Gunning for AARP

Gunning for AARP

by digby

I sure hope someone warned AARP about a skinny white guy in a pimp costume:

Newly empowered House Republicans are getting ready to renew their attacks against AARP over its support for the healthcare reform law, The Hill has learned.

The Ways and Means health and oversight subcommittees are hauling in the seniors lobby’s executives before the panel for an April 1 hearing on how the group stands to benefit from the law, among other topics. Republicans say AARhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifP supported the law’s $200 billion in cuts to the Medicare Advantage program because it stands to gain financially as seniors replace their MA plans with Medicare supplemental insurance — or Medigap — policies endorsed by the association.

The hearing will cover not only Medigap but “AARP’s organizational structure, management, and financial growth over the last decade.”

The Republicans have only one growing demographic: the elderly. And they are going to have to decouple them from any trusted institution that might challenge their propaganda. We saw the beginning of this during the health care debate in which they convinced a number of senior citizens to give up their membership due to the AARP’s debunking of the “death panel” lie. And they’ve been slowly building up alternatives that present themselves as independent advocacy groups like 60Plus.

Here’s a little example of their work:

The Republicans are obviously operating on a Shock Doctrine blueprint, moving aggressively to put liberal advocacy groups and organizations on the defensive, defunding where they can, certainly calling their credibility into question everywhere. And they have had quite a bit of success.

Like I said, watch out for that skinny guy in a pimp costume.

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