The relationship between the Bush White House and the AARP has been, shall we say, complicated. Last year, the seniors’ group reluctantly endorsed Bush’s Medicare scheme, much to the consternation of the organization’s membership. From there, the administration and the AARP drifted, leading Bush to blow off the group’s national conference in October — despite being in the same city at the same time.
Now, the AARP is burning the bridge altogether with forceful, pre-emptive opposition to Bush’s Social Security privatization scheme.
AARP, the nation’s largest seniors organization, is coming out strongly against President Bush’s plan to allow private individual accounts within Social Security.
In the magazine it sends to its 35 million members, the group says Bush’s plan would damage the most successful government program in history and abdicate on a promise made to future retirees.
“Taking some of the money that workers pay into the system and diverting it into newly created private accounts would weaken Social Security and put benefits for future generations at risk,” says the December issue of the AARP Bulletin, which went to members this weekend.
The group’s position is consistent with its long-standing opposition to privatizing the nation’s retirement program. But it was the strongest statement yet to its members and comes as Congress and the White House gear up to tackle the issue.
AARP’s influence on the Hill remains impressive, despite GOP majorities. If the organization is going to fight Bush’s scheme vigorously, and all indications are that it will, this will obviously be yet another difficult, if not insurmountable, hurdle for the White House.
AARP spokesman Kevin Donnellan said the letter is just the first step in “an aggressive grass-roots campaign” that could include TV ads. “If there’s any issue we will pull out the stops on, it’s this one,” he said.