Those of us who pay too much attention to media messaging spend a lot of time looking at YouTube these days. Political candidates and advocacy groups all gotta have a video up on the web now. I’ve even read serious discussion of John Edwards as a come-from-behind primary winner because of the strength of his ‘Tubes.
‘Tubes? Does anybody say that? I think I just made up a new internet word.
Anyway, the organization I work for has me tracking the well-funded campaign against Gov. Blagojevich’s gross receipts tax (GRT). Part of that campaign is a media buy in downstate Illinois featuring the following subtly-nuanced clip:
This is their big idea, repeated over and over again until it sounds true: “The GRT is going to force businesses to leave Illinois, leaving all the poor people (who we care about so much) without the crappy low-wage jobs we give them.”
So what do low-wage employees do when they get sick? Does their crappy low-wage paying employer give them health coverage? No? maybe if they did, we wouldn’t be talking about taxing them to fund a state health plan.