Medicare is not my issue. I'm years away from making that sort of thing a priority. And not only did I not understand the Medicare bill just passed by Congress, but I didn't want to understand it. The Energy bill was of greater importance to me.
That's not to say the Medicare issue is not important. It's vitally important. But I'd like to worry about my child's college fund before I have to worry about prescription drug coverage (though the two should dovetail quite nicely, unfortunately).
And given that the Medicare bill does nothing for at least several years, there's plenty of time to fix things. It's always easier to tinker with an existing government program than to start one from scratch. And I have no doubt that the senior lobby will ultimately get what it wants on the issue. They vote. (Nathan Newman makes this point really well.)
But it does leave the AARP in a sticky situation. They clearly proceeded in the face of fierce opposition from their membership. Regardless of the organization's motives, many members feel they have been sold down the river.
In West Palm Beach, Fla., Sam Oser, a 77-year-old retiree, organized a protest in his retirement community and burned his AARP card.
"The more we thought about the Republican plan -- the more we thought about it, the angrier we got and we felt the AARP was really selling us out," he said.
Julia Kayser, 76, of Easthampton, N.Y., the president of a local AARP chapter, said that during a recent visit to a senior center, where she serves lunch as a volunteer, she told people they ought to quit the AARP.
"A lot of people will not renew their membership when it comes due," said.
Card-burnings and protests were also reported in such places as Washington, D.C., Webster Groves, Mo., and San Francisco.
"We don't think AARP in the least represents seniors on this issue," said Bruce Livingston, executive director of Senior Action Network in the San Francisco area. "We're going to encourage people to quit. This is just the beginning."
10-15,000 members have already quit, and that's not including thousands more who will let their membership elapse.
However, the AARP boasts 35 million members, and whether these protests really put a dent on the organziation's member rolls is probably doubtful.
Still good theater however.