AARP: Proposed Republican budget would upend vital programs & shift costs to older Americans

[Liberty Belle]

Source: East County Magazine (San Diego)

Calls for bipartisan effort needed to strengthen Social Security


April 5, 2011 (Washington D.C.)—The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) today issued sharp criticism of the budget proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and backed by House Republicans.

Nancy A. LeaMond, executive vice president of AARP, said the Republican proposal to reduce the deficit “lacks balance and would result in a large cost shift to current and future retirees. The Chairman’s proposal, rather than tackling skyrocketing health care costs, would simply shift these costs onto the backs of people in Medicare,” she warned. “It would undermine Medicare’s promise of secure health coverage—a guarantee that future seniors have contributed to through a lifetime of hard work.”

LeaMond urged Congress to be mindful of the impacts of budget cuts on “real people, not just the numbers.” She added that if Congress is serious about reining in Medicare costs, it should start by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices and speeding up access to generic versions of expensive biologic drugs.

The GOP has threatened a government shut-down if their budget demands are not met, pushing for cuts far deeper than those in the President’s proposed budget.

Read more: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/5862

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I think it's sickening that the GOP has the gall to propose cutting taxes for the richest 25% while imposing cuts that will hurt the elderly, the poor, the sick and the disabled. The impacts of this greed are being felt in so many ways. Today I covered a small town's council meeting where they're about to eliminate their parks and recreation department - cutting programs that help the poorest children. Also today our local community college district announced its hiking fees for college kids again while slashing classes to the bone. We're all paying more for less--except the wealthy, who want to pay less and take more. They should all be ashamed of themselves!

[PDJane]

1. It will shift the burden to those who cannot pay.

That's been the trend since Ronald Reagan.

[HankyDubs]

2. Don't look to Obama for help

He's one of them.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[eilen]

8. I don't know that Obama will sign on to those draconian measures

I think he will be open to some cuts and measures to reduce Medicare costs but I think that he may be more open to removing the cap on income to support it and cost controls.

[DCBob]

11. What an ignorant comment..

You are essentially saying Obama is a Republican. I thought that kind of comment was banned here.

[groundloop]

15. I've read that there are paid trolls infiltrating left leaning websites

I've heard they'll take any opportunity to throw out negative comments about Democratic leaders to try and lower enthusiasm amongst Democrats.

Just sayin'

[SoapBox]

23. Who needs paid trolls, when the "lefty" side just caves in...

I got banned from Huffington Post over asking them, repeatedly, why they put up multiple posts daily about Palin and her family...

My BANNED! email from some idiot, said that I "...appeared to have a thing about the Palin's."

Well duh!

I will never ever look at that site again.

[HankyDubs]

26. Of course!

Because I know Obama set up the catfood comission with Alan Simpson, because I know he cut SS payroll taxes, because I can see his pattern of hippie-punching and "compromising" away everything we believe in...

...I must be paid for it! Hey I guess that is easier than recognizing the facts of the matter. Just keep on with the cult of personality.

If I point out that Obama is a privatizer, my comment shouuld be deleted, but when I'm accused of being a paid wingnut activist, that's not against the rules lol.

One born every gaddam minute.

[defendandprotect]

3. k/r

[JDPriestly]

5. So, let's say you need some money, who do you go to?

Your Aunt Milly who is 65, just retired and living on Social Security plus savings of $20,000 and a mortgage

or

your cousin George who is also 65, but earns $1 million per year, owns three houses and a yacht?

The Republicans apparently think you should go to Aunt Milly.

I disagree. And you?

[Journeyman]

6. They may yet live to see that Social Security is intended to provide . . .

Security for the Social order, and that without it there will be millions of people angered that Grandma is in the streets dying of hunger. And those people may yet turn violent, same as they did in the '30s when these programs were instituted, in part for the purpose of insuring domestic tranquility, without which the general welfare is impossible.

[aquart]

7. OR they could tax the rich.

[PinkTiger]

9. I predict a massive uprising

It's in the air, anyway. First Egypt, then Libya, and there's Wisconsin. Trust me, unrest will move them. Congress thinks it has all this power and can put the screws to the President and the American people, but I've got news for them. They had better watch out. I wouldn't even be surprised to see violence. We older people won't take it, and neither will a lot of younger folks who support our agenda.

[TxVietVet]

10. I heard the other day that the conservanazis were attacking AARP.

They want to demonize the group to reinforce their attack on Medicare, Social Security and Medicade. Now that makes their targets the elderly and the poor. AARP is basically an insurance company. AARP SUPPORTED the bu$h regime's Medicare Drug Plan, even though it wasn't paid for and allowed the "donut hole" ripoff of the elderly. So, there is a chance that the seniors (which I am one of) can take the conservanazis to task for passing the rich folks' tax cuts on the backs of the elderly and poor, unless AARP throws seniors under the bus. Then, they have a lot of money to lose from seniors on insurance and investment money. What a dilemma! A conservanazi supporter becomes a conservanazi demon.

Who will prevail?:spank:

[ejpoeta]

12. aarp lost a lot of folks because of their support of bush's bs. i don't think they'll make the same

mistake again. at least i hope not.

[TxVietVet]

17. I dropped my membership when they supported bu$h.

I went to "Alliance for Retired Americans". It organizes seniors and informs them of the conservanazis destruction of social supports for seniors. I'm sure they offer other things, but right now I'm in it for the political power through iformation.


http://www.retiredamericans.org/

[Sherman A1]

13. Attacking the AARP, Social Security & Medicare are probably

not in the best interest of the GOP. But, then we will see how they try to sell this pile of doo-doo to their base.

[TxVietVet]

16. Amen. They'll have the pulpit pimps telling poor seniors it's a gift from heaven.

[eringer]

14. Its time for those old folks to recycle their don't tread on me flags into dish towels

Unless your grandparents are wealthy, tell them they need to return to the Democratic party -- the party that helped them make it to retirement.

[TxVietVet]

18. Some are ate up with the Fox Not-the-News bu$hit.

They seriously believe all that propaganda beckkk, o'liely and the idiot hannity put out as the truth. Throw in the fact that pulpit pimps are putting out the same message at their churches and they think it's their god's truth.

Progressives and liberals must realize that they need to put the message out on the airwaves. It's not going to go through M$M screening. As you can see now, Paul Ryan has his message out on all media. They will demonize anyone who counters their message.

We need radio and TV spot ads to counter this.

[druidqueen]

19. Desparate & Hopeless

I will be 64 in two weeks & am working. I will have to work until at least 10 years after I die. I have no pension from my employer whom I have worked for for 4 1/2 years. I did have a small IRA from my previous employer which I had to cash in (& pay the penalties, taxes, etc) so that my husband (71 yrs old) who is on Social Security Disability (due to lung cancer - both lungs, advanced emphysema & assorted heart problems) for several years could fill his prescriptions (3 inhalers @ $300-$400 each + + +) when he fell into the donut hole....his SS disability barely covers his Medicare supplemental policy & his Medicare D co-pays. He tried to get some help from the VA (as a Viet Nam era vet) but was denied because I am working. My husband & I have quite seriously spoken about divorce - - it would help us financially immensely. . . we will be married 44 years on July 1st. YIPES!!!

I am presently in the process of applying for Irish citizenship & we are very seriously considering selling our home & taking whatever proceeds from the sale after paying off our mortgage & moving to Ireland. That really is our only hope. If we stay in the US, we will be living in a refrigerator box in the not to far distant future....:wtf: :grr: :scared:

[groundloop]

20. It's all your fault for not being wealthy

It's very simple, if you'd have decided to be wealthy everything would be swell.

BIG TIME :sarcasm:


I get the feeling Speaker Boner, Eric Cantor, and their cohorts don't even begin to have a clue what it means to work for a living. And they definitely don't come close to understanding that people often run into serious financial difficulty through no fault of their own.

[trud]

22. druidqueen

You have probably already done this, but check to see what Ireland does about medical care for immigrants. You may not be covered for awhile or whatever. Also, I read an article recently that there is a massive exodus from Ireland due to lack of jobs and so on. If there were a good safety net, that might not be happening.

I certainly have thought of leaving the country, but it would be hard to be that far away from my family. And my ancestral home country is not English-speaking. I'm not a language maven.

[Faygo Kid]

27. Hang in there. Others here at DU, please read her post. Moving.

The Koch dream for America. I hope everything gets better for you.

[nalnn]

21. That's what I don't get.

If I understand the R plan correctly and they intend to supply a monetary amount to supplement health care for the seniors instead of a yearly percentage like is done in some circles now; wouldn't this make health cost go way up over time?

[SoapBox]

24. OK seniors...wake up to what these Thugs are up to!

Make no mistake...what they want YOU as seniors to do is, Just Die Quickly.

Seniors...you have a choice...vote it.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

25. Seniors will speak up, just like in 2004 ...

As Al Franken wrote, what Bush was not counting on when he wanted to privatize S.S. after the 2004 election with his new-found political clout was that *families* - across generations - would be affected by this and talk to one another, resulting in seniors speaking out against any privatization, despite that fact that Bush was offering those already in the system that their benefits would continue untouched. Bush and his advisers thought seniors would sell out their own children and grandchildren (a bit of personal projection, I guess). But learned the hard way that was not the case.

While AARP lost people in recent years, this and the attack on them last week by the G.O.P. will ignite the AARP's machinery, which will direct their ads at all seniors, not just the AARP members. And these ads will deride the G.O.P.'s plan.