McCain: AARP ‘Betrayed’ Members by Supporting Health Reform

[babylonsister]

http://washingtonindependent.com/69644/mccain-aarp-betrayed-members-by-supporting-health-reform

McCain: AARP ‘Betrayed’ Members by Supporting Health Reform
By Mike Lillis 12/3/09 5:33 PM


Democrats have been cheering the recent AARP endorsement of health reform legislation, with good reason. The group represents roughly 40 million Americans, granting it plenty of lobbying clout and power around election time. But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) isn’t impressed. Branding AARP as “that liberal, Democratic group,” McCain today urged members to quit the association, arguing that its support for the scaled-back Medicare spending in the Democrats’ bill is a stab in the back to seniors.

“Take your AARP card, cut it in half and send it back,” he said. “They’ve betrayed you.”

If that sounds familiar, it’s because McCain said almost precisely the same thing last month when AARP endorsed the House bill.

Lost in the argument is AARP’s nuanced reasoning that the Democrats’ bill would preserve benefits under the traditional Medicare program, even if it scaled back some services under Medicare Advantage, the confusingly named program in which the government pays private insurance companies to cover Medicare patients.

[DesertFlower]

1. sorry john, i'm keeping my AARP card. nt

[demosincebirth]

11. Me too,

[Deja Q]

2. What was McCain's stance with Medicare Part-D, the giveaway to the insurance companies?

A lot of people stopped supporting AARP as a result...

[and-justice-for-all]

3. McCain is a dumb ass...

Even when we get a National Health Care System(Medicare for all), people will still want supplemental insurance to cover what Medicare does not. That is what it is like for ALL countries with National Health Care and if I can afford it and I am eligible, I will become a member of AARP to supplement my health care.

I will not forget AARPS support of health care reform.

[marmar]

4. You senior citizens get off of my lawn !!!!!

nt

[mitchum]

5. Says the sonofabitch who has sucked at the public tit since his first breath

[bridgit]

6. Why didn't they send Bachmann to deliver that lie, oh, I got it: they needed the doddering McCain...

to 'relate' to the audience he intends to deny services to

[thelordofhell]

7. I got a "robo"-call from this moron the other day

telling me to call congress and tell them to support "his" idiotic ammendment that would stop HCR from happening. I doubt that doddering old bastard can even write a sentence without having a seizure, much less understand what he's doing in the Senate anymore.

[annabanana]

8. No no no Johnnie.. They betrayed their members when

they went along with medicare part D

[Frances]

10. You got that right

Supporting Part D without letting the government negotiate drug prices was wrong IMO. I think AARP thought a bad bill was better than no bill. But Part D gave way too much to pharma industries.

I called AARP to say I was happy that they support health reform now. The woman I spoke to said she's received many calls from people who believe the death panel and other lies. Even when AARP gives those callers the truth, the callers don't believe AARP.

I said I guess that some of us seniors must have turned off our brains when we turned 65.

[spanone]

9. america already rejected you john, get over it. you can say you were against medicare cuts.

you're against cuts to the medicare advantage program that directs medicare patients to private insurance companies and pays for it with medicare funds...these are the medicare cuts you want to preserve

[PM Martin]

12. Still feeling guilty over those Vietcong propaganda films you made Johnny?

[Bitwit1234]

13. With all the money his wife has he wouldn't care a bit

if his health care insurance was taken away. These are the kinds of people who are against health care. Those that have it and can pay for it...the dumb a** tea bags don't have any brains and agree with them. Even tho half of them don't have health insurance they have been brain washed so much by the haves and want more they are going along with it.

I still can not get the picture of that old lady with the sign saying no government health insurance. I would love to tell her ok, we'll take your Medicare and social security. And since I am soon to be 77 I can call her an old lady.