House Republicans’ Next Target: The Old Peoples’ Lobby

[meegbear]

The masters of legislative oversight who currently make up America's House Republican majority has another little beef to settle, this time with that most sinister of Washington special interests: The American Association of Retired Persons, a.k.a. the lobby for old people things. If only these geriatrics hadn't endorsed last year's health care reform law, maybe Republicans could've turned a blind eye to such corrupt practices as bribes that ensure Matlock reruns never disappear from daytime television programming. But they did endorse it, so House Republicans are planning hearings.

The Hill reports that two oversight subcommittees "are hauling in the seniors lobby's executives before the panel for an April 1 hearing on how the group stands to benefit from the law," as well as, more broadly, "AARP's organizational structure, management, and financial growth over the last decade." In other words, what have these monsters been hiding from your dues-paying grandparents?

The AARP's support for healthcare reform "just doesn't make sense" until "you dig a little deeper and see that (a lot) of their revenues come from these royalties," Reichert told The Hill during the healthcare reform debate. "And if Medicare Advantage does go away, they may gain millions of dollars in additional royalties."

AARP could benefit from a law change that it endorsed? Destroy it at once.

http://gawker.com/#!5785848/house-republicans-next-target-the-old-peoples-lobby

[Old and In the Way]

1. We misunderstand the Republican agenda. They simply want to level the playing field.

The individual against the Corporation.

I guess I need to add Anti-elderly to my list of groups that the Republican are against. At some point, this war against all of these demographics is going to end up with the Republican Party, Koch Brothers, and a diminishing collection of anti-social idiots on one side against the rest of this country. Good luck with your long term plan for political viability.

[Snoutport]

4. no, they want to level the opposing players while they tromple and destroy the field

or something like that.

[roguevalley]

9. AARP sort of deserves it, the fuckers. They sold us out on Medicare

watch them scream now.

[Vincardog]

2. They didn't mind when AARP endorsed their drug plan giveaway to big Pharmacy.

[SharonAnn]

3. They'v better be careful. That age group votes and were core Tea Party activists.

Any time you saw a Tea Party even, the odds were that at least 75% were well over 50 years of age.

After all, retired people have lots of time, less money than before, and can really worked up and "outraged".

If the GOP is seen going after "older people", they might find the backlash will really hurt.

[tanyev]

5. Ssshhh! If the GOP wants to hoist themselves on their own petard,

we need to step back and give them all the room they need.

[MadMaddie]

11. GOP is not that smart!

They will figure out when it is too late that they have alienated all of their core groups.

When the AARP crowd starts losing money in their pensions, military retirement etc....you better believe they will see the light.

[DBoon]

6. Will Jame's O'Keefe target AARP with a sting video?

my mind boggles at the thought

[markpkessinger]

7. Many years ago I heard a talk by Barney Frank...

...given before a gay audience in New York. There was a Q&A afterward, and someone asked Rep. Frank about what was the most effective way to voice one's concerns to his/her representatives. Rep. Frank responded something like this (paraphrasing here):

Well, folks, consider this. What are the two most powerful lobbying groups in Washington? The AARP and the NRA. Now, what sets these two groups apart from other lobbying groups? The fact that their members take the time to sit down and write letters to their elected officials. Now, I don't mean they send email, nor do I mean pre-printed form letters to which they sign their names and pop in the mail. I mean they hand-write carefully composed letters in their own words.

He went on to say that such letters are nearly always selected by Congressional staff persons for review by the elected official personally, because it was felt that that the investment of time these folks put into writing these letters said something significant about how strongly they felt about the underlying issue.

I don't know if that is still the thinking nowadays, but I wouldn't be surprised if various Republican lawmakers were to find their offices deluged with letters handwritten on fine, linen paper! ;)

[ParkieDem]

8. Well,

I am definitely not a fan of AARP, but if the GOP wants to shoot themselves in the ass on this one, fine with me.

But, if you look at demographics, the 55+ or 60+ have, by far, the greatest share of wealth of any other age group in the country. I'm not saying that old people aren't poor -- surely, there are some who are struggling. But, a person in their mid-30s is much more likely to be poor than a person in their 60s or 70s -- not to mention that there are more safety nets available for the elderly than the younger worker.

Just sayin ... be careful of giving the "old people's lobby" everything it wants.

[hayu_lol]

10. AARP is nothing but a sucker scam...

the organization has sold seniors out time after time.

Seniors status is a real mixed bag. Sorry to see so many younger posters deluded into thinking that most seniors are doing pretty well. Many are doing ok...and they are also now trying to support their kids and their families on pensions meant to support only one or two people.