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You might as well tell the sun not to rise in the morning. He can't help himself.
Aarp Fall From Grace
- Thread starter bpenn9
- Start date
You might as well tell the sun not to rise in the morning. He can't help himself.
G
Guest
Guest
Now THAT is funny.
Well, I guess there is someone here who believes you... and Lucy!
As I'm fond of saying, I was born at night... but it wasn't LAST night!
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I agree. Most of the seniors I have worked with don't want AARP products. Many of them liked the UHC plans until they found out they had to join AARP to get them.
I'm in my 60's & so are most of my cousins who are unhappy with AARP. Even the more liberals.
G
Guest
Guest
I understand and I agree that most seniors I run into are not all that excited about AARP products... although in my area the UHC Med Sup is popular. And having to join AARP to get it is not that big a deal since it is only about $15 a year as I remember, and I believe that is for two people.
The point I was trying to make (and obviously unsuccessfully) is that AARP has a lot of INFLUENCE with older people. And I define "influence" here as the ability to be heard and considered.
When AARP comes out in favor or against an issue they have access to 30 million eyes and ears who will consider (or at least hear/read) what they have to say. I'm not saying all will agree, but the legitimacy is there... and in my travels I don't find the hostility to AARP that is being reported here.
Most people seem to join for their discounts and magazine. But they WILL consider the AARP point of view on political/social issues perhaps more so than one from a spokesperson from a political party. And I think most seniors will side with the AARP position more often than oppose it... at least that is how it looked to me last year during the healthcare debates.
It is different in each area and the only ones I know well are Northern CA (from Sacramento west to the coast... Davis, Napa, Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Silicon Valley) and in North Palm Beach where we have a condo in Old Port Cove that we've had for 25 years and where my mother lives year-round.
YMMV.
Al
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I would say it's a regional thing.
In the midwest the only connection many seniors have had with AARP is through their Medicare and life insurance products. The Medicare is among the WORST priced plans and has not been a good value for many years.
I have recently saved a dedicated AARP follower $150 monthly on her Plan F by switching her from United Healthcare to Gerber. That was $150 per month that she DEARLY needed. She felt abused by AARP for believing that they were giving her the best value when they were profiting off her trust for many many years. I never said one ill word about them through the whole presentation. It just took the facts.
I find many many seniors who have had these discoveries before and after they have ever met me. I would say 50% at least of the seniors in my area not only don't trust AARP but feel like AARP is screwing over seniors and politics is only a very small part of it.
I believe the midwest to be more old school than California. They are more trusting but if you abuse their trust once, you are done.
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AARP membership is $16/yr per household. You can non renew membership after approval of the AARP/UHC med supp without it affecting your policy.
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per month?
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I used to respect your posts, Al, but the above quote is a damnable lie. Either that or you have not listened to Rush or, for that matter, Fox News.
I don't know of a single GOP politician or prominent radio talk show host who is promoting the abolition of Medicare or SS. That is a LIE. Period. And I believe you know it. Those of us on the right (and thanks for the ad hominem "tea bagger" slur) want costs controlled so this country can have some sort of financial future. No one wants grandma thrown out on the street, especially after years of paying into a system that politicians of both parties have looted for other vote-getting purposes.
Do you remember when Newt Gingrich was accused of wanting to have Medicare "wither on the vine?" That was referring to a different department, not Medicare. The quote was jerked out of context, deliberately, to make it seem Newt wanted the program ended when nothing was further from the truth. Or when leftist congressmen accused Republicans of wanting to "cut Medicare" when they were simply trying to reign in the annual RATE OF INCREASE. In government, evidently not increasing a program every year is a cut.
Also, one thing President Bush did that I did agree with was trying to reform SS so that young people could privately invest a portion of their "contributions" and get some sort of return on them -- Chile style. Dems blasted it out of the capital building with screams of GWB wanting to kill SS. We all know that radical reforms are needed to keep SS (and Medicare) from dying in bankruptcy. AARP vigorously fought any attempts at reform. Or do you remember that? It seems they're concerned with elderly people now and, stupidly, care nothing about those who will join the ranks of seniors in 10, 15 or 20 years.
But I feel I'm casting pearls of truth for nothing here. A closed mind is impossible to reason with. Thank God your bunch is 1/3 of the way to being ousted from power so adults can try to clean up the mess.
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Ronnie kick a$$ post brother
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(The following is what someone emailed to me so it is the opinion of anyother person, not me. I was asked to post it because the other person doesn't want to post here.)
Ronnie:
Welcome to the forum. You have pegged him pefectly. The little man simply is a liar and apparently this is either because of all the drugs he took in the 60's, or from all the psych medicine his shrink has prescribed.
You are now on his sh*t list, which is a shame because you were the only one that wasn't.
It must be hard on the little man to go through life thinking that only way to get noticed is the lie and attack.
Maybe if he had a career he'd be a better person but keep in mind his household receives $15K a year in government cash and another $10K for medical coverage. Must be very hard on his self-esteem.
Someone Else.
Ronnie:
Welcome to the forum. You have pegged him pefectly. The little man simply is a liar and apparently this is either because of all the drugs he took in the 60's, or from all the psych medicine his shrink has prescribed.
You are now on his sh*t list, which is a shame because you were the only one that wasn't.
It must be hard on the little man to go through life thinking that only way to get noticed is the lie and attack.
Maybe if he had a career he'd be a better person but keep in mind his household receives $15K a year in government cash and another $10K for medical coverage. Must be very hard on his self-esteem.
Someone Else.
G
Guest
Guest
Did they do it in a vacuum? Did they do it without the implicit approval of their members?
You want seniors to "trust" you and your politician friends over AARP? Why would they do that?
Warts and all, AARP has done a passable job of representing the best interests of older people. Why do they have almost 40 million members? Do you think that has something to do with it? Or is it just for the discount at the Red Roof Inn?
OK, the discounts are a big thing, but "the politics" count for something. Or would you disagree (which is perfectly OK.)
Finally, do you think that AARP can "mobilize" ten or twenty million people to write letters, vote, or demonstrate? How can they do that? Maybe because there are that many members who give them a lot of legitimacy in the political process?
You can preach privatization of SS and/or Medicare until the moon turns blue... but until you can get AARP backing, I don't see you being successful in getting a bill through both houses and signed by the president.
We call that political reality. You can call it whatever you wish.
Al3
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This is just silly.
Jack Daniels, right? Or is it a nice Cabernet?
Al
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