Author: Chris
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The Penitent Paris
As Paris Hilton gets ready for her short stay in jail, she increasingly is photographed carrying Jesus books. And today, she appears on my favorite blog wearing a “Faith” hoodie, and carrying Count Your Blessings, Spiritual Warrior, and some others. Her behavior recalls Machiavelli’s advice: …a prince ought to take care that he never lets…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The Queen of Spades, “Big Government”
The denialist can always raise the specter of “big government.” As in, the proposal at issue will create bigger government, complete with appeals to fears of world government and stuff like satan. This is a high-risk card because big business loves big government.
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The Queen of Diamonds, “We Need Regulatory Relief”
Sometimes the success of a consumer intervention will create “blowback,” and allow the industry to not only win but also demand other concessions. An excellent recent example of regulatory blowback came with the creation of the federal Do-Not-Call Registry. In creating the registry, the Federal Communications Commission also tried to tighten regulations on “junk faxes,”…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The Sixth Hand, The Gloves Come Off
If the denialist is on the brink of losing, a number of high stakes arguments can be made. The bear/bull market argument is one of my favorites. Just look at tax policy–no matter what the economy is doing, tax cuts are the solution. And in privacy, if the economy’s weak, there shouldn’t be interventions to…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: Two Jacks, “Regulation Won’t Work” and “We Won’t Comply”
Two related arguments–the denialist will say that the regulation won’t work. And they won’t help in finding a way to come to a reasonable solution. Finally, continuing in the teenager theme, the denialist will argue that they won’t comply, even if directed to by law. Rule of law be damned!
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The Jack of Hearts, “We’ve Always Done This”
The fifth hand brings increasing petulance. One common tactic at this point is to admit to the behavior in question, and like a teenager, say “we’ll we’ve always done this,” and therefore we should be able to continue to do so.
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The Jack of Clubs, “You’re A Ninny”
It’s time to go on the offensive. Call your opponent a ninny! One of the best examples of this comes from–you guessed it–our friend Jack Abramoff. One of Jack Abramoff’s teammembers, Dennis Stephens, once proposed to attack Gary Ruskin of Commercial Alert because Ruskin’s group was criticizing “Channel One:” From: Dennis Stephens To: Chad Cowan…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 10 of Spades, “Self-Regulation”
At this point, the denialist must propose “self regulation” to deal with the problem that doesn’t exist. Self-regulation is a set of rules that an industry generates to govern itself. The cool thing about self regulation is that it cannot be enforced, and once the non-existent problem blows over, the denialist can simply scrap the…
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Denialists’ Deck Applied: Lobbying Reform
The Newhour had a debate tonight full of denialism provided by Paul Miller, former head of the American League of Lobbyists. It’s an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how the lobbying tactics outlined in the Denialists’ Deck of Cards can be employed to fight a proposal without really dealing with the merits of it. The issue:…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 10 of Diamonds, “Bureaucrats!”
Okay, everyone, practice your sneer, because it’s time for the 10 of Diamonds: Bureaucrats! Everyone hates “bureaucrats,” whether they ever met one or not. So, the industry denialist often plays the bureaucrat card in order to denigrate proposals that would vest decisionmaking with those fat cats in Washington (Cato has over