Mon Mar 19, 2012, 06:25 PM

WillyT (45,513 posts)

In Case You Missed This... 'AARP Plans Secret 'Salon' With Social Security Opponents' - HuffPo

Social Security Battle: AARP Plans Secret 'Salon' With Social Security Opponents
Ryan Grim/Ariel Edwards Levy - HuffPo
Posted: 03/16/2012 12:03 am Updated: 03/19/2012 5:11 pm

<snip>

WASHINGTON -- The senior citizens lobby AARP on Monday will kick off a national Social Security and Medicare "listening tour" called "You’ve Earned a Say and We’re Listening." Through "town halls, community conversations, bus tours and other events," the influential organization promises to offer members a chance to speak out on the simmering debate over the future of Social Security and Medicare.

The outreach is part of the group's campaign to restore trust it lost during last year's spending debate, when a top AARP official told the Wall Street Journal the organization was open to cuts to the entitlement programs. The lobbyist's comments came as Congress focused on deliberations of the Simpson-Bowles commission, a group of 18 lawmakers and other officials who failed to agree on a "grand bargain" that would have trimmed $4 trillion off the deficit in 10 years.

But while AARP staffers fan out across the country to hear from members, the group's CEO, Barry Rand, will be listening to a different cast of characters.

An AARP invitation to a secret "Relaxed and Robust Evening of 'Salon Style' Conversation" to be held at a Capitol Hill home on March 27, obtained by The Huffington Post, indicates that the organization is still very much interested in a "grand-bargain" style deal that puts Social Security and Medicare cuts on the table.

Participants, who have been invited and/or are expected to attend, include Maya MacGuineas, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; John Engler, Business Roundtable; William A. Niskanen, CATO Institute; Ezra Klein, Washington Post; Lawrence Mishel, Economic Policy Institute; Mark McClellan, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform; Tom Daschle, Bipartisan Policy Center; Andy Stern, Georgetown University; David Walker, Comeback America Foundation; Tom Donahue, US Chamber of Commerce; former Congressmen Harold E. Ford, Jr, and JC Watts, among a host of other thought leaders.

Invitations also have been extended to the White House, House and Senate leadership, and several other Members of Congress as well as other organizations.

<snip>

More (w/Invitations): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/16/social-security-cuts-aarp_n_1344934.html

Actual Invite: http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/saloninvite.pdf

11 replies, 1473 views

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11 replies	Author	Time	Post
In Case You Missed This... 'AARP Plans Secret 'Salon' With Social Security Opponents' - HuffPo (Original post)	WillyT	Mar 2012	OP
That list of invited guests shows how out of touch the AARP has become	DJ13	Mar 2012	#1
AARP is an insurance corporation, why would we expect anything less. nm	rhett o rick	Mar 2012	#2
FALSE. My google finger works, unlike yours:	kestrel91316	Mar 2012	#4
That's exactly right, they have an insurance business and a non-profit business	rhett o rick	Mar 2012	#10
You nailed them - even though some may think they're a benevolent non-profit organization	sad sally	Mar 2012	#9
Yes, I have been there. nm	rhett o rick	Mar 2012	#11
AARP can go eat donkey balls!	L0oniX	Mar 2012	#3
Well said.. may I add....	lib2DaBone	Mar 2012	#5
K&R	woo me with science	Mar 2012	#6
I work with people that I disagree with all the time.	bluestate10	Mar 2012	#7
go away aarp...i've never signed on and i've missed nothing.	spanone	Mar 2012	#8

Response to WillyT (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 06:46 PM

DJ13 (21,338 posts)

1. That list of invited guests shows how out of touch the AARP has become

They've insulated themselves within the DC cocktail party echo chamber, obviously afraid of talking to the little people who will be most impacted by cuts.

What a sham they are now.

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Response to WillyT (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 06:48 PM

rhett o rick (26,650 posts)

2. AARP is an insurance corporation, why would we expect anything less. nm

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Response to rhett o rick (Reply #2)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 07:54 PM

kestrel91316 (45,367 posts)

4. FALSE. My google finger works, unlike yours:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARP

"...AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is a United States-based non-governmental organization and interest group, founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus, PhD, a retired educator from California, and based in Washington, D.C. According to its mission statement, it is "a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization for people age 50 and over ... dedicated to enhancing quality of life for all as we age," which "provides a wide range of unique benefits, special products, and services for our members."

"....AARP operates as a non-profit advocate for its members and as one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States. AARP has two affiliated organizations: AARP Services Inc. which is managed wholly for profit, and the AARP Foundation, a charity that operates on a non-profit basis."

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Response to kestrel91316 (Reply #4)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:51 PM

rhett o rick (26,650 posts)

10. That's exactly right, they have an insurance business and a non-profit business

which, I am going to bet, doesnt lobby AGAINST their profitable business. They are actively trying to "fix" (code for kill) Social Security and Medicare. The OP points out their apparent agenda.

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Response to rhett o rick (Reply #2)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:21 PM

sad sally (2,627 posts)

9. You nailed them - even though some may think they're a benevolent non-profit organization

out to save $$ for people over 50.

If you end up joining - your mailbox will be filled each and every day with insurance offers - life, long-term care, homeowners, auto, supplemental (to Medicare if you're anywhere between 64-80). And just when you think they'll stop, another batch of insurance offers from your friends of AARP show up - it never stops, even when your subscription ends.

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Response to sad sally (Reply #9)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:52 PM

rhett o rick (26,650 posts)