Alcohol and tobacco companies began readying ads to discourage the use of “sin taxes” to pay for it. And - in an ad that could only be a product of inside-the-Beltway politics - The American Association of Retired Persons unveiled a campaign warning against other special-interest groups that may try to influence the debate.
The trouble is that viewers may have a hard time reading the fine print to figure out whose axes the ads are grinding. To help muddle through, here’s a program guide to the contestants - and their agendas - in the health-care free-for-all:
A print ad that Invokes babies, small children and the elderly is financed by the National Right to Life Committee. The agenda: block the financing of abortions under the Clinton health plan.
The National Abortion Rights Action League plays on emotions with a baby and nurturing parents. What it really wants: to keep the money coming for “Choice.”
The American Association of Retired Persons knocks hospitals and other special-interest groups. Read: there’s only one special-interest group that knows what it’s doing, and it’s us.
The Democratic National Committee has gone to bat for its president’s grand plan with a commercial that attacks special-interest groups with a vengeance. The agenda: a second term.
The Communications Workers of America uses softly lit scenes of a physician and his tiny patients. Ax to grind: making sure members can choose their own pricey docs.
Having choices we don’t like is no choice at all:’ declares a debt-burdened couple in a campaign sponsored by the insurance industry. Translation: they hate the Clinton plan. The consumer group Families USA protested the campaign by labeling it “deliberately misleading:’ Translation: they love it.
