain is up to its
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 2:20 AM PDT.
Britain is up to its eyeballs in debt, however, so they should not be an example for any country hoping to implement a health care plan.
Apples, oranges and idiots
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 9:11 AM PDT.
I suppose you would also say that Fiji is a nation of island (in the ocean) so they should not concern themselves with drinking water. Or, the farm produces apples so I wouldn't want their advice on cows (which they may or may not also produce). Just because Great Britain has an overall debt (and we do not?) has nothing to do with their merits healthcare plan and its impact on the British citizens' quality of life.
If the US didn't have all the guns
Submitted by Fingal (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 11:52 AM PDT.
the amount of its debt relative to its GDP would have led the IMF to step in long ago. Well, the guns, the banks, the pricing of oil in dollars, and historically, effective control *over* the IMF. And the fact that the debt is so incredibly huge that there wouldn't be a whole lot the IMF could do. Aside from that though...
Britain is up to its
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 2:20 AM PDT.
Britain is up to its eyeballs in debt, however, so they should not be an example for any country hoping to implement a health care plan.
Debt and deficits
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 6:54 AM PDT.
I don't know whether you realize it or not, but we here in the US are in debt up to our eybeballs as well. That deficit thing, yeah, it represents spending borrowed money, or debt.
So what
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 9:12 AM PDT.
And this keeps American citizens healthy?
So what?
Submitted by angry taxpayer (not verified) on Mon Aug. 17, 2009 9:17 AM PDT.
Really, you don't care that we have the largest budget deficit in history? So, what, you say? No, it doesn't keep Americans healthy, neither does health insurance. Health insurance might help you get medical attention when you are sick or injured, though. I think we need reform, and I think a public option is an important element in that reform. I won't lose any sleep, though, if nothing changes. I have a job, and a home, and I have health insurance. If you don't want coverage, I am fine with that. It's a free country, so long as you can pay your own way.
and this is precisely the problem
Submitted by KDelphi on Mon Aug. 17, 2009 9:13 PM PDT.
selfish 'Merkins who dont give a damn about anyone but themselves.
Think of it as "keystone" for whether we are a civilization or not---how well we take care of our citizens at their most vulnerable. I dont much appreciate paying for f*cking wars with my taxes either, you selfish a-hole. Id rather invest in my fellow citizens.
Youre saying that you dont care that 52 people die needlessly everyday---psychopath.
"Health care rerorm" died when Obama was nominated--he didnt support the only solution then (HR 676) and he doesnt now...so at least I'm not surprised. I have lost friends and family member and clients to this death for profit system. I
'll never vote Democrat again.
Go ahead and vote Dem-just dont try to call yourself a "progessive" afterwards.
Historic opportunity squandered by faux liberals (neo liberals)
ummmm. . .
Submitted by angry taxpayer (not verified) on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 4:38 AM PDT.
maybe i poured on the sarcasm a bit too thick. sorry, didn't mean to offend, it was a poor attempt at irony. your comments mirror my frustration as well, albeit a bit more angrily. channel that passion toward those in washington holding up reform, we need you.
hmmmm
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon Aug. 17, 2009 9:19 AM PDT.
bunch of trolls on this site. really need moderation
The system need revamp from
Submitted by Trollstein on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 2:21 PM PDT.
The system need revamp from top down. Obama lacks the balls and wishes for eveyone to "just get along".
Obrama should stand for something
Submitted by robert diogenes on Sun Aug. 16, 2009 6:09 PM PDT.
You are correct. Obrrama seems to lack the core values and guts to see meaningful Healthcare Reform thru. The bill that will probably emerge will be a hodge podge that pleases no one. You can not please everyone and should not try to. There is no way that you can get a meaningful compromise with the Republican opposition with the viewpoint and tactics they are using. As a last resort you can follow James Carville's advice and force the Republicans to filabuster and use the fallout as amunition in the 2010 election to build a bigger senate majority.
Desperate Republicans Fight Healthcare
with lies and meeting disruptions Part 1
Recently Republican House minority leader John Boehner said that Reform Healthcare plans recommended euthanasia. Republican VP Candidate Sarah Palin said that Reform Healthcare plans recommended euthanasia. Newt Gingrich republican leader said that Reform Healthcare plans recommended euthanasia. Newt also added, (clearly there are people in America who believe in establishing euthanasia). Unfortunately Newt did not name names or organizations. Also UNFORTUNATELY THIS APPEARS TO BE THE REPUBLICAN party line, Also UNFORTUNATELY IT IS COMPLETELY FALSE.
The reform healthcare plans provides a voluntary option to discuss end of life options, such as living wills. If a patient chooses to discuss this with a doctor the reform plan will pay for the doctor’s time. Many of these issues should be discussed before a person is seriously ill. But a large number of people for a variety of reasons do not. The number of people including well to do educated people who do not even have a will is surprising.
Other republican false claims are: Medicare payments will be cut ,less freedom to choose your own Dr., lose health coverage, ration healthcare, gov’t takeover, etc Part 2 Disruptions.
robert diogenes
B-b-b-ut...
Submitted by KDelphi on Mon Aug. 17, 2009 9:15 PM PDT.
I thought Dems had a majority in Senate House and the presidency? Why, again , do they need to give a rat's ass what GOP thinks?? OH, money....sell-outs...
But now that the country has
Submitted by driver updaters (not verified) on Sat Nov. 7, 2009 9:45 AM PST.
But now that the country has hit a major recession, it has become clear that welfare reform mostly succeeded in shredding the safety net for poor children. (Incidentally, out-of-wedlock births have never been higher).
"Co-Ops" Not Good Option, Either
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 3:00 PM PDT.
I live in WA State, which has one of the two regulated Co-Ops in the nation, Group Health.
Rates for me and my husband and daughter, which would include prescriptions, would be $614 a month or more, up to over $800 a month for a $500 deductible. At the $614/mo rate, the deductible for the family would be $4,500.year. There is a 30% co- insurance after deductible, so I would be responsible for anything after the insurance paid 70%, plus the Rxs are paid at 30%-50% only. I would have to pay the balance OOP. For my husband's asthma medication, which is non-generic, that would be over $100/month, every month, on top of the costs above. This plan does not include dental. You can see for yourself the plans on Group Health's website, and they will give you an instant quote.
I could get catastrophic coverage for a lot less for the family, but there would be no Rx coverage and really high deductibles.
My current employer-provided insurance costs me $400/month out of my paycheck, plus whatever my employer pays. We have a 20% co-insurance and a similar deductible. We also get dental.
So if the best the system has to offer is essentially a bit less than I'm paying now through private, employer-sponsored insurance, then apparently the system doesn't have a lot to offer. Major reform is required, as costs are simply untenable.
If I could sign up for Medicare, I'd do it tomorrow.
Thank you
Submitted by glasnost (not verified) on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 6:43 PM PDT.
You've convinced me. If there's no public plan, I'll stay home.
Health Care
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri Aug. 14, 2009 7:45 PM PDT.
One of the problems that Americans have is that they think the Unites States is the number ONE in the world in any thing. However, most of the European countries have a better Insurance Health Care than Unites States. It is a shame that there are over 40 million people without Health Care, most of them poor and unemployees or with a low salary.
Yeah, but we're NUMBER ONE
Submitted by Fingal (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 11:53 AM PDT.
...in Wingnuts!!!
We're Number One!
Submitted by evdebs on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 8:24 AM PDT.
Number one in the development and proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. Number one in incarcerations. Number one in homicides. Second rate in everything else. 67th, just behind Botswana. in vaccinations.
Options
Submitted by Jeanie Kilgour (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 9:26 AM PDT.
One aspect of healthcare that I seldom see or hear discussed is less expensive optional treatment. I live in Michigan (far from a leading light in healthcare). Simple, but extremely effective treatment for certain problem such as chiropractic care, medical massage, and acupuncture are not available through insurance. I have known several people who have followed up surgery with more costly Physical therapy which is covered by insurance, only to switch to medical massage when the insurance coverage ended. Not only was the massage less expensive but it was able to achieve results that PT was not.
I moved to Michigan from Canada where a back injury was being treated by chiropractic care. When I sought a local referral from the hospital, I was told to go to the "Pain Clinic" were I could learn to live with my pain. Fortunately, I was able to find a good chiropractor on my own who corrected the problem. Now I am pain free. Fortunately, I could afford to do this without insurance -- so many people can't.
These are only a couple of examples where less expensive treatment options were as good -- no, in these cases, better than, traditional medicine. There are definitely areas where costs can be cut in the present healthcare program.
Chiropractic? Heresy!
Submitted by Fingal (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 11:56 AM PDT.
No Salvation Outside The Church!!!
When do we see a costing-out
Submitted by GarySeven on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 2:02 PM PDT.
Of one single solitary hospital, or clinic? Put the numbers on the front page of the paper, and really inform the public, eh?
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Further...
Submitted by GarySeven on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 2:04 PM PDT.
....every DAY in my email spam filter I get ads for 'healthcare jobs'. I'm sorry, just what is it, exactly, that these nice people are up to? SEIU up to their usual B.S.? While on the subject of the SEIU, whatever became of former(impeached) governor Blagojenedenevichenvachenvochenblapouladopolouselensteiner-guy?
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WTF???
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat Aug. 15, 2009 9:48 PM PDT.
Please explain your this a little better I read it twicw and it still does not match the title. I'm no fan of Obama, but if your going to make the bold statement of HERITAGE WROTE OBAMAS PLAN please make it longer and more detailed. I want names and dates not a few sentences that really don't match up to the big picture.
Healthcare
Submitted by Naturalist (not verified) on Sun Aug. 16, 2009 10:30 AM PDT.
Medical Care is telling the truth. However the one big problem with Britain, Canada and Germany's health care is that they are all an opt out system. Everyone has to be in for it to work without it being to much of a tax burden. Other countries never mentioned have fine systems. Example in Sweeden a pharmaceutical company that is forced to sell their drug over there for $5.00 sells it over here for $175.00. In Japan a Cat Scan machine cost's $1200.00 and the cost for getting a scan is $60.00. Over here a CT machine costs $30,00 to $60,000 and a ct scan is $600 -$800. Yes we will be screwed because people don't care about their fellow neighbor. Read you constitution. Your trashing it. We are supposed to care about each other. That's why we are screwed. Nothing else is to blame but you.
Thanks for exposing the
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Aug. 16, 2009 1:39 PM PDT.
Thanks for exposing the left/right paradigm as an illusion. It's only us down here on the bottom that are fighting each other. With those at the top it's just tag team pro-wrestling. Let's all work together at restoring the people's control of the country.
Entire US political system corrupt
Submitted by evdebs on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 8:10 AM PDT.
The reason for the persistent complicity between supposed "liberal" Democrats and "conservative" Repubicans is that they are both openly bribed by the same cartels, in this case the distinctly American for profit "health care" industry. All those extra dollars that we pay for health care go into obscene executive compensations (20 times more in compensation than their European and Asian peers). country club memberships, kickback schemes, Gulfstream fleets, summer homes, decadent promotional gatherings, and of course what makes all this greed possible, the effective corruption of our entire political system.
"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) P
America and Europe
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun Aug. 16, 2009 2:05 PM PDT.
Why people from Europe stop to migrate to USA long time ago. Historically, only the poor people decided to come to America and start the new life here. This is also true in the case of people persecuted by communists and fascists. There is no such poverty in Europe that forced so many people to come here a 100 years ago. Wealthare state eliminated this poverty. I was one of the fiew who decided to come here. I love this country but I don't understand why poeple of US are denied basic human right to good healthcare.
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The Blame
Submitted by joedee1969 (not verified) on Mon Aug. 17, 2009 4:14 AM PDT.
I blame the president and you should too:
http://americaspeaksink.com/2009/08/obamacare-the-worst-sales-pitch-ever/
How to pay for Health Care reform?
Submitted by peggy (not verified) on Mon Aug. 17, 2009 11:19 AM PDT.
Why is our government talking about how much it costs to improve our health care system in this country, and why is money an excuse for not going forward with a single payer plan? Why isn't cost cutting in the area where most money is wasted not an option or talking point to lead to good health care?
Out of control and, untold amounts of money are spent regularly without a government price tag on what is too much spending for war. Imagine that? Our government could truly make the USA #1 for the citizens of the USA, if they stopped bullying other countries and quit trying to take over the world by force.
Get rid of the DOD and replace it with a Dept of Peace. Lets make the USA and the countries we influence contemplate the world from a different perspective; how to live peacefully, instead of how to take what we want and manipulate other governments into giving us their resources.
Health Care
Submitted by John Copeland (not verified) on Mon Aug. 17, 2009 12:21 PM PDT.
I just don't understand why everyone is so concerned about health care. My Senator, Jim DeMint is going to turn this issue into Obama's "Waterloo"! So there! For me and my State of SC, Sen. DeMint is going to give me a whopping big $2000 rebate and let me shop from state to state to get the best deal! It will have to be a good deal as I am already paying $800 per month. With what Sen. DeMint is going to give me I will be covered for at least a couple of months. I'm sure that Sen. DeMint is doing his best to support the health insurance industry keep me on their premium payroll. Everybodys says that America has the best health care regardless of actual facts. You don't want socialized medicine do you! You'd rather have NO healthcare than Obama's plan; right? I guess a lot of you are even ready to give up your Medicare as well! Just ask Sarah Palin about those death review boards. The last thing anyone needs is help with a Living Will and end of live deicisions paid for by the government; right! OMG! I think I just saw a Republican at lunch with the health care lobbyist-s groups having a big laugh and a blast of nosecaine! Health care for America; mayby some other day! Thanks Republicans - for nothing!
Barack Obama is a Maverick
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 2:00 AM PDT.
Barack Obama is a Maverick Thinker
Love him or not, Senator Barack Obama has proven to be a Maverick Thinker. His campaign has done so many things that are just not standard politician fare. Just the idea that a young, African-American man would even have a real shot at the Presidency is a maverick thought in itself. But, Sen. Obama is on the verge of being elected President of the United States. The lessons of his highly successful campaign should be applied to your business every single day.
This is not to say that everything the Obama campaign has done is completely original. It's just that the campaign has been able to mix some ideas of the past with new ideas, and package it as something fresh and new. It seems the Senator and his aides are able to recognize what has worked well in the past, but are not just rehashing it the same way it was done previously.
If you're honest, regardless of what candidate you support, Sen. Obama has made Senator John McCain look plain, old fashioned, and just out of date.
The Key to the Obama campaign is positive buzz. The announcement that Sen. Obama will accept the Democratic nomination in a football stadium in front of 75,000 people is downright brilliant. Rather than stand on a stage in front of 19,000 people in an indoor arena, he will give the most important speech of his life in a massive venue. He will be surrounded by thousands of cheering supporters. On TV screens across America this will look amazing, and reinforce the image of Sen. Obama as the overwhelming choice of the people. How can John McCain help but look small in comparison?
As brilliant an idea as this is, it is not completely original. John F. Kennedy did the same thing in 1960. Many voters today don't remember the Kennedy years, but they know he is revered. Just hearing that JFK accepted his nomination in a football stadium, and that Obama is doing the same links them emotionally in the hearts of many Americans. Especially young Americans, many of whom will vote for the first time this year.
Now consider how you can Omabatize your business. Whether it's politics, entertainment, or business people always flock to the hottest buzz. Your marketing should make you stand out first and foremost. Marketing technical jargon, and the same old bullet point features or benefits makes you just another face in the crowd. Our culture has A.D.D., so you need to grab the attention of your target market. You want to have the hot new product or service that is ready to set the world on fire.
Vanity matters. So many people I work with fear tooting their own horn. They feel if they brag too much about their product or service they'll be perceived in a negative fashion. Ever heard of a fellow named Donald Trump? There has never been a bigger self-promoter. Even when he was a virtual nobody he figured out how to get attention, and use publicity to rocket to the top of his industry. That's not easy in New York City, but he did it to perfection.
Just like Sen. Obama, love him or not you have to admit he knows how to get what he wants. Four years ago most people had no idea who Barack Obama was. Yet, just four years later he is on the cusp of becoming the most powerful man on Earth. That's pretty wild, and amazing self-promotion.
So, don't be afraid to talk up your business or your products or services. Don't be arrogant, but be proud. Talk about what you do in the same way you would talk about your child who is an honor student, or about that sweet new sports car you just bought. When you beam with pride you give off a positive vibe that people pick up on. People are always drawn to positive messages that make them feel good. Your target market will be far more receptive to you if they feel you can somehow transfer your positivity to them to make their life better.
The big thing in molding the image you want people to have of you is how you package yourself or your business. You won't find many competing companies that are both successful by looking the same as each other.
Think of Coke & Pepsi. Both soft drinks look alike if you pour them in a glass, but they are packaged very differently. They both have bright, colorful labels that are nothing alike. They both use plastic bottles, but they are shaped very differently and evoke different emotions. Their logos are also very different.
The lesson is trying to look like your most successful competitor will will really make you look a like something your customers have already seen before. There's nothing to motivate them to take a deeper look. You become the same old same old. Don't copy what others have done. Be bold. Your customers will be motivated to give you a call, or check out your web site by feeling as though they might find something new and exciting. Maybe you have a solution that your competitors don't.
One of the most successful pieces of copy I ever wrote was two sentences on a postcard. It read, "You're pissing away millions of dollars every year by not managing your inventory properly. You might want to fix that." It was a little crass, I know, but boy did it get the attention of those who received it.
The point is don't be afraid to be daring. Don't be shackled by so called "business language." Speak to people the way you would about your favorite movie or your cool new smartphone with all the bells and whistles. It's OK to say what you do is "awesome" or "cool" or gasp, FUN.
Be controversial. Even the bad publicity that has surrounded Sen. Obama has kept him at the forefront of almost every news cycle since the start of the year. His decision not to take public financing was very controversial. Heck, just the fact that a black man is within months of possibly being elected President is controversial. Barack Obama is controversial, and that draws people to him. His positive message keeps them in his corner.
Sen. Obama is the sunshine breaking through the clouds. Ronald Reagan said it was morning in America , and that made people feel good. It conjured up an image of a new beginning with the prospect of great things to come. Sen. Obama brings a similar message of hope and change in an increasingly dark time. People want to believe that great things are just ahead, and will vote for the person they think will bring those great things to their lives.
Be sunny and positive. No one likes a rain cloud, but people love fun in the sun. Let your customers know how good they'll feel working with you. They'll be happy to vote for you to bring those rays of sunshine to their daily grind. Of course, your customers cast their votes for you in dollars, and that will make you feel pretty darn good too.
Conference folders
Submitted by Conference folders (not verified) on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 2:54 AM PDT.
Why do we need a health care plan funded by the taxpayers? They should lower insurance rates for doctors so they can charge less for their services, then we could all afford it ourselves.
It's still the best
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 10:06 AM PDT.
It's still the best democracy corporate money can buy.
Encyclopedia
Submitted by Eddie Bryan (not verified) on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 2:47 PM PDT.
Wasn't there an encyclopedia named Heritage?
Oh, the name sounds so warm and golden.
Heritage. We say heritage these days instead of
descent or nationality.
When I was a kid they asked what my nationality
was. I told them Irish as I was told Irish, but my
name, Bryan, really comes from the south. My
momma was Irish, at least half of her was.
So, then Bryan becomes a heritage and we think
of it as some kind of in-herit-ance, some great
history like that of the Hebrews and Moses.
And it sort of sounds like you've got your stock
involved with these people. There's another word
could be used by some smart guys.
Hey, remember, Leopold and Loeb? I always think
of them when I think of brains taking advantage
of little people.
The Heritage Foundation, is it an insurance group?
I wonder does a young man who has become
president find shelter in that kind of old money, or
old ego? Many see the young as weak and embracing
a Heritage Foundation can make you look strong as
was a mini theme in one of the TV shows I saw last
night.
I think though there is a lot of strength in the MJ's
and Salons and others who advocated for Obama in
the primaries and the election last year. Look at
all that money Obama raised last year. Is there any
left to get a push back on health reform? Down here
in Florida they are making a hay ride out of being
conservative as if the GOP didn't put us in the financial
mess we are in right now down here.
Borrow, borrow, borrow, it is all that Jeb, like his
brother G.W. knew. That's how you end up in debt
as Florida is right now.
No knead to worry
Submitted by EnikhanJohorns on Tue Aug. 18, 2009 10:48 PM PDT.
Pigs can fly; the swine flew right into the pentagon and the world trade towers! http://www.ae911truth.org/ Seek that justice! Linear system profit motive does not heal our finite amount of resources. Annihilate cognitive dissonance, planned obsolescence, and plausible deniability; not with them. Use preventative medicine: food and herbs. Peace be upon you.
It is a good article
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Band Together Now to Fight the Corporatization of Health Care!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed Aug. 19, 2009 9:05 AM PDT.
Outreageous!
Submitted by Nikki (not verified) on Thu Aug. 20, 2009 1:43 PM PDT.
These so-called "reform" plans of the Heritage foundation is outrageous! Women marrying themselves out of poverty? What kind of rediculous sexist bull is that? If this where Obama is getting his "ideas" for healthcare reform, it will most definately fail. However, I think that "socialized medicine" Is just as bad as Obama's proposals becsuse if Obama's proposal passes in congress, It will lead to socialized medicine.
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We don't need a healthcare exchange
Submitted by Healthcare is a TAX on Fri Aug. 21, 2009 6:47 AM PDT.
There are over 1300 insurance providers in this country, large and small. The problem is that they are protected from outside competition inside the territories where they operate. The problem is not there isn't enough competition, it's that the insurance companies are protected from having to compete. Drop the barriers and allow the 1300 companies to openly compete and then you'll see how much levels of service rise and prices fall. Throwing a single government offering into the mix will do nothing except maybe to kill private insurance completely when the insurers can't compete with government pricing. One choice is no choice at all.
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