John McCain vs AARP

John McCain is not too pleased with AARP’s endorsement of health care reform. According to the Kingman Daily Miner, “He encouraged audience members to cut up their AARP cards and send them back” at a town hall meeting. (Hat Tip to Think Progress).

14 Comments

  1. 1
    Leslie Parsley says:

    Maybe three in 10,000 will. Oviously he has enough money not to worry about health care when he gets “old.” Money he’s earned from the pharmaceutical PACs will help him along.

  2. 2
    Ron Chusid says:

    Of course he doesn’t have to worry about health care It doesn’t even matter how much money he has. People over 65 already receive health care through a government program.

  3. 3
    Leslie Parsley says:

    I’ve read where you’ve said that before but Medicare doesn’t carry the whole shebang. I have supplemental Blue Cross. That helps but it still doesn’t catch it all. After gall bladder surgery and a gzillion tests (hemangeoma which was found 20 years ago and which doctors still freak over) I owed the hospital over $800. For me, it might as well have been $80,000.

    For people living in HUD and getting only about $400 or $500 a month in SS, a serious illness could still be catastrophic.

  4. 4
    Ron Chusid says:

    True, Medicare doesn’t cover everything, but it covers a huge percentage leaving seniors in a better position than a lot of other people who don’t have access to a plan which pays as much as Medicare does.

  5. 5
    Leslie Parsley says:

    Or, who don’t have any kind of insurance or who have insurance but it’s an HMO.

  6. 6
    Charles Seymour Jr says:

    » John McCain vs AARP Liberal Values http://bit.ly/TDUFz

  7. 7
    Eclectic Radical says:

    ‘Or, who don’t have any kind of insurance or who have insurance but it’s an HMO.’
     
    This is why an expansion of Medicare that merely lowered the age floor ten years, to cover anyone over 55, would be a good start on real health care reform and why so many liberals who stop short of truly socialized medicine advocate Medicare For All.
     

  8. 8
    Ron Chusid says:

    While it wouldn’t be true universal health care, allowing people over 55 would to buy into Medicare would be a big improvement if we don’t wind up with more comprehensive medical care. The older someone gets, the less of a chance they have of being able to purchase private insurance.

  9. 9
    Ron Chusid says:

    While it wouldn’t be true universal health care, allowing people over 55 would to buy into Medicare would be a big improvement if we don’t wind up with more comprehensive medical care. The older someone gets, the less of a chance they have of being able to purchase private insurance.

  10. 10
    Fritz says:

    I am almost certain that there is no election process for the decision-making positions within AARP (unlike, say, the annual vote for directors in the NRA).  Therefore, the only effect that a member of AARP can have on policy is to vote with his feet and not contribute dues if he does not approve of the group’s politics.
     
    I am eligible for AARP.  I choose to not join.

  11. 11
    Leslie Parsley says:

    Fritz, my friend, I’ve missed you, but I don’t know if I agree with you on AARP. I know they do an amazing amount of research and compile an equally respectable number of statistics. They have state and national meetings. I think all of these things contribute to the decisions they make. If they didn’t listen to the members, they wouldn’t have any. They also mail out petitions on important issues which a person can sign or not.

    By the time you get to my age, or before, you might change your mind and join. Visit their web site.

  12. 12
    Fritz says:

    When I was handling mail for my mother, I noticed renewal requests but never a ballot.   Basically, AARP is a top-down organization with a self-perpetuating board of directors.  I actually did look at their website and that’s what I could glean from it.

  13. 13
    Leslie Parsley says:

    I’ve received several ballots over time, especially this year. I will do some research on the other but I’m pretty sure the officers are elected at the annual meetings. Will check it out.

  14. 14
    Fritz says:

    Thanks.  Are nominations also open to the membership?  That’s good if so.

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