Heard this 60plus.org ad today and said WTF??

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   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   I was sitting in the Kaiser pharmacy waiting to fill some scrips today. CNN was one the tube. All of a sudden this ad came on. Came home and researched the organization behind the ad.
   So my question is this: Do you imagine that any of these 60 Plus Association seniors are "incensed" enough at our government that they refuse Social Security or Medicare benefits? Yeah, that's what I thought, too.
   Hypocrisy is so disgusting, even coming out of the mouth of a veteran.
   
   New Ad Supports Health Reform Repeal in the Name of Freedom
   
   ALEXANDRIA, VA. – The 60 Plus Association, nationally recognized as the conservative alternative to the liberal AARP, today launched a new nationwide television ad that advocates the repeal of healthcare reform.  The 60-second ad features Philip Storer, a World War II veteran who is concerned Obamacare will take away the freedoms that he and thousands of Americans fought so hard to protect.
   
   “On D-Day, thousands of Americans fought to protect our freedoms, now Washington is jeopardizing that liberty by creating a crippling debt and an oppressive tax regime,” said Jim Martin, Chairman of 60 Plus.  “Washington’s addiction to wasteful spending and big-government initiatives is suppressing the independence of Americans. Obamacare is the most obvious and obstructive of these big-government programs that will crush our economy.  Its repeal is not optional, but necessary.  This November, we must support candidates who will protect our freedoms, our liberty; candidates who have promised to repeal Obamacare.”
   
   The organization will spend more than $500,000 nationwide.  A video of the ad is attached.
   
   
   - TRANSCRIPT -
   
   ANNOUNCER:
   
   June 1944.  D-Day.  Allied troops land at Normandy.  Their mission: save the world from a deadly and growing oppression.
   
   PHILIP STORER, WWII AND D-DAY VETERAN:
   
   I was one of thousands that landed on D-Day.  We fought to protect something we all hold very dear, our freedoms.  Today, our freedoms are threatened by a very different kind of enemy.  The enemy is big government, wasteful spending, and crushing debt.  Nowhere is this threat more apparent than in the attempted government takeover of healthcare.  The first step has been taken.  If we don’t repeal the healthcare bill, government will grow, debt will explode, choices will become fewer and your freedoms will be chipped away.  I still believe our freedoms are worth fighting for.  The fight to repeal the government takeover of health care is up to you

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      Jillian Barclayposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      See the following link- Jack Abramoff connection:
      
      http://my.firedoglake.com/kellycdenver/ … le-nugget/
      explains it all-

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      lady_love158posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Do you people ever think for yourselves? Why would big pharma, who by the way helped get the health care bill passed and cut a deal with the Obama administration, fund a group against that bill?
      
      The fact is the group that is feeding you this garbage "The Center For Media and Democracy" is a far left radical organization with their own agenda!
      
      Obamacare WILL be repealed!
      
      http://activistcash.com/organization_ov … -democracy

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         JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         if you go to pbs.com now you can watch a documentary of the entire passing of the healthcare reform. it would have been great and all prices would have come down, but the insurance industry and their lobbyists got into it and it all came down to that lady that headed up the insurance. so it's all spelled out ,each step and what you say is clueless!absolutely

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            lady_love158posted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Oh yeah PBS is an unbiased source! LOL!

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      Sab Ohposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "So my question is this: Do you imagine that any of these 60 Plus Association seniors are "incensed" enough at our government that they refuse Social Security or Medicare benefits?"
      
      That question doesn't really make sense. It's like saying they are so mad at the bank that they won't take their own money out of their savings account after paying into it for decades.

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         I am DB Cooperposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         "Keep the government out of our Medicare!" - probably the dumbest line I've heard by the anti-health care reform crowd.

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      Brenda Durhamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Why shouldn't seniors help get Obama's bill repealed?
      
      Seniors have a right to Medicare and their Social Security! 
      Just because they want a bad Bill repealed doesn't mean they're hyprocritical for taking Medicare benefits.
      
      The Obama bill wants to cover everyone ELSE (or make everyone else join the agenda) besides those who really need the care.
      And the reason is that he wants to further the homosexual agenda and the illegal alien agenda.   Think about it.   If our government covers the people in those two agendas, it opens the door wider for America to become a totally Socialist nation.

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         William R. Wilsonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         LOL.

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   livelongerposted 13 years ago

   Apparently funded by Big Pharma (big surprise).
   http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?ti … ssociation
   
   Sad that they're going to end up duping seniors to mobilize and vote against their own interests. Sick, actually.

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   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   Republicans have been perfecting the art of getting people to vote against their own best interests for decades!
   
   I felt really sorry for the veteran. I wonder if he knew he was being used (I almost made a graphic reference to a brutal sex act, but I couldn't bring myself to disrespect a veteran that way).

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      JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      i went in the service at 17 and stayed till 27. i signed contracts that were offered by the gov't for free lifetime healthcare. ten years after the war the republicans(reagan to be exact) renegged on that contract. we now have to co- pay  and that increases yearly.so after we did what we did in those countries for them, they said SEE YA! the republicans are trying to privatize v.a, social security. so they can make a profit. the greed factor is setting in watchout they will say absolutely anything to get to that money, beware! i can't understand how a human can vote republican, ever.

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         Will Bensonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Joe, thanks for your service.

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            Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            You were in the service 10 years?

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               Will Bensonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Were you?

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                  Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  As a matter of fact I was.
                  
                  But not for 10 years

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                     Will Bensonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     On whose side?

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                        Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Let me see if I got this straight.
                        
                        You thank the veteran with 10 years service but not me.
                        
                        You question whose side I was on.
                        
                        Not that being in the service makes anyone better than another but my question is were you ever in the service and did you have a 5 year enlistment?
                        
                        Just wondering.

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                     JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     two tours army infantry airborne then military police then one tour air force- x-ray tech

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               JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               yes sir i was!

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            JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            thank you and i thought it was my duty at the time

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      Sab Ohposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "Republicans have been perfecting the art of getting people to vote against their own best interests for decades!"
      
      democrats have been trying for decades to convince people that they, and only they, know what is in everyone's best interests even if the poor, ignorant masses are too scared and confused to realize it. Fortunately, there are still plenty of American seniors whose middle fingers still work.

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         Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         I love mighty mom but that was just funny.

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   CASE1WORKERposted 13 years ago

   dont they want decent health care?
   in the uk we have quality free health care- we pay a bit towards dentistry and if we have a prescription and can afford to pay- its about£7.
   we do have to pay for glasses and if i was less vain I could get my hearing aids free.
   yeah it costs, but you pay when you are well so that when you are sick it is there !
   job done

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   Ralph Deedsposted 13 years ago

   Another sad result of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. The public interest is being subordinated to corporate interests.

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   rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

     this manipulation makes me sick.
   
   reminds me of that line, be careful what you wish for..

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   Aya Katzposted 13 years ago

   People have been waiting for ages to have social security and medicare and all those other "public services" repealed, so that they can use their own money to get whatever kind of services they want.
   
   I'm fifty years old, and AARP are trying to recruit me. I am not eligible to receive social security when I arrive at "retirement age", because I didn't pay into the system. But I am already retired.
   
   Do you think I'm the only one? Do you think big Pharma is paying me to write this? In fact, what side of this issue do you think the big pharmaceutical companies are really on? Do they get more money from little people like me, or from the government and insurance companies who stand to profit from mandatory health insurance?

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      JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      they get more from you because they charge you twice or three times as much or more. how many people do you think are like you. to have ss repealed would be pointless. you are still able to put your money where you want it. why are you complaining about where people before you put their money. also, social sec was started before any aarp or anything similar

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         Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I'm not trying to take what someone has paid in from them. I am hoping to keep people working today and in the future from having to pay in without their consent.
         
         The problem with any kind of insurance that is not voluntary is that some people are paying for other people without being asked.
         
         Because my savings are being destroyed by inflation, I may yet depend on earning an income in the future. I don't want them taking around twenty percent off anything after my first four hundred dollars of annual income. I don't see why anyone would want that, young or old.

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      I am DB Cooperposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Who has been trying to get medicare repealed? No senior I know. That's not even an issue brought to the table by politicians because they know just the suggestion that they are against medicare will cause the senior vote (the demographic that votes in the highest percentages) to turn against them. They can argue against public health care all they want, but if they even suggest we get rid of medicare, America's longest-running public health care system, they can be sure they won't have a job as an elected official.

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         Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         This is one of the ways in which once a "social"(ist) program gets passed it becomes really hard to ever repeal it, because it's like an addiction. Once people get used to it, they develop a dependency. But anyone who is a senior citizen now used to be a young person, and they don't change their belief systems as they age. Not usually.
         
         I'm not sure that most seniors feel the way that you describe. I know people who are on social security and medicare who would gladly see these benefits repealed, because they and their parents never supported these programs in the first place. What certain "interest groups" are said to believe, and what they actually believe, are two different things.
         
         The AARP does have a particular slant on things. It is not politically neutral, and many seniors feel that it does not speak for them.

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   Will Bensonposted 13 years ago

   I wonder if anyone reminded Mr. Philip Storer, a World War II veteran, that when medicare etc. goes, the VA benefits won't be far behind.

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      Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think that's true.

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         Will Bensonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Several years back, when it became obvious that the Iraq/Afg war was overburdening the VA health care system, a letter was sent out to VA co-payers (the non-combat members who pay a copay for services). The letter said to fill out a form detailing your financial situation and then the VA could check to see if you were eligible for additional services.
         
         With this information in hand, the VA established a means test (cut-off)  for eligibility for benefits and dropped the co-payers who didn't make the cut. This may have been necessary, but it was done in a very underhanded way. Are combat vets immune from such tactics?
         
         Caregivers at the VA are second to none but many VA administrators are gov't (political) appointees and decisions are ultimately subject to the politics of the day.
         
         If we chuck SS, Medicare, and benefits that affect "other people" then isn't everything on the table?

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            Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            "Caregivers at the VA are second to none but many VA administrators are gov't (political) appointees and decisions are ultimately subject to the politics of the day."
            
            Is that something like a death panel?

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            Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            No, I don't think everything is on the table. Everyone, right and left and center, agrees that veterans have special rights because of service rendered to the country.
            
            Social security can be slowly phased out, while paying out to those who paid in.

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   Will Bensonposted 13 years ago

   Privatize Social Security?
   
   Ques - Does all the money that people paid in to Social Security get refunded to them, so they can invest it privately? Who, besides the taxpayers, is going to come up with the money for this giant refund?
   
   Maybe you DON'T get a refund of what you paid in. Where do your (already paid) $ go in that case?

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    Will Bensonposted 13 years ago

    Just curious, why would a former serviceman (you) have a problem with thanking someone for 10 yrs of service to the country we live in?

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       Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Never had a problem.
       
       I just asked a question.

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          Will Bensonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Here's your 1 word answer. Yes.
          
          I wasn't sent to Nam and I received a lot more back than I contributed to Uncle Sam. I'm grateful for my military time and I wish that combat vets and long timers like Joe got more thanks from others -- not just me.
          
          Here's your chance.

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             Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             You had a 5 year enlistment?
             
             Ok, thank you for your service and thank you Joe.
             
             No need to thank me I did it for a greater cause than myself.

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                Will Bensonposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                4 yrs. And thank you for your service bro.

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       Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       It is often best to ignore Jim. He is only here to stir up trouble.

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    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    That is exactly what is happening now! Those of us lucky enough -- and I use that word intentionally -- to have health insurance at all -- are paying for the health care delivered to people who don't have it. We pay in the form of higher premiums. Actually, we pay in the form of exorbitant premiums.
    If all the risk was spread around to more people, those people getting health care for "free" (being uninsured)would level out the high premiums for those who are paying more than they should for their health care.
    
    I am truly amazed that in this economy, with record unemployment and houses being foreclosed left and right, that people can be so adamant about self-paying for health care and SS retirement benefits. You all must have an income stream that I don't have. Maybe you would be kind enough to share your secrets -- notice I did not say share your $. I know better on that one .

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       lady_love158posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       You just lack factual information. Insurance costs are so high for a number of reasons.
       1. Policy coverage is dictated by the (state) government, and now the federal governemnt.
       2. States restrict sales across state lines.
       3. Separating the insured (sick) from the service provider (doctor)menas the sick will place increased demand on care since it's "free".
       4. Increased demand means prices must rise.
       
       Obama care did nothing to fix any of this and in fact made it all worse by adding millions of insured and dictating who and what must be covered.

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       Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       My secret is that I spend less. I seldom go anywhere. I live in a rural location. I don't have my hair done. I don't buy new clothes. When my coffee maker breaks down I don't buy a new one. I don't drink or smoke or overeat. And when I do go to the doctor, I pay all of it out my own pocket. I have catastrophic health insurance, but that's all.
       
       I do not think I am paying for the uninsured. I noticed that the uninsured are charged a higher fee for the same services by the doctors. It's the insurance company that negotiates the fee down.
       
       Doctors and insurance companies are colluding to charge the uninsured more. That is really shameful!
       
       People should be able to opt out of the system. They should be able to get services from alternative health care providers who don't play this game with the insurance companies.

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          Druid Dudeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          All Obama care seems set to do is to make incredible mountains of money for the insurance companies, and put more people in need of food stamps. Rich get richer, and the poor bend over. Some flippin' change.

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    mega1posted 13 years ago

    I had a discussion yesterday with an elderly woman who parroted to me what that ad said - now I realize where she was getting her ideas.  She also said that her Dr. actually told her that soon elderly people will not be able to get the tests for medical conditions they need because they will be considered old and "in the way" and medicare won't pay for the tests, and Doctors won't be able to prescribe the tests for anyone - no matter whether they pay for it themselves!!! I was sure she had gotten confused about this, but it is possible that some very conservative doctors may be telling their elderly patients this - more campaigning against the current administration.   She also told me that she thinks the politicians tell the corporations what to do!  . . .that today's taxpayers, their children and grandchildren are going to have to pay for the bailouts (she doesn't believe that these are loans which are already being paid back to the treasury)  she had a very sketchy idea of how taxes are spent and she believes all the propoganda against Obama - says she "hates" him! 
    
    These kind of voters are impossible to reason with - they are over 70 and scared because they've heard they are losing their freedom the more social programs are put in place.  There are a lot people over 70 too who vote conservatively because they think the "liberals" will take away their freedoms! 
    
    I know its not just the elderly spewing this kind of irrational argument - its everyone who believes capitalism and everything we do in its name is the real American religion and must not be questioned.  Anything that can be termed "socialism" is "communistic" and will take away our freedoms.  If these people get their way there will be no public health programs at all, no childcare, no kind of welfare, no senior centers, none of the programs that have improved schools in the past 30 years will be funded, and the people who don't make 100,000 a year can just go --- themselves! 
    
    Now I'M getting scared! I am sure that some elderly people are easily confused about the issues and when they see ads, don't always realize that these are ad campaigns- not facts that they are hearing!

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       JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       well the right uses fear to manipulate their base. the left will be doing everything for the people so in order to get your vote they will tell you a lie

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          Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I keep hearing if we return to republican leadership we will be nothing more than slaves and people will die in the streets from a lack of health care.
          
          Who uses fear?

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             JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             we wont die in the streets but, republicans have no honor! i don't mean the people that they have swayed into voting for them. i mean the ones at the top. they will tell you anything to get what they want.you're doing it for freedom, you're doing it for god and country.there is not one thing that i see that they are doing for this country, not one! they work with an id level mentality( i see it ,i want it and i'll say anything to get it.
             
             remember wmds? there were no wmds, remember free medical veterans care,thing of the past, republicans! now i watch lady love running around foaming at the mouth like some fanatic complaining that her insurance premiums will go up maybe 3%.then everyone will have insurance including the 31 million people that didn't have it before.that's a good thing ,right? well not to republicans. republicans don't want them to have insurance.they will leave an american stuck out because of 3% increase of their premiums. if big business would pay there fair share of taxes and stop putting it on the middle class everyone would be insured , no deficit etc...republicans only think of big business and not for the benefit of america. only for the benefit of their pocket!

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                livelongerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                But you agree with them on gay marriage! See, you have some GOP affinities deep inside, Joe.

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                   rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   you have to wonder about marriage in the first place. in the US, over 50% of all marriages end in divorce... those aren't the most successful statistics for an argument.

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                      livelongerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                      My father tells me that all the time! (My parents are actually still married; I think he's just trying to make me feel better about the fact that marriage is not an equal institution yet)

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                   JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   ha ha ha LIVELONGER- i remember that debate. it was heated huh? i was talking about marriage only. i didn't see any point in it.i think people construed that to mean whatever they wanted it too.
                   
                   i am for what makes sense, what is logical. i place myself in the presidents position and say what would i do that benefits america the most and that's how i roll.
                   
                   right now we have a huge deficit. if the pres. said we need to raise everyones taxes i wouldn't like it, nobody wants to pay more taxes but,how else will it get paid? so, i would understand. i wouldn't condemn the man, i would commend the man for doing what's right. it's logical!it's the price we pay.
                   
                   i won't complain of the deficit and then not do my fair share and i won't eliminate all the advances that we've made by putting our own citizens at risk for 3%.  that's what republicans and big business do! it makes no sense, it's illogical!

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       Sab Ohposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       "I had a discussion yesterday with an elderly woman who parroted to me what that ad said - now I realize where she was getting her ideas.  She also said that her Dr. actually told her that soon elderly people will not be able to get the tests for medical conditions they need because they will be considered old and "in the way" and medicare won't pay for the tests, and Doctors won't be able to prescribe the tests for anyone - no matter whether they pay for it themselves!!! I was sure she had gotten confused about this, but it is possible that some very conservative doctors may be telling their elderly patients this - more campaigning against the current administration.   She also told me that she thinks the politicians tell the corporations what to do!  . . .that today's taxpayers, their children and grandchildren are going to have to pay for the bailouts (she doesn't believe that these are loans which are already being paid back to the treasury)  she had a very sketchy idea of how taxes are spent and she believes all the propoganda against Obama - says she "hates" him! 
       
       These kind of voters are impossible to reason with - they are over 70 and scared because they've heard they are losing their freedom the more social programs are put in place.  There are a lot people over 70 too who vote conservatively because they think the "liberals" will take away their freedoms! 
       
       I know its not just the elderly spewing this kind of irrational argument -   
       
       I am sure that some elderly people are easily confused about the issues and when they see ads, don't always realize that these are ad campaigns- not facts that they are hearing!"
       
       
       
       This is highly, highly disrespectful of older Americans. So old people are too stupid and confused to have opinions on politics and economics? This is just using age as an excuse to promote a political point of view, and it sure looks insulting to me.

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    psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

    Old people can get misinformed as much as anyone.  And the ideas people have about socialised medicine are crazy.  Healthcare in Canada, the UK and New Zealand is as good as in the US, and cheaper (as a proportion of GDP).  How you pay for healthcare is not the key determinant of how good that care is.

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       Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       "Old people can get misinformed as much as anyone."
       
       But not nearly to the level of young people.

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    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    Anyone can get misinformed. And ads like this one, and this so-called "conservative alternative to the "liberal"(HA) AARP" are deliberately misleading.
    
    But to your point, Jim. Unless we as a nation wise up and start valuing and promoting education better than we do now, our young people will be too stupid to think critically.
    
    Sab Oh -- go ahead and tell me what I said is highly disrespectful of young people.

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       Jim Hunterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I was just being facetious.

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       JOE BARNETTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       ha ha ha you know sab oh too

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       Aya Katzposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Mighty Mom, I think the whole agenda is disrespectful of anyone who does not fit into the mold of a middle class employee of a large corporation. It is disrespectful of people who, by choice or otherwise, do not currently have benefits from a major employer. For those people who are already covered by such insurance, the new law may not change much. For anyone who is self-employed, the burden is unbearable. For people who employ one or two others in their small business, it may also be a deal breaker.
       
       It is  disrespectful of anyone who might refuse medical treatment offered by the medical establishment, and would be forced to maintain insurance he will not use. It is disrespectful of people who are better educated than average as well as those with less education. It is disrespectful of anyone who wants to make their own decisions and to live with them.
       
       People already act as if everyone needs to have a job in order to be respectable. The idea that those who do not have a job are necessarily parasites who are hurting others will be reinforced, because if you cannot "afford" the insurance that you are supposed to get, supposedly the government will pay for it. But don't think for a moment that that person will not be labeled "poor" and made to feel second best.

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    BobbiRantposted 13 years ago

    The insurance companies are Now kissing up to the GOP, and the GOP is loving it, don't kid yourselves! It's all over the Internet.

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    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    They're more than kissing, I'd say. They've been in bed with them for a long time. Why else would the Republicans be so deathly afraid of "Obamacare" -- it "hurts" the insurance companies.
    Aw, poor babies.

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