Mike Bishop, Astroturfing and the duplicity of political messaging.
Guardian of Seniors’ Rights… come on. The 60 Plus Association? What kind of phony “award” is this? Mike Bishop really must think his constituents are complete idiots, or else assumes his supporters will just swallow everything he feeds them. Just because you put a sign behind you saying you’re “protecting Medicare and Social Security” and accept a certificate from a bogus front group does not make it true Mike. This is the most fallacious piece of propaganda I’ve seen in a while! This is a quintessential example of what is called an astroturfing, where a front group poses as some kind of “grass roots” organization. Typically, the name of the group implies support for one policy, while actually furthering the opposite.
We can simply look at the repetition of members of Congress paraded in front of a cheap tripod, set up in some hallway, with a sign printed up at Kinko’s. Look staged to you?
It is extremely important to call out the lies (and fake awards) of astroturfing groups like "The 60 Plus Association" by exposing the absurdity of this and all of Mike Bishop's ridiculous pieces of political theater. This is a blatant and bald-faced piece of agitprop that professes the exact opposite of what is true.
[9/22/2018]
Now there it the TaxCutChamps.com, a Heritage Action for America production, which is a Koch Brothers creation. Heritage Action sounds nice and homey, but it, like “60 Plus” is but a front for the interests of wealthy white people who disdain the government and poor people and people of color and taxes and regulation and anything that is not fully privatized for people like them to make even MORE money, while keeping everyone else as powerless as possible.
It just so happens that these “champs” are facing serious challenges in what were thought to be safe, nicely gerrymandered districts, and Heritage Action, your friendly neighborhood grassroots non-profit, wants to help ensure they are reelected, despite how lousy they are as congressional representatives. Despite the connection between the $110 BILLION fortune of the Koch Brothers, who benefited more than any two human beings in the nation from the “tax reform” under Trump, and this bogus, mendacious piece of agitprop endorsing congresspeople who are nothing more than lackeys for a thoroughly corrupted GOP and the degenerate wealthy elite who now control them.
So, let us return to the first astroturfing organization…
Who is the “60 Plus Association”?
“60 Plus advocates the permanent repeal of the estate tax (which it refers to as the ‘death tax’), opposes the Affordable Care Act, and supports creating personal retirement accounts within Social Security.”
The group is a lobbyist for ending the Estate Tax, which affects a tiny number of Americans each year.
According to IRS figures, 12,411 estates filed Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, for 2016. Of those filers, fewer than half — 5,219 estates — owed anything, paying $18.3 billion on assets of $108 billion, for an effective tax rate of 17 percent. Even among estates valued at more than $50 million, 133 managed to avoid paying any estate tax.
If the new exemption had been in place that year, it would have trimmed those estate-tax bills by an amount between $2.3 billion and $6.2 billion. No more than 2,204 estates would have exceeded the individual $10 million baseline exemption in 2016. And under the new $20 million baseline exclusion for married filers, the tax would have hit just 911 estates. (New York Times)
The tax law passed by Congress in December certainly keeps it alive — on more generous terms. Instead of taxing any amount above $5.49 million per person at a rate of 40 percent, the new law raises that exemption to $10 million, which, when indexed for inflation, allows individuals to pass on $11.2 million and couples to transfer twice that amount without paying a penny of tax. (New York Times)
Consider this for a more nuanced and objective analysis:
So, how does the history of the “60 Plus Association” square with the apparent message presented in the above photo-op and the “award” bestowed to Bishop?
As long as we are just handing out awards, I can think of a whole bunch Mike Bishop has rightly earned and well deserves. Let’s break out the sketchpad and fire up the ol’ printers and see what we can come up with.
Form Letter Award
Presented in honor of your continued use of form letters to condescendingly disregard the concerns of your constituents.
Certificate of Non-Participation
For your steadfast refusal to participate in the essential duties of democratic representation and your cowardly avoidance of open town hall meetings with those of your district. Your spiteful evasion of the most sacred responsibility all Congressional members are sworn to uphold is truly an inspiration to the values of authoritarian nations around the world.
Let’s have some fun and focus our indignation WHERE IT BELONGS! Getting RID of this CHUMP, once and for all.
