Ron Johnson has really mastered political doublespeak

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson, in a state issued prior to his appearance at a forum addressing aging and disability issues:

“Our seniors deserve the peace of mind and certainty that the programs they’ve been planning their retirement around will remain intact and be the safety net they’re meant to be.”

Speaking about Medicare on Up Front with Mike Gousha on May 30, 2010, Johnson noted Medicare is “a broken system,” and he also praised a plan he calls “common sense” that would abolish Medicare in its current form for everyone currently below age 55 while privatizing Social Security.

What I’d like to know is how Ron Johnson would give seniors “peace of mind and certainty” through abolishing Medicare, which provides a good measure of “peace of mind and certainty” to millions of American senior citizens who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the health insurance coverage that so many of them desperately need.

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10 thoughts on “Ron Johnson has really mastered political doublespeak

  1. Ron Johnson sounds an awful lot like Paul Ryan. What they tend to forget or ignore is that seniors are not just a temporary affliction of the present economy or time, instead they are a static condition of humanity. Regardless of our age, with any luck, seniors are us.

  2. I love the concern troll bit, where they just feel so, so bad that medicare and social security are about to blow up and that the ONLY way to save it is through privatization.

  3. Zach,

    “What I’d like to know is how Ron Johnson would give seniors “peace of mind and certainty” through abolishing Medicare, which provides a good measure of “peace of mind and certainty” to millions of American senior citizens who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the health insurance coverage that so many of them desperately need.”

    Ummm, probably because every single qualifying “Senior” is well over 55 years old….. But then again, I am just taking his words at face value when I should be looking for his devious and diabolical plans to take away healthcare for old people.

  4. So in one paragraph you call for abolishing Medicare “in its current form.” In the next paragraph it’s abolished altogether.

    Which one is it?

    Furthermore, if he is only going to support reforming Medicare for those currently under 55, then wouldn’t actual senior citizens who are CURRENTLY 65 and older have the “peace of mind and certainty” that you are decrying they won’t have?

      1. Yep, you’re right. You didn’t. I was trying to point out that in one paragraph you say Ron Johnson calls for abolishing in its current form, then in the next its just plain abolished.

    1. Being the first time you’ve commented here since I turned on moderation for first-time commenters, your comment had to wait until I got home from work to be approved.

  5. Holy Moly Squidknuckle! If you were a teacher you’d give out A’s to everyone just for being on the attendance list – they wouldn’t even have to show up for class.

    Okay then Buehler -There is a Buddhist teaching that if your listeners are confused, got you all wrong or are just goddam pissed off at your ideas, then the failure is YOURS. Not always , but the first (second and third) question you must ask yourself is “how did I not do my job properly as Meassage-Bearer?”
    If you did not communicate your ideas it is fruitless and immature to get angry with their “stupidity” when the owner of the stupidity is quite likely – YOU.
    A person introducing new ideas into an existing system is RESPONSIBLE for their own shit? obvious, yes?

    If (as you say) Johnson is NOT doing the double-speak, then he is still just goddam confusing, he is not being clear at all. This hurts his own campaign, if he is so vague with all his “Plans for Wisconsin” that guys like Zach can take him soooo wrong, then Johnson needs to be crystal clear with his plan. He confuses the Tea party people, he confuses the “Left”, he probably confuses his own Mama.

    Whatever else you can say about Bush (or Rove I suppose when it came to message-delivery) they got it across to a large number of people. You could argue their philosophy but you couldn’t really say he was being vague. “Axis of Evil” we knew what the guy meant, we knew what we were dealing with. But due to the skill of his PR techniques (and a little help from Jeb and Kathrine) “The Left” took it in the ass from Bush
    Johnson looks to everyone like a Fart in a Mitten (an old one, look it up) UNLESS you are so simplistic in your mental processes that you sport wood at kindergarten phrases like “I like Freedom”, Johnson is just a total zip when it comes to communication.

    He is not clear, he seems to contradict himself 6 times each day. Really, what are his opponents SUPPOSED to do with that? and – how would Johnson behave is Feingold was that far off-message (His OWN MESSAGE!!!) day in and day out?

    Correct answer: Johnson would have a Field Day with it.

  6. Medicare is unsustainable in its current form. Would you rather wait until it goes down in flames and we have a riot on our hands like in Greece? See, that’s what happens when you make everyone dependent on government and then can’t deliver the goods. What’s wrong with being proactive?

    If you are so worried about changes to Medicare, how about that health care bill that Obama passed? To pay for expanded coverage, it makes $529 billion in cuts to Medicare. That is now law and going to happen. Why don’t you care about those real cuts?

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