Another political quickie

[judecorp]

During this year's Super Bowl, you'll see ads sponsored by beer companies, tobacco companies, and the Bush White House. But you won't see the winning ad in MoveOn.org Voter Fund's Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest. CBS refuses to air it.

To check out the ad and ask CBS to air ads like this one, go to: http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/

Thanks.

Comments

[geniusorafool.livejournal.com]

Damn. I thought they stopped Kathy-Lee from using those child laborers in her shops...

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

HA! I hate Kathy-Lee Gifford.

[folkyboy.livejournal.com]

woah that ad was great! they should totally run it!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I really like that ad.

[goddamnelf.livejournal.com]

I sent in my letter, but the ad was taking forever to load, so I actually did not see it. What was the heart of the ad?

[00solstice.livejournal.com]

The ad depicts small children working various undesirable jobs. Sad acoustic coffee-house music plays in the background as white on black text poses the question "Guess who is going to pay off George Bush's 1 trillion dollar deficit?"

The only problem being, of course, that the deficit really doesn't belong, nor is it attributable, to George Bush. Which, in turn begs the question, how old are these people at Moveon.org? Am I the only one who remembers discussing the trillion dollar deficit in 1988?

CBS was probably being polite by using the adjective "controversial." The 30 second spot is misleading and demonstratively ignorant of our economic history.

Thanks.

[goddamnelf.livejournal.com]

Well, I sent in a letter, but since I had not seen the ad, I made my comments about the freedom of speech, and representing the viewing public. I do not care for W. , but I would not want him to be able to defend himself and gain support based on an over inflated accusation.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

$87 billion dollars is close enough to a trillion for my tastes.

[00solstice.livejournal.com]

meh. The U.S. government ran deficits every year from 1970 to 1997.

I don't know where the number $87 billion came from or what it represents... but the total 2003 deficit ran about 3.5 % of the GDP, much lower than the 5% and 6% under previous administrations.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

$87 billion = that Iraq thing

[patoadam]

The budget deficit has increased every year George Bush has been in office, and is expected to hit $521 billion this year. The national debt will increase by more than $1 trillion by the time Bush leaves office, or maybe $2.5 or $3 trillion if he serves a second term.

[00solstice.livejournal.com]

The budget deficit has increased every year George Bush has been in office

Keep in mind that the government ran deficits each year from 1970 through 1997... so let's be honest, the deficit has been increasing almost year every since LBJ. Do you honestly think the kids of the eighties were working unskilled labor jobs to pay for the deficits of the 70s? Or the kids of the nineties were working to pay for the deficits of the 80's? Or today's kids are working to pay off the deficits incurred in the 90's?

To put things into perspective: last year's deficit was about 3% of our GDP, as compared to 5% or 6% of previous administrations. This year's dollar amounts may be higher today than previous decades, but much (if not most, depending on the year) of that is due to inflation... So to track it with some sort of meaningful accuracy, deficits needs to weighed against like the GDP, ie the health of the economy in general.

The same article you link to says it will "peak at 521 b" this year, and provides forcasts in the 300's and 200's for subsequent years... and it doesn't mention the obvious aspect that our GDP will be growing, further reducing the deficit/economy ratio.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Basically, the ad showed a handful of little kids working various jobs (janitor, grocery clerk, textile worker, etc.). At the end of the ad, text on the screen said, "Guess who is going to fund Bush's $1 trillion deficit," or something very similar to that.

It was a simple, powerful ad that was low on the preachiness factor and stuck to one issue. I liked it a lot.

[00solstice.livejournal.com]

Dude, you forgot the kid who was working in the bottle factory like Laverne and Shirley. Maybe he would have been a lot happier if he stuck his glove on one of the bottles and waved to it as it departed!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

...

Freedom of Speech

[(Anonymous)]

As much as I like MoveOn.org, I think they're really goofing this up.

The freedom of speech complaint isn't approrpiate. CBS not running an ad is in no way jeopardizing MoveOn.org's right to free speech. MoveOn.org is still able to say whatever it wants, in a great many venues. CBS has no constitutional requirement to air anything they don't want to.

Moreover, the viewers of the superbowl will be largely unimpressed by the ad. Those people who might be affected by this ad will be the real minority during the superbowl, assuming they're even watching commercials.

Here's a link to NPR's Fresh Air program featuring both MoveOn.org and RightMarch.com:
http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?display=day&todayDate=01/21/2004

Re: Freedom of Speech

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I didn't mention Freedom of Speech in my post or in my retort to CBS. But thanks for the link.