There is a June Blow Up Coming Right in Bush's Face

[BabsSong]

Don't ever underestimate this voting group because they are the ones who will sink Bush in close states.

Time magazine a few weeks ago interviewed the head of the AARP. He said that in trying to find out what seniors thought of the new Medicare Drug Law, they found some terrible low number, like 10%, said they could answer the question; the rest just didn't know much about it. (He said the initial storm of 60,000 seniors dropping AARP membership wasn't the last of his problems because the rest is about to hit). Then one of the networks just a few nights ago did a piece:

Elderly woman said the seniors are just now getting all their info to sign up for the June kickoff and that they will be very disappointed and mad. She said that one can instantly see that one will end up with the same expense because the drug companies are going to jack up the prices. Soooooo...Kerry needs to get on this NOW as they are opening their mail so that he can 'direct' their thoughts, so to speak, to look at how they are being conned. This isn't something that will gradually show up over the next years. This is coming JUNE and Bush isn't going to like the press it's going to generate (and neither are the repukes who thought they could con the old farts and ride it in the elections). Right there are the critical percentage points in close states.

[Guaranteed]

1. DEFINITELY a good group to go after. nt

[brainshrub]

2. Kerry did nothing to stop this bill from passing.

He didn't even vote on it. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

This is another example of Kerry dropping the ball when the chips were on the table.

[HawkerHurricane]

4. Oh, dear.

I must vote against Kerry now. Whosoever shall I vote for? :eyes:

[brainshrub]

5. That is EXACTLY the problem with our current system.

Once again we are offered a choice between two ideologically similar candidates.

I'm ABB, but I still don't trust Kerry.

[WannaB]

12. Senators don't become Presidents

for this very reason. Can't we get someone more electible.? Kerry is NEVER going to pull this off. They have 20+ years of senate voting records!!!

[brainshrub]

14. Kerry is going to open a can of whup-ass on *

don't worry.

Pretty much anyone running against * is going to win.

[BabsSong]

6. I hope he didn't vote on it because it puts him in a perfect place

They would have been all over him if he cast a "no" vote as being anti-elderly and if he voted 'yes' they would have said he supported their views. Now he can come out and offer his own. Soooo, would you suggest we say to seniors: Yep, this fucks you; but please, please do not vote for Kerry because he sucks. Heavenly days, we wouldn't want to see the seniors upset and turn against Bush and republicans, would we??? We have a whole body of voters here that are getting the "bad news" in the mail while we speak and people think that pissing over the 9/11 Commission is what's going to turn the voters!! They aren't even paying attention...but elderly pay strict attention to "cost our of their pockets" and they are a solid block of voters.....oh, I know, we should just try to convert the MTV crowd........geesh

[brainshrub]

11. If he thought the bill was a bad idea he should have said so.

That's his job. It would be nice to think that the man I'm going to vote for has a @#$%ing spine.

I'd like to see some of the bravery he displayed in Vietnam to be reflected in the Senate chamber sometime.

[alcuno]

15. The final bill passed 54-44. Kerry's vote would have made it 54-45.

I understand the desire that you have for him to vote but I am also certain that if Daschle had needed Kerry's vote to block the bill, Kerry would have been there.

Here's his statement on the floor of the Senate.

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_1123.html

[brainshrub]

17. Are you saying that you shouldn't stand up and be counted

if your vote isn't going to change anything?

[LizW]

3. AARP's been advertising like crazy here

trying to prop up the Medicare law and tell seniors how good it is and how much more AARP is going to do for them in the future. :eyes:

[BabsSong]

9. ..did you notice the ads are about how we need Canadian drugs

and cheaper drugs, etc. They are trying to extract themselves from their poop because, like I said, this thing is going to be the next wave to hit and the AARP President admits it.

[bobbieinok]

7. the article in the arthritis mag in my dr's office admitted it could not

give much info about the new medicare rules because there is so much confusion

when people working at a magazine devoted to a disease that affects many seniors cannot figure out what is going on, you know there are big problems coming

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. The new anti-Bush group here

consists of mainly senior citizens. At 53, I'm a 'youngster'. They have read the Medicare bill, they know what's coming, and they are hopping mad.

My co-worker told me his mom just figured out the bill would cost her, and she's been a blue collar worker all her life not making all that much. She is very angry, and her son tells me no one in his family will vote for the Shrub again-and this is a family that normally isn't political at all!

Let's remember, folks, that it's the senior citizens who are more likely to vote than any other demographic group.

[BabsSong]

10. aye---Time article also pointed out that right about that time there

is some big political senior citizens group that is going to blitz the US hitting the big cities, holding senior citizen meetings and going after this bill with everything they can throw. Just exactly how is Bush going to be able to say: oh, pashaw, just trust me?? I think with the latest Medicare news they are also scared crapless that with 4 more years, he will literally take away their Medicare.

[Doctor_J]

13. Oh, for chrisakes

Please pass me whatever you're smoking. these people have let the country be attacked, committed treason, spent the entire treasury and more, overthrown at least two elected governments, taken over the media, killed more than 20,000 people in Iraq, and lied about all of it, and still have the approval of 1/2 the people in the country. You think something as picayune as prescription drugs is going to dent their armor?

[carolinayellowdog]

16. This fits Nancy Waterman's timeline

Even if Shrub gets a bounce or two in the next few weeks, from June onwards it's downhill all the way.

[scottxyz]

18. I thought you meant Larry Flynt's tell-all book

Evidently Flynt is gonna say Bush got his girlfriend pregnant in '71 while he was AWOL and doing coke and drinking and crashing his car - so he took her across state lines to help her get an abortion.

So you've got AWOL, coke, driving drunk, and abortion (also illegal in those days). What's that - a "quadrafecta"?

Flynt says he has a couple of affidavits from the people involved. He's a smart guy and won't publish without proof.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. Medicare is also an issue with the disabled because

many are on it, regardless of age. If you are unable to work due to disability, you are eligible for Social Security Disability, which replaces your paycheck with a much smaller check, and after you've been receiving Disability benefits for a year or two (whichever the law is now), you are also eligible for Medicare (Medicaid if you're poor enough.)

Since anyone can become disabled at any time, and most don't have private disability insurance, everyone should care about what happens to Medicare and Social Security. Most of us are, I think, more aware that joblessness and homelessness "can happen to someone like me" than we are that disability "can happen to someone like me."

The fact is that anyone could become disabled tomorrow and consequently be relying on SS Disability and Medicare in a couple of years, so it's in everyone's self-interest to preserve and fund the programs. Being able to buy food and get medical care when you're no longer able to work are not just old folks' issues.

[SoCalDem]

20. Some of the "popular" drugs that elderly people use

have already gone up 23% and more.....and the card gives you 1-20% off...Gee what a bargain :eyes:

But no matter how much the pharma companies charge their customers, THEY still get the huge windfall that * promised them.. and after the "trial" period, the costs will be higher than ever, and the ones who have switched their plans will find themselves stuck with higher than ever prices, and the inability to switch back to "vanilla" medicare..

The drug companies will no doubt, say then, that the "experiment" did not go FAR enough, and then will ask for MORE subsidy money, to tweak it a bit more..and off we go again..

Lost in the shuffle??...Seniors who need their meds EVERY DAY, and who cannot afford them...at any price :(

[Pegleg Thd]

21. This is one "old fart" who will not

be signing up for the new medicare drug scheme. It would "increase" our medical costs by over $200 a month. Our pharmacist is telling his customers to stay away from this mess. He is considering to opt out of participating in the mess. He says the paperwork involved is going to be a nightmare. All the cost mark up goes to the drug company- the pharmacy gets none of it.