Debt Ceiling

AARP Not Happy With Latest Debt Ceiling Talk

Benjy Sarlin | July 7, 2011, 12:05PM

The top advocacy group for seniors, AARP, is sounding the alarm over reports that cuts to Social Security and Medicare may be included in a deficit deal.

CEO Barry Rand issued a lengthy statement on Thursday demanding that the White House and Republican leaders take the issue off the table and address any changes to the programs in separate negotiations.

"AARP is strongly opposed to any deficit reduction proposal that makes harmful cuts to vital Social Security and Medicare benefits," Rand said.

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Social Security

CHART OF THE DAY: The Stealth Social Security Cut In Debt Talks

Brian Beutler | July 6, 2011, 9:55AM

President Barack Obama meets with Democratic and Republican leaders

For months, the high-stakes stand-off over raising the debt ceiling and cutting the deficit has proceeded from two basic premises -- that Republicans would take their toys and go home the minute Democrats proposed significant new tax revenues, and that Social Security's long-term shortfall would not be on the table in this round of negotiating.

Two weeks ago, that first assumption proved true: Democrats proposed a few hundred billion in new tax revenues (a small fraction of the trillions of dollars in spending cuts Republicans are demanding) so GOP principals threw up their hands and abandoned the discussions. But the second assumption isn't built on bedrock. And in recent weeks, congressional aides, strategists, and advocates have been floating, or warning of, a stealth change to the Social Security benefit structure that has quietly been placed on the negotiating table.

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Social Security

Social Security Advocates Deplore AARP Decision To Put Social Security On Chopping Block

Brian Beutler | June 17, 2011, 1:47PM

President Barack Obama President, with Erskine Bowles (left) and Sen. Alan Simpson (right.)

An article in Friday's Wall Street Journal has Social Security advocates angry and scratching their heads. It suggests that AARP -- one of the most powerful interest groups in Washington -- has done an about face on the question of cutting retirement benefits for seniors as part of a grand bipartisan bargain on shoring up the programs finances.

The change in posture, agreed to by AARP's board, has already sent shock waves through the Beltway's large and influential entitlement reform community. It's prompted calls from lawmakers and centrist and conservative groups for Congress to seize the initiative and agree to cut benefits. It's mobilized Social Security's strongest advocates against AARP, and it's prompted AARP to initiate a partial walk back -- a statement calling the story "misleading, but reiterating that the group could support Social Security reforms if they don't cause future retirees too much pain.

"It has also been a long held position that any changes would be phased in slowly, over time, and would not affect any current or near term beneficiaries," says AARP CEO A. Barry Rand -- in other words, the group could support some cuts, so long as they only impact people many years away from retirement.

But conversations with insiders suggest the Journal story, while mostly on point, underplays a key part of the story. What AARP decided doesn't necessarily constitute a change in policy, but rather a major strategic decision to announce their acceptance of those cuts now, while the legislative zeitgeist is about "fiscal responsibility", instead of later.

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AARP

AARP: Our Social Security Position Hasn't Changed -- We've Always Allowed For Benefit Cuts

Brian Beutler | June 17, 2011, 1:11PM

In a partial walk-back of a story in Friday's Wall Street Journal, AARP says their position on Social Security hasn't changed -- and suggests that it has always been compatible with benefit cuts.

"Contrary to the misleading characterization in a recent media story, AARP has not changed its position on Social Security," reads a statement from the group's CEO A. Barry Rand. "It has also been a long held position that any changes would be phased in slowly, over time, and would not affect any current or near term beneficiaries."

In other words, benefit cuts of some kind could meet muster with AARP if they weren't too severe. We'll have a more thorough report about this controversy momentarily. Rand's full statement is below the fold.

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Social Security

Simpson Apologizes For Comparing Social Security To Cow With 310 Million Tits

Brian Beutler | August 25, 2010, 3:41PM

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility co-chairman Alan Simpson

In an email to Ashley Carson, the executive director of the Older Women's League, Alan Simpson has apologized for comparing Social Security to a cow with 310 million tits.

"I apologize for what I wrote," Simpson writes.

I can see that my remarks have caused you anguish, and that was not my intention. I certainly did not intend to diminish your hard work for the Older Women's League. I know you care deeply about strengthening Social Security, and so do I, just as deeply. I remember your testimony at our public hearing in June about the importance of retirement security for women. Over the last 40 years, I have had my size 15 feet in my mouth a time or two. To quote my old friend and colleague, Senator Lloyd Bentsen, when I make a mistake, "It's a doozy!"

Progressive groups have called on Simpson to resign, and the AARP has declared that Simpson's initial remarks undermine the credibility of the White House's commission on fiscal reform, which he co-chairs.

AARP

AARP: Simpson's Remarks Cross The Line, Undermine Confidence In Deficit Commission

Brian Beutler | August 25, 2010, 3:22PM

Alan Simpson, co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

The AARP -- one of the most influential advocacy groups in the country -- isn't taking too kindly to Alan Simpson's off color characterization of Social Security: "Senator Simpson's latest attack on Social Security is offensive for several reasons, particularly for belittling a bedrock program that is the foundation of family security for all generations," reads a statement from AARP Senior Vice President Drew Nannis.

The vast majority of the 310 million Americans he insulted - particularly 156 million women and younger Americans for whom the traditional pension will be a relic of history - don't have access to the type of traditional pension retirement security that Sen. Simpson has from his decades in Congress. Perhaps that's why his comments demonstrate a woeful disconnect from or disinterest in the challenges facing many American families for whom Social Security is literally a lifeline.

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Democrats

Do Dems Have A Unified Message To Counter GOP Filibuster Of Fin Reform? Not Yet

Brian Beutler | April 20, 2010, 10:59AM

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

Democrats probably didn't expect to find themselves in this position: On the cusp of moving a big Wall Street reform bill to the Senate floor, with Republicans, as if immune from political pressure, banding together to block them. But they knew it could happen. Some even would have preferred this, relishing the optics of allowing the GOP to side with big, unpopular financial institutions.

So surely Democrats and their allies in key pressure groups have rehearsed a bold, unified response, in the event that the GOP follows through on their threat to block debate. Ads are in the can, talking points are drafted, and everyone's been prepped to argue before the world that the Republicans have allied themselves with the firms that wrecked the economy. Right?

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AARP

Leading Seniors Groups Strongly Oppose McCain Medicare Hail Mary

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2009, 3:55PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says that health care reform will spell bad news for America's seniors and has introduced an amendment to recommit the entire health care bill to the Finance Committee and have it stripped of all its Medicare fixes.

And for his efforts, two of the largest senior citizens organizations in the country are saying thanks, but no thanks.

"[W]e oppose the amendment offered by Senator McCain to recommitt [Senate health care legislation] to the Senate Finance Committee," reads a letter from AARP to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

CEO Addison Barry Rand says "the legislation does not reduce any guaranteed Medicare benefits."

Similarly a letter from the Alliance for Retired Americans to members of the Senate reads, "The Alliance for Retired Americans, on behalf of its nearly four million members throughout the nation, opposes the motion by Senator John McCain to commit the Patient Protection and Affordable Care America Act, H.R. 3590, to the Finance Committee. We urge its prompt defeat by the Senate."

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AARP

AARP To Reid: Congrats On Your Bill, But We're Still Thinking

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 3:12PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

The good folks at AARP endorsed the House health care bill, and it seems likely that they'll do the same with the Senate bill. But they're not ready just yet. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid obtained by TPMDC, AARP CEO Addison Barry Rand says the senior citizens association wants tonight's vote to succeed, but is still evaluating the proposal.

"This comprehensive, health reform legislation moves us one important step closer to enacting historic legislation to control skyrocketing costs, improve quality and expand access to affordable care," the letter reads. "We strongly urge the Senate to vote for cloture this Saturday to begin debate on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.... After further analysis, we will send you a more detailed letter of our views of the legislation."

You can read the entire thing here.

Health Care

Conservative Seniors Group Targeting Dem Reps Over Health Care Vote

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 12, 2009, 12:31PM

Pat Boone, "National Spokesperson" for the 60 Plus Association

The 60 Plus Association has a message for those participating in the next phase of the health care debate in Washington: "Senators Beware!!!"

60 Plus, the self-proclaimed "conservative alternative to the AARP," promises to go after Senators who vote for a health care bill that includes the changes to Medicare funding found in the House version of the bill. To prove its threats aren't idle ones, the group launched a TV ad campaign today aimed at Democratic Representatives who voted for the bill in the House Saturday night.

"I have a warning for Congress," 60 Plus president Jim Martin said in a statement. "There is a senior citizen tsunami flooding towards the halls of Congress, unless it subsides, they can expect their offices to be flooded with angry voices."

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Barack Obama

Influential Players: How Six Big Stakeholders Shaped Health Care

Brian Beutler | November 11, 2009, 8:39AM

President Barack Obama

The biggest players in the health care reform debate often blur together into a swirl of acronyms and policy jargon. But they're also key to understanding how health care reform has been shaped, and how it's come as far as it has.

At this point in the health care debate, pro-reform groups have spent more money on health care ads than have well-heeled health care opponents. That's a testament to just how important the issue is to the liberal base, but it's also the precise effect President Obama was seeking when he partnered with the health care industry's most powerful stakeholders.

What sets the following six players apart is how they've defied the usual expectations and taken positions that don't easily fit into the usual left vs. right or corporate vs. consumer paradigm.

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AARP

AARP To Make 'Major Announcement' On Health Care Tomorrow, Won't Confirm Rumors Of House Bill Endorsement

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 4, 2009, 4:37PM

AARP logo

The AARP is planning a major announcement on health care tomorrow, an official told TPMDC tonight. But the group won't confirm today's AP story that AARP is ready to endorse the health care reform bill presented by House Democrats this week.

AARP's announcement will come at a press conference scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the group's D.C. headquarters, the official said. Should it be the subject of the briefing, an AARP endorsement of the House bill would be a big victory for supporters of the Democratic reform package. AARP is second to none when it comes to influence on policies related to seniors, and the backing would give the bill a stamp of approval from one of the most powerful non-partisan groups in the country.

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Health Care

Is AARP The GOP's New ACORN?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 28, 2009, 1:28PM

AARP logo, GOP logo

The GOP's new line of attack against health care reform is starting to sound familiar.

On Monday, we reported on the House GOP's plans to target AARP in the health care reform debate. Republican leaders say AARP is supporting changes to the Medicare system included in Democratic health care reform bills because they would result in more sales of AARP-branded insurance. They claim that "backroom deals" between executives of the AARP and Democratic leadership -- deals the GOP say are designed to protect the executives' high salaries -- led to the group's pro-Medicare reform stance.

Yesterday, the message gained traction among the right wing commentariat. AARP flatly denies the claims and says it's beginning to feel a little like the GOP's new ACORN.

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