AARP Wants Its Members To Get Involved In Budget Deficit Game

[ABM]

No surprise here................

https://action.aarp.org/site/SPageNavigator/supercommittee_action_2011.html

 

[Masbee]

I hate that organization and have for decades now.

The worst kind of special interest group.

Lies to their members. "you paid into SS and Medicare, you deserve to get back what you paid", "we can balance the budget on the backs of the welfare cheats and going after fraud, blah, blah"

Greedy and selfish beyond all reason. Refused to even talk about sensible and needed reforms. Non negotiable on the "you and your doctor should be to choose any and all treatments - regardless of costs, better cheaper options, lack of proof that treatment works - just because you want to."

For years has successfully "targeted" representatives who dared to speak truthfully about the programs fiscal issues, creating the 3rd rail in politics which is imo the number one reason we are in the mess we are today.

These AARP fucks are akin to the greedy union workers who were a main reason the us auto industry died a slow death. Abuse your power, never compromise, lie so much and so often you can't even see the truth when it is in front of your face and when the group finally realizes that the money isn't there, isn't under the cushions, is all gone - it is now too late to fix things without real, searing pain for all involved and many innocent bystanders to boot.

AARP - go to hell ASAP.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

On the other hand, they are advocates for the elderly and they take that role very seriously. I think they give fairly sound advice for things like investments and healthcare information for the elderly and they get some darn good senior citizen discounts from auto insurance carriers... Maybe their politics is a bit suspect, but I think they do some good out there.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

And you guys are against Death Panels.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

And you guys are against Death Panels.

Unless it's an S2 mod.

 

[mook]

I hate that organization and have for decades now.

The worst kind of special interest group.

Lies to their members. "you paid into SS and Medicare, you deserve to get back what you paid", "we can balance the budget on the backs of the welfare cheats and going after fraud, blah, blah"

Greedy and selfish beyond all reason. Refused to even talk about sensible and needed reforms. Non negotiable on the "you and your doctor should be to choose any and all treatments - regardless of costs, better cheaper options, lack of proof that treatment works - just because you want to."

For years has successfully "targeted" representatives who dared to speak truthfully about the programs fiscal issues, creating the 3rd rail in politics which is imo the number one reason we are in the mess we are today.

These AARP fucks are akin to the greedy union workers who were a main reason the us auto industry died a slow death. Abuse your power, never compromise, lie so much and so often you can't even see the truth when it is in front of your face and when the group finally realizes that the money isn't there, isn't under the cushions, is all gone - it is now too late to fix things without real, searing pain for all involved and many innocent bystanders to boot.

AARP - go to hell ASAP.

I don't disagree with anything you say about their actions, but I don't really hold a grudge against them either. It's just an extremely effective special interest group without any counterbalance in our society. There's no special interest group that represents the needs of people 15 or 30 or 50. Those groups just haven't organized themselves as the elderly have.

You can hate them all you want, but the truth is they are just doing what's in their best interest. Just like the NRA or NOW or NAACP. It's just really unfortunate that their best interests aren't in the interests of the rest of us.

They have even more power because their voting bloc shows up in droves at the polls. You could just as easily hate the young for the overwhelming apathy that has fucked them over decade after decade.

*shrug* Part of me hopes that a coalition of millionaire/billionaire Bill Gates/Warren Buffet-types get together and decide to run their own media campaign to push people to vote for sensible centrist politicians. There's simply no group out there pushing rational compromise to counterbalance the extremists.

*sigh* It's really more of a wish.

 

[Masbee]

On the other hand, they are advocates for the elderly and they take that role very seriously. I think they give fairly sound advice for things like investments and healthcare information for the elderly and they get some darn good senior citizen discounts from auto insurance carriers... Maybe their politics is a bit suspect, but I think they do some good out there.

Yes, obviously, I was talking about their politics, which defines their identity.

 

[Masbee]

And you guys are against Death Panels.

Which guys are you talking about?

 

[Masbee]

I don't disagree with anything you say about their actions, but I don't really hold a grudge against them either. It's just an extremely effective special interest group without any counterbalance in our society. There's no special interest group that represents the needs of people 15 or 30 or 50. Those groups just haven't organized themselves as the elderly have.

Ah yes, so the lie of the "greatest generation" is exposed. They turned out to be nothing more than a "special interest" group who looks out for themselves first, second, third and last. Bankrupting the country? Who gives a fuck - we will all be dead by then.

You can hate them all you want, but the truth is they are just doing what's in their best interest. Just like the NRA or NOW or NAACP. It's just really unfortunate that their best interests aren't in the interests of the rest of us.

Wait?

What legitimate source is claiming that NRA or NOW or NAACP is bankrupting the United States of America?

No one. That's who.

Of course there are lots of special interest groups. There are only a tiny, tiny number who are in the mix for being most responsible for creating / extending / pushing the policies that have already caused tremendous damage to the country and if not changed quickly (and with great pain at this time because it is so late in the game) could collapse the economy and lead to god knows what for the future.

They have even more power because their voting bloc shows up in droves at the polls. You could just as easily hate the young for the overwhelming apathy that has fucked them over decade after decade.

All you are doing is describing the fatal flaw of Democracy. Pure Democracy is doomed to fail. This country has surrived for so long because it was founded as a Republic. Strong property rights, minority rights and severe checks on the power of the government are essential to prevent the majority from excessive abuse.

*shrug* Part of me hopes that a coalition of millionaire/billionaire Bill Gates/Warren Buffet-types get together and decide to run their own media campaign to push people to vote for sensible centrist politicians. There's simply no group out there pushing rational compromise to counterbalance the extremists.

*sigh* It's really more of a wish.

 

[barfo]

What legitimate source is claiming that NRA or NOW or NAACP is bankrupting the United States of America?

What legitimate source is claiming that AARP is bankrupting the United States of America? I think the answer is the same: none.

barfo

 

[Masbee]

What legitimate source is claiming that AARP is bankrupting the United States of America? I think the answer is the same: none.

barfo

follow along. I tried to be brief. The policies that AARP has long advocated are leading to the bankrupting. Not them literally. Duh. They are not Congress. They only destroy the careers of every single Congressperson who has dared suggest the unsustainability of the policies that AARP supports. That exercise of power is what is bankrupting the US. Capiche?

 

[barfo]

follow along. I tried to be brief. The policies that AARP has long advocated are leading to the bankrupting. Not them literally. Duh. They are not Congress. They only destroy the careers of every single Congressperson who has dared suggest the unsustainability of the policies that AARP supports. That exercise of power is what is bankrupting the US. Capiche?

So you are claiming yourself as a legitimate source? I don't accept your legitimacy (but if you produce a long-form birth certificate, I'll reconsider).

I disagree that AARP policies are leading to bankruptcy. The nation is capable of fully funding SS and Medicare if it wants to. We've made a choice not to. That isn't AARP's fault, unless AARP argues for both (a) having the programs and (b) not funding them.

barfo

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

follow along. I tried to be brief. The policies that AARP has long advocated are leading to the bankrupting. Not them literally. Duh. They are not Congress. They only destroy the careers of every single Congressperson who has dared suggest the unsustainability of the policies that AARP supports. That exercise of power is what is bankrupting the US. Capiche?

It was a barfoism.

 

[Masbee]

AARP continues full bore with their reckless and insane policies:

AARP is not just taking a partisan gamble with this brazen threat against reformers, most of whom are Republicans; they're threatening our whole nation's financial future. The organization makes an enormous amount of money from selling insurance policies that are desirable to its members precisely because the current system is as it is. Thus, the AARP has a multi-billion dollar financial interest that is separate from, and arguably contrary to, the interests of its members......

much more at the link

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/10/14/aarp-is-killing-entitlement-re/

 

[MARIS61]

It's just an extremely effective special interest group without any counterbalance in our society. There's no special interest group that represents the needs of people 15 or 30 or 50.

They represent ALL Americans of every age.

Assuming you don't die young, of course.

When you retire, you will owe them a huge thank you for the many ways they prevented you from getting screwed.

 

[MARIS61]

What legitimate source is claiming that NRA or NOW or NAACP is bankrupting the United States of America?

No one. That's who.

Nor is any legitmate source claiming that AARP is bankrupting the United States of America.

It's an absurd notion.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

AARP continues full bore with their reckless and insane policies:



much more at the link

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/10/14/aarp-is-killing-entitlement-re/

A few things...

First, AARP is a special interest group. They believe they are the voice for the majority of people 50 and older (and maybe they are). They have gubers of money and use it to pursue their agenda like all special interest groups. So when scare mongers who oppose all medicare and/or social security reform put a bug in their ear that any reform will result in a loss of benefits for seniors, they use their power to fight it.

Second, it is sad that they simply listen and give in to scare mongers rather than looking into the facts for themselves or getting involved in the process of reasonable reform, but that is their right to be part of the problem and not the solution.

Now, having said that, recently they gave magazine space to the Speaker of the House to explain what they were trying to accomplish. They certainly didn't have to, but I thought it was a very fair thing to do.

Social Security and Medicare reform are necessary and, of course, the left will exploit it for their benefit as the right would exploit something the left was pushing for= reasonable or not.

 

[Masbee]

While AARP plays their strongarm game to the hilt, while Grover Norquest continues on his bizarre gimmick politics substitutes for policy craziness, two ex-congressmen (one Dem) beg the super committie to tell both them to:

FUCK OFF you crazy assholes!!!!!!

I join in flipping those insane dipshits the bird, and hope the super committie grabs the brass ball on this one and lays the groundwork for tax reform that attempts to increase revenue and entitlement reform that cuts cost a bit now (yes, really) and slashes costs significantly down the road:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/16/news/economy/debt_committee_dorgan_gregg/?google_editors_picks=true

But for over two centuries, when faced with crisis, we have somehow always managed to find a way to fix some of the big and difficult problems confronting our country..
Now we face another crisis. This one is bigger and more difficult than many of the others.
Our crushing debt that continues to grow threatens to ruin our economy....

We say be bold! Think big!
If we don't tame these deficits that exceed $1 trillion a year and stretch as far as the eye can see, we will have a massive economic meltdown. It will happen when the American people and the others around the world realize we can no longer pay off our debts and the dollar collapses. The question isn't whether this happens, but when.....

This is a rare opportunity. We say to the super committee: This is one of those rare moments where you have the opportunity to change the course of history.
For the sake of our country's economic future, you need to think big and bold.

 

[Masbee]

And for those that are reading the quotes and thinking, "they are crazy with this economic collapse talk" because you failed your math class or like so many of the retired folks so in love with their government checks and their subsidized medical care, who are in terminal denial of most basic facts (yes you Maris);

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/05/news/economy/national_debt_spending/index.htm?iid=EL

Cut defense, raise taxes, cut "waste and fraud". None of it. Not all of it would be close to enough to cutting the exloding deficit, let alone allow any paydown of the existing debt.

You can find quotes from economists from 10 years ago talking about Greece's problems and how it would all end badly if they didn't enact painful reforms. Greece never enacted any reforms and now they are done. The GDP has shrunk, will continue to shrink, and will cause average incomes in that county to end up far below (some say 40% to 50%) what it was and stay there for a long time. And there is nothing anybody to do to quickly fix it that is realistic politically.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

And for those that are reading the quotes and thinking, "they are crazy with this economic collapse talk" because you failed your math class or like so many of the retired folks so in love with their government checks and their subsidized medical care, who are in terminal denial of most basic facts (yes you Maris);

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/05/news/economy/national_debt_spending/index.htm?iid=EL

Cut defense, raise taxes, cut "waste and fraud". None of it. Not all of it would be close to enough to cutting the exloding deficit, let alone allow any paydown of the existing debt.

You can find quotes from economists from 10 years ago talking about Greece's problems and how it would all end badly if they didn't enact painful reforms. Greece never enacted any reforms and now they are done. The GDP has shrunk, will continue to shrink, and will cause average incomes in that county to end up far below (some say 40% to 50%) what it was and stay there for a long time. And there is nothing anybody to do to quickly fix it that is realistic politically.

2040?!? LOL!

 

[Masbee]

2040?!? LOL!

what is 2040?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

what is 2040?

 

[jlprk]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/05/news/economy/national_debt_spending/index.htm?iid=EL

Cut defense, raise taxes, cut "waste and fraud". None of it. Not all of it would be close to enough to cutting the exloding deficit, let alone allow any paydown of the existing debt.

You may be misinterpreting your article. In this article, the same author calls for increasing taxes on the rich.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/25/news/economy/tax_increase/index.htm?iid=EAL

 

[BrianFromWA]

What legitimate source is claiming that AARP is bankrupting the United States of America? I think the answer is the same: none.

barfo

I'm not a legimate source, but AARP put out a commercial blitz stating that they were opposed to any cuts to medicare service whatsoever. The same medicare service that is overrun by an amount annually that can pay for the entire DoD, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the DHS.

You don't think that if we doubled the size of the military and started fighting two more wars, that someone "legitimate" would state that it's not economically feasible?

 

[jlprk]

To cut Medicare by 20%, you can either have everyone die at 70 instead of 75, or you can cut doctors by 20% in their pay and in their spending on overpaid assistants and equipment that is a cash cow for manufacturers.

I'll choose the way all the countries with successful health care programs do it. There should be less profit in the medical industry.

 

[BrianFromWA]

And I know it's semantic, but we're not talking about "the greatest generation" here. We're talking about (no offense to anyone here) baby boomers.

The Greatest Generation is defined by Brokaw (who coined the term) as "the generation who grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity within the war's home front made a decisive material contribution to the war effort."

The Baby Boomers are those born between 1943 and 1961. Drugs, Sex, Woodstock, Vietnam, civil rights, etc.

One thing I agree with the President about is this:

THE time has come, Senator Barack Obama says, for the baby boomers to get over themselves.

 

[BrianFromWA]

To cut Medicare by 20%, you can either have everyone die at 70 instead of 75, or you can cut doctors by 20% in their pay and in their spending on overpaid assistants and equipment that is a cash cow for manufacturers.

I'll choose the way all the countries with successful health care programs do it. There should be less profit in the medical industry.

Cutting Medicare by 20% leaves another ~$500B that they're overrunning. As I stated in an earlier thread, if you want to cut Medicare 20% and then raise payroll taxes to support the difference, you're talking about going from 2% tax to ~11% on every single worker in America.

 

[Denny Crane]

To cut Medicare by 20%, you can either have everyone die at 70 instead of 75, or you can cut doctors by 20% in their pay and in their spending on overpaid assistants and equipment that is a cash cow for manufacturers.

I'll choose the way all the countries with successful health care programs do it. There should be less profit in the medical industry.

There aren't countries with successful health care programs.

 

[Denny Crane]

Why shouldn't AARP lobby the government on behalf of its members? It's a constitutional right to both form voluntary associations and to lobby government.

When all is said and done, govt. gets its pound of flesh and it's up to all of us to lobby it to see the spending priorities are proper.

 

[Masbee]

Dude. The chart is just to show how FUCKING INSANE the numbers are.

There is no way it ever gets to those 2040 numbers. It would all implode (rather badly) way, way before that point.