AARP's Double Talk Exposed: Memo From Pelosi Reveals "Close Coordination"

Will Malven
9/03/2009

Sorry for the late notification, but this just came to my attention. Human Events reveals a "House Democrat leadership memo sent to their membership" which among other things reveals that the House Democrat Party leadership has been coordinating with AARP in their efforts to get the Health Care bill passed.

Funny, but I seem to remember a couple of AARP representatives denying that they were behind any bill. The memo lists a number of Leftist organizations with whom Pelosi and the rest of the Democrat leadership have been coordinating.

From the memo:

The Leadership is working in close coordination with the White House and outside groups (including but not limited to HCAN, Families USA, AFSCME, SEIU, AARP, etc.) to ensure complementary efforts during August. The President, Secretary Sebelius and other principals in the reform debate will be working throughout the month to hold events, promote the message in the press and move the reform effort forward.

We see here a combination of union thugs (SEIU and AFSCME), leftist "Astroturf" organizations (HCAN-Health Care for America Now and Families USA) and of course AARP (who is not supporting any bill...according to them).

It is amazing to me how often and easily those on the Left lie about what they are doing. The AARP sent out their spokespeople to "correct" what the President and Conservative had been saying about AARP being on board with the Health Care bill.

What I find most amusing is that although AARP representative Cheryl Mathias stated in an interview on CBS Evening News, Monday August 17. NewsBusters has a full transcript of the interview, but here is the cogent part:

AARP representative Cheryl Mathias: "AARP has not endorsed any plan at this point."

CBS reporter Sheryl Attkisson: "Yet the AARP's Cheryl Mathias couldn't find anything to quibble with, including the Medicare cuts, which she says will not affect benefits."

A quick visit to AARP's webpage confirms that they are still fighting for the Democrat plan in whichever form it emerges. They continue to tell the lie that a federal health care option won't lead to socialized medicine even though such a claim defies logic.

After all of this information, there should be little doubt remaining that the AARP is in the pocket of the Democrat Party and this President. They should rename themselves the AADP - The American Association of the Democrat Party.

Fortunately the American Seniors Association is growing in size and influence. They remain the most viable, if not the only Conservative alternative to the AARP.

I am not affiliated with the ASA, I don't receive any money or compensation from them, I am just someone who has gotten tired of the double speak coming out of AARP. I am tired of organizations that claim to be "non-partisan" while spending every penny for and fighting every battle on the side of the Democrat Party.

When was the last time the AARP opposed any Democrat Party agenda item? When was the last time they came out against Democrats in Congress?

I say join the ASA and let the AARP become officially what it is de facto another arm of the Democrat Party.

Long Live Our American Republic!!!!

What do you think?

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Thousands Quit AARP Over Health Reform (AARP Doesn't Care)

Will Malven
8/18/2009

According to CBS News, AARP doesn't care that they have lost 60,000 members since July 1:

"AARP says for a group with 40 million members that adds hundreds of thousands each month, losing 60 thousand is just a drop in the bucket."

Now you understand why they were so rude at the Dallas health care forum. Now you can understand why they left the meeting in a huff when their own members began to question them about their support of the Obama/Democrat health care plan.

THEY TAKE THEIR MEMBERS FOR GRANTED!

Because so few know that there is an option outside of the AARP, because most retirement age people assume that the AARP is the only game in town, they don't have to care what their members think...after all, they get "hundreds of thousands" of members each month.

Imagine the arrogance it takes for such an organization to make such a comment. How long do you think a business would keep a CEO that lost them 60,000 customers in one month? How long do you think the stockholders would let someone remain in charge of their business who said "Well 60,000 customers is just a drop in the bucket, we get 100,000 each month?" Imagine the contempt these people have for their own members.

Here's the CBS News story:

Thousands Quit AARP Over Health Reform
Tens of Thousands Don't Like the Health Care Overhaul

CBS) CBS News has learned that up to 60,000 people have cancelled their AARP memberships since July 1, angered over the group's position on health care.

Elaine Guardiani has been with AARP for 14 years, and said, "I'm extremely disappointed in AARP."

Retired nurse Dale Anderson has 12 years with AARP and said, "I don't wanna be connected with AARP."

Many are switching to the American Seniors Association, a group that calls itself the conservative alternative as CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

Maybe it's time for us seniors to start spreading the word that there is a better alternative (the ASA); one that is more attentive to the wishes of their members and less a slave of the Democrat Party leadership; one that believes in traditional American values like private enterprise and the idea that Congress works for us rather than the other way around.

And that is the truth about the AARP...they exist to promote the Democrat Party agenda. They have been slavishly cleaving to the Democrat Leadership for decades, doing their bidding and persuading senior citizens that they were working for them.

Time to destroy the lie. Time for those of us who know to spread the word about the AARP alternative, the American Seniors Association.

Don't let the Obama/Democrat Leadership/AARP cabal run you over or fool you with their lies. Make your voices and your dollars heard. Leave the AARP and join the ASA...there is no stronger statement than that.

There is a better plan for health care reform. The Republicans have it. It is called the Coburn/Ryan Patient's Choice Act. READ IT.

Instead of a plan that will do nothing about the rising cost of health care, why not:

• Allow patients to purchase health insurance from companies outside of their state, we do that with auto insurance, why not with health insurance?
• Allow patients to buy catastrophic health insurance to take care of the really big expenses, and put money aside in a tax-free health savings account for the smaller day to day expenses
• PASS TORT REFORM LEGISLATION. Doctors spend huge amounts of money to pay for their malpractice insurance because of law suit abuse...remember John Edwards became a multi-millionaire on the backs of our doctors. Doctors are forced to order dozens of unnecessary tests just to protect themselves from any potential lawsuit. It is estimated that over $100 Billion is spent in so-called "defensive medicine."
• Force full disclosure of health care costs so that patients can shop for the best policy and the best procedure for the best price.

How about we let the free market that has made America the strongest economy in the world and given Americans the best life style in the world, give us the best health care in the world.

Don't let Congress and the President scare you into a hastily drawn up, poorly written, 1000+ page health care debacle...there is no need to rush. When 80% of Americans are satisfied with their current plan, why screw it all up just to cover the other 20%? Wouldn't it be better just to fix that 20% and leave the rest of us alone?

We need better health care, not faster healthcare.

Long Live Our American Republic!!!!

What do you think?

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American Seniors Association (the AARP alternative) Blasts Obama/AARP Health Care Plan

Offers 2 for 1 membership with mailed in torn up AARP membership card

Will Malven
8/12/2009

Wow! Did you watch that open admission non-stacked audience "Town Hall Meeting" with the President yesterday? That had to be the most one-sided, pro Obama, pro Democrat Health Care audience ever. If that audience wasn't screened for their views, then Democrats beat the odds and won every seat in the "lottery" of tickets the White House distributed.

The Pres stated that he didn't want just sympathetic questions during the Q&A session, but the audience was so carefully stacked that he couldn't get one. The one question that might have been critical of Obama care was asked by a woman who got so flummoxed by the President winking at her that she couldn't finish her question. Instead she turned to those around her and gushed "He winked at me!"

...boy that's some tough audience...Do these idiots in the White House believe they are fooling anyone? They think we're fools out here.

Similarly, AARP attempted to claim that they don't support any "one" of the Health Care bills currently before Congress...note the qualifier...of course they don't support any "one" of the bills, they support them all as long as they come from Democrats.

Well the good guys are beginning to speak out now. ASA has posted the following comments on their webpage:

AMERICAN SENIORS ASSOCIATION BLASTS OBAMA AARP HEATHCARE PUSH

“President Obama must think the American people are idiots if he thinks the healthcare rationing, restrictions and regulations being debated in Congress will save money and result in better preventative medicine,” says Stuart Barton, president of the Atlanta-based AmericanSeniors.org that represents hundreds of thousands of members nationwide.

You're right Stuart they do. Like typical Liberals, they believe they are the only ones who understand the health care issue and the rest of America should just shut up and take what they are given.

“The president told the AARP meeting that opponents are “making people scared.” ”Well, they ought to be scared at current proposals,” Barton said. “The Congressional Budget Office estimates the plan’s cost over 10 years would be $1.2 to $1.8 trillion. That’s absurd in a recession, let alone good times.”

If anyone is scaring people, it is the Democrats and the White House with their $13 Trillion in national debt they are on target for. CBO estimates that Obama care will add $239 Billion to the deficit over the next 10 years...but, but, I thought it was supposed to reduce health care costs Mr. President.

"The ASA has three major concerns:

1. a government-run plan would limit patient- doctor choice
2. there would be an employer mandate that would kill jobs and lower wages and
3. the current legislation being debated attacks baby boomer and seniors by cutting $500 billion out of Medicare over the next 10 years.

All are legitimate concerns that Congress and Obama have failed to address except by using platitudes and generalizations.

“On page 425 of the bill, a person must go to counseling every five years to basically learn how to die,” Barton says. “As I read this and hear about no preventative care, it dawned on me that Obama’s plan is to let all these baby boomers die quicker so we don’t have to care for them in old age.”

I'm not certain I agree with this claim, as the language in the bill does not specifically say this, but I will allow that given the was similar health care programs are executed in Europe and Canada, this is a reasonable projection of what would result from these bills.

There are three good organizations for us old farts; two are advocacy only groups that support the Constitution and not the Democrat Party, 60 Plus Association and RetireSave. Both appear to be great organizations which advocate Conservative principles and oppose the Democrat Party's aggressive move toward Socialism.

The third is the ASA. ASA offers insurance discounts, pharmaceutical discounts, travel discounts and seniors' issues advocacy with a Conservative spin.

All three of these organizations are good alternatives to the AARP/Democrat Party cabal as far as I can tell. I have not fully investigated them, but what I have found out is good.

Last thing; the ASA is currently offering a 2 for 1 membership deal:

The American Seniors Association (ASA) invites any American Association of Retired Persons member to mail us your torn AARP card and receive a 2 year- for- 1 year membership with ASA. Our organization representing hundreds of thousands of members believes we need health care reform, but we want what is best for seniors. ASA wants to cut wasteful spending in Medicare. ASA wants to see the Congress work to curb frivolous lawsuits that drive up the costs of doctor’s malpractice insurance. Our system needs an overhaul, but we do not need expensive Obamacare or anything resembling it.

ASA is looking out for seniors by fighting a health care reform bill that will cost upward of $1.8 trillion over the next 10 years and cuts in Medicare of $500 billion. ASA wants seniors to live longer, more fulfilling years of life-- not an “end of life” continuum that this bill suggests.

So please mail ASA your torn AARP card and/or visit our website www.americanseniors.org and ensure your voice is heard.

American Seniors Association, 3700 Mansell Road,Suite 220, Alpharetta, GA 30022

WaHoo! What are you waiting for folks? Time to take AARP down; they've been in the tank for the Democrat Party for decades and apparently are just too important to listen to their members' concerns.

Long Live Our American Republic!!!!

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AARP In the Tank for Obama Care: Time to Join the ASA Alternative

Will Malven
7/28/2009

Wow! The natives (senior citizens) are getting restless out there in AARP land.

The AARP held a "town hall meeting" with President Obama today and proved once again that the organization nothing more than a water-carrier for the Democrat Party and this President.

The audience was carefully selected to be supportive of the President and the questions carefully screened and prepared for. Once more we have seen this "most carefully scripted President in history" performing before a sympathetic audience.

A quick visit to the AARP Bulletin webpage lets us read the AARP's position on "health care reform." It reads like it was lifted directly from one of President Obama's speeches.

Where We Stand: Health Reform Now

By A. Barry Rand, CEO
Source: From the AARP Bulletin print edition July 1, 2009

All Americans should have affordable health care choices. But our current health care system costs too much, wastes too much, makes too many mistakes and gives us back too little value for our money. Moreover, roughly 47 million people, more than 7 million of them ages 50 to 64, are left out of the system altogether because they don’t have health insurance.

This has to change. For too many people, lack of affordable, quality health care is closing the door on the American dream. Moreover, our current health care system is unsustainable, not just for individuals but also for employers and government. I know from experience that unsustainable growth in health costs places a huge burden on American businesses. If these costs aren’t restrained, total spending on health care will rise from 16 percent of GDP in 2007 to 25 percent in 2025 and 49 percent in 2082, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s a price tag that we as a nation simply can’t afford.

AARP's health policy priorities

It’s also why health care reform is AARP’s top priority. We simply can’t fix the economy without restructuring the delivery of health care, expanding access and cutting costs. For families and workers, the loss of jobs has been compounded by pay cuts and reduced insurance coverage. Among the most vulnerable are people 50 to 64 who lack employer-sponsored insurance. For too many of them, the individual insurance market is often unavailable at any price because of exclusions for preexisting conditions..."

Gee Barry, do you think you could be in the pocket of the Democrat Party any deeper?

AARP has been flacking for Democrat policies for decades under the guise of doing for America's senior citizens. Doing for?...more like doing to. Though they claim impartiality, their arguments come directly from the Democrat Party playbook. They claim that they don't support any specific one of the plans now being reviewed in Congress, but one only has to read the CEO's statement to know where the organization's allegiance lies.

Remember, no one in Congress has read the complete bill...NO ONE! In an address at the National Press Club luncheon, Representative John Conyers (D-MI) said:[remember, this guy is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee]

“I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill.'

What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?”

Yeah, that's right John, you don't need to know what it is you are voting on, just vote for it and hope for the best...YEEESH! With representation like that in Congress, no wonder we are in such dire straits. Here's a clue for you John, if you can't read the bill without two lawyers, maybe it's a bad bill.

There are a lot of reasons to be skeptical of these "health care reform" bills, most having to do with the inevitable rationing of health services that universal coverage necessitates. Every nation that has gone the route the President is now attempting to take us has been forced to ration access to health care, often with tragic results for those who are forced to wait months instead of weeks for diagnostic and remedial services.

Fortunately we don't have to look to Canada or Europe to see the natural results of government run health care, we have an American test case in Massachusetts which has established a state mandated coverage system. Nick named "Romney care," because it was one of former Governor Mitt Romney's most touted accomplishments during the Republican Presidential primaries. Under Romney care the average time to see a doctor has risen from 23 days, before universal coverage, to 50 days.

The Boston Globe tells the story:

...Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, a Texas-based consulting and physician recruiting firm, surveyed 1,162 doctors' offices in 15 metropolitan areas, trying to replicate what new patients would experience if they were searching for a doctor for a nonurgent appointment, including a heart checkup, a skin exam to detect possible cancer, knee injury or pain, a gynecological exam, and a complete physical exam...

Here is a chart from the Merritt-Hawkins health care study:

Everywhere this sort of government run or government mandated health care has been attempted, you will find the same sort of results. Longer wait times for critical health care services.

Another of the promised results of Obama care and its congressional variants is that it will lower health care costs. That promise is implied in the position statement of AARP's CEO I excerpted above in which he mentions the rising health care costs. Again we can look to Massachusetts for real world American data and the data tell us that costs have risen under Romney care.

The question is, why is AARP so strongly supportive of these initiatives when any of them will result in longer waiting times and higher costs? Won't both of these problems hurt senior citizens rather than help them? Could it be that the Democrat Party agenda is more important to them than providing us senior citizens with better services? It looks that way to me.

Fortunately there are alternatives to the AARP.

RetireSave is a grassroots seniors' issues advocacy group which claims over 400,000 members. If you want a more objective view of what is going on with issues directly affecting us, RetireSafe looks like a good place to start.

For a senior citizens advocacy group that provides other services like Medicare Insurance prescription discounts and other senior discounts, the American Senior Association looks to be our best bet. I am currently investigating how they perform and what sorts of benefits they offer and I will report back at a later date.

ASA memberships are just $15.00 per year, so cost is not much of a concern.

There is no justification for an organization like the AARP claims to be to hold a biased political position or to be an advocacy group for one party. It is inexcusable; especially when the policies they are advocating would do more harm to senior citizens than good. We must not be held hostage to one single group like AARP.

I hate to give my seal of approval to any organization before I have fully checked them out, but the ASA seems to be a legitimate alternative to AARP's biased and unhealthy relationship with the Democrats.

Besides, it is never a bad thing for groups like these to have competition. The more of us who leave AARP to ASA, the more power ASA will have to lobby Congress on our behalf and to negotiate deals with private businesses to provide discounts to their members. It will also send a strong message to AARP that their members are not happy with their Left-wing agenda and it will send a strong message to Congress that AARP does not speak for a majority of us American seniors.

Long Live Our American Republic!!!!

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The AARP Alternative American Seniors Association (No Longer NASCON)

Updated by

Will Malven
7/28/2009

Well I have visited the ASA website, and it appears that they remain a viable alternative to the very Liberal AARP.

I have added a new commentary on AARP, ASA, and Obama care here.

Will Malven
6/24/2008

I've noticed that a lot of people have been visiting my website in search of NASCON, the AARP alternative organization that was established some two or three years ago, and to which I have maintained a link (now non-working).

I am glad to say that I tracked them down and they have changed their name from NASCON to ASA, American Seniors Association.

From their website, http://www.americanseniors.org/ you can find out about all of the benefits they offer. Perscription benefits, Medicare Plans, Insurance Products and more. For those of you tired of the AARP working for the Democrat Party, you now have an alternative with a Conservative friendly agenda.

As they say on their website, "Now You Have A Choice."

Here is their latest news bulletin:

American Seniors Association Denounces Democrats for Slashing Medicare, Raising Taxes to Expand Government-Run Health Care

ASA: “Pelosi Power Grab Pits Children Against Grandparents, Fosters Intergenerational Warfare, and Ushers in Hillary Care 2.O”

The American Seniors Association, a grassroots advocacy organization for American seniors, today denounced the Democratic-led House of Representatives for passing a massive expansion of the S-CHIP program for children that included a massive tax increase and slashed funding for Medicare Advantage by $157 billion. The legislation was a top priority for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

“The Pelosi power grab is nothing more than Hillary Care 2.0,” said Jerry Barton, founder of ASA, which has 40,000 members nationwide and is the fastest-growing seniors organization in the country. “It takes a health care program created by Republicans that was intended for low-income children and extends it to families making up to $82,000 a year. It slashes Medicare funding by $157 billion. It limits health care choices for millions of senior. This is anti-senior and anti-taxpayer and we’ll oppose this big government health care scheme with all our energy and effort.”

An estimated 90 percent of children in families earning between 300% and 400% above the poverty level are already covered by private health insurance. Yet the Democratic House plan would remove these children from private health plans and put them in a government welfare bureaucracy---and slash managed care programs for seniors to pay for it.

“This big-government health care scheme pits children against their grandparents and fosters intergenerational warfare,” charged Barton. “It is clear that Democrats in Congress plan to finance government-run universal health care on the backs of America ’s seniors.”

Barton vowed to educate American seniors on the consequences of the legislation and inform millions of seniors on how their member of Congress voted. American Seniors Association is a grassroots organization that advocates sound public policy on behalf of American seniors through lower taxes, Medicare and Social Security reform, and fiscal responsibility.

As you can tell these folks have the right agenda for those who believe in good government, not big government. If you have been searching for an alternative to the anti-American, Democratic Party shill group euphemistically calling themselves "the American Association for Retired People," you have now found it.

I have no relationship with this organization, except my agreement with their rejection of the Democrat Party campaign for a "nanny state."

I will be placing a new link, with the proper website on the Right-hand column of my webpage so that you will now be able to find them easily anytime you wish.

Down with AARP, Up with American values and the ASA!

Long Live Our American Republic!!!

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At Last, Conservative Competition for AARP

Editor's note:
Will Malven
7/29/2009

NASCON became ASA (American Seniors Association) in 2007. They can be found at this link.

Taking on the big guys

TownHall.com
Jul 21, 2005
by Brian McNicoll

Jerry Barton doesn't need this. He's made a fortune as an executive in the company that made NAPA auto parts a household brand. He lost that fortune and made another. But as he looks around, he sees that something isn't right. The lead organization in America that purports to represent all seniors has come, in Barton's view, to represent only those on the left.

AARP, he fumes, fights President Bush on Social Security reform when only the president's proposal offers real promise. It also doesn't speak for America's seniors on tort reform, on Medicare and Medicaid reform and on a variety of other seniors issues.

So, as he's done all his life, he's doing something about it. Barton, who lives in the Atlanta area but no longer next door to radio talk-show host Neil Boortz as he did for years, is putting together an organization to rival AARP and speak for the growing number of senior conservatives.

Barton is a longtime supporter of conservatives and their causes. He served as finance chairman for one of Mitch McConnell's Senate campaigns. He has worked with John Linder, Johnny Isaacson and Saxby Chambliss.

Now, he wants to use his connections ? Boortz is going to host a coming-out gathering for the group in August, Sean Hannity is reportedly ready to help, and Peter Marshall, the former game-show host, is the honorary chairman and national spokesman ? to take on AARP. Why? "He believes it's becoming one of the most dangerous organizations in America," says his son, Stuart, who will help honcho the new organization, known as the National Association for Senior Concerns (http://www.nascon.org on the web). "He wants to punch AARP in the nose."

And what about USA Next, the longtime voice of conservative seniors for whom Art Linkletter is the national spokesman? If attacking AARP is the goal, USA Next is well on its way. Items on its web site include "Seven Deadly Sins of AARP" and "AARP against taxpayers" and "AARP against trustees of Social Security."

Stuart Barton says the group has had its chance and has yet to make a dent. "We have a plan to make an impact for our members on the issues they care about," he says. "It's taken them 20 years to get 1.5 million members. We'll have that in 18 months."

Nascon plans to offer the usual array of discount programs, travel assistance and other services that AARP and similar organizations offer their members. As far as Congress goes, it plans to focus on questions such as Social Security reform, Medicare/Medicaid reform, tort reform, fighting judicial activism and reducing dependence on government. Nascon favors a tax code that can be understood and a government that can be counted on to do, if not depended upon.

"We want less government in general," says Jerry Barton. "But we understand government has to do some things, and we want it to do those things better. It's important that someone look out for the interests of seniors, and we don't think AARP does that."

In addition to the rollout party in Atlanta in August, the Bartons and their spokesman, Phil Kent, former editor of the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle and spokesman for the Southeastern Legal Foundation, will appear Sept. 21 at the National Press Club in Washington.

Hallelujah!!! I am all in favor of this. AARP has been parading around too long posing as a non-partisan advocate for the elderly, when their agenda has been anything but non-partisan. Their nearly incessant attacks on President Bush and the repeated lies they told about the Bush Tax Reform Plan, belies their claim to being impartial. AARP is full of people who are Socialists at heart. NASCON is going for their jugular. They don't offer all of the discounts that AARP offers yet, but it is a good bet they soon will. I joined just this night, as soon as I read about them. I will be touting them as much as I can on this and all of my websites.

Full Story: Tolling AARP's Funereal Bell

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