Wendell Potter: How corporate PR works to kill healthcare reform

Started by Vekseid, September 21, 2009, 08:32:29 PM

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Vekseid

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07312009/watch.html

Salon

Quote
Sept. 15, 2009 | It is easy to think of efforts to influence lawmakers as the exclusive domain of K Street lobbyists. Much has been said and written about the millions of dollars the special interests are spending on lobbying activities and the hundreds of lobbyists who are at work as we speak trying to shape healthcare reform legislation. Very little by comparison has been written about the millions of dollars that special interests are spending on P.R. activities to accomplish the same goal and that are vital to successful lobbying efforts.

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During my 20 years in corporate communications and public affairs, I participated in the steady growth and influence of largely invisible persuasion -- and at a time when newsrooms are shrinking and investigative journalism seems to be vanishing. The number of P.R. people long ago surpassed the number of working journalists in this country. And that ratio of P.R. people to reporters will continue to grow. The clear winners as this shift occurs are big, rich corporations and other special interests. The losers are average Americans, most of whom are completely unaware how their thoughts and actions are being manipulated to achieve corporate goals on Capitol Hill.

It is hard to describe the health insurance industry as anything but 'evil'. Nurses, surgeons, and people in training for these fields are being denied health care. At no point does that make sense.

Oniya

Quote from: Vekseid on September 21, 2009, 08:32:29 PM
Nurses, surgeons, and people in training for these fields are being denied health care. At no point does that make sense.

Man... even Walmart has an employee discount.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
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I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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Vekseid

I would expect that Walmart provides its own coverage, or at least is moving towards that.

It's actually cheaper for me, as an individual, to pay for my own care, than it is to pay a health insurance company. This is true for nearly every single business in the United States.

Oniya

Actually, I was pointing out that the health care industry is not giving its employees (nurses, surgeons, etc) an 'employee discount' on things you can get at a hospital, whereas Walmart - commonly held up as a symbol of Evil CapitalismTM - gives its employees a discount on things you can get at a Walmart.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Trieste

This is not new, and it is not news. Maybe it's because my mother was involved in the health care industry when I was growing up - she was a CNA, and I practically grew up in a nursing home - but adults around me have been talking about the problems with health insurance companies since I was a child. It is no great revelation for me that it is accountants and CFOs who write insurance policy on which procedures are essential and which are elective. Anyone who has been under the delusion that medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, therapists and the like have had any control over the quality of care that they can give patients is sorely mistaken. If you stop and think about it, who did you think was running the show? Non-profits? Modern-day philanthropists? Please.

It's unfortunate that they use Michael Moore to make their point, though. He is to 'documentary' work what Howard Stern was to radio.

This is not new, but I'm glad it's more out in the open.