We really, really don't need this. The AARP will drive in the left lane at 30 miles per hour with the turn signal on, and ASA will drive in the right lane at 30 miles per hour with the turn signal on. Some of us need to get to work, you know.

How can anyone who loves his children and grandchildren belong to an outfit that seeks to pick their pockets and deliver them into perpetual servitude?

I wouldn't count on it. The CBS report failed to report that the other group -- American Seniors Association -- is sponsoring a membership drive, that gives a 2 year membership for the price of 1 to all people who mail in their AARP cards. CBS has been punked. http://dissentingjustice.blogspot.com/2009/08/cbs-news-continues-misleading-reporting.html

Don't know about you, 'Mr. Smith' - but seems to me if the AARP members were happy with their 'representation' and benefits, they wouldn't be bouncing out of the corral just for an extra year of some startup association's unproven promises.

"They're old. They won't think it through."

Blue, now there is an attitude which will catch the attention of those who are not as senile as you think. Those of us who have spent our time contributing to the economy of this nation. Some of us giving our blood for the freedom of the rest of you. I am 63 years old. I kiss good, hit hard and shoot straight. I do not vote democrat.

As with all of Hugh's articles a little more digging reveals the scope of Hugh's dishonesty.

Among them is a smaller and less influential AARP.

A smaller and less influential AARP? Just how much smaller are they?

They've trimmed 60,000 member -- and still have 40 million members.

How much is that percentage-wise? Less than two-tenths of one percent -- 0.0015 to be precise. That's less than 1/500 of their membership.

Yeah - smaller and less-infuential. Riiiight

Vic

As long as my grampa still gets his early-bird special down at the diner, he's happy to piss on the AARP.

Fuck those clowns. The AARP got what was coming to it by being statist dipshits.

I'm not an AARP member. I just lie to the hotel clerks to get the discounts, and not one has ever challenged me. I recognized the organization for what it was years ago and have encouraged friends to stay away from this liberal gang. What presented itself as a united voice for seniors was as insidious and evil as ACORN.

Old folks talk amongst themselves, Vic, and they're nominally the ones who've derailed the Obamacare crap.

Plus - a lot of 'em just don't give a damn about the AARP, their membership is about on the order of a Reader's Digest subscription - they renew it without much thinking when they get the notice, and rarely notice that what they're getting isn't anything like what they used to read.

Oh - and as far as RD goes - looks like they're having severe problems themselves. When the cash flow doesn't go - it tends to get attention.

Think the AARP losing $16 x 40,000 members (at last count, likely quite a few more than that before it's through...) isn't going to be noticed? And how many people haven't bothered to switch, but are simply going to let their memberships lapse - and how many after seeing the support for Obama, aren't even going to sign up at all?

Losing 1/500th of their membership does not make them smaller and less influential. That's bullshit.

Vic

Vic......... is it "Honest" as you are SOOOO concerned about, to say 60,000 in just a few weeks is a pretty good indicator that people are NOT HAPPY with Liberal AARP?

Vic, and other Leftist morons, the reality is that the loss of 60,000 members in a month is a VERY big deal for AARP. Especially since this loss is directly related to ONE issue.

AARP, by its very nature, "loses" member very month due to their death! They need NEW membership just to offset that. Finally exposing them as shills for the Democrat Party will diminish new membership, and allow ASA to increase at their expense.

2 or 3 months of decline in existing membership, and decline in the rate of NEW membership will indeed have a huge impact. If nothing else it will allow them fewer funds with which to contribute to Democrat politicians, which they do by an overwhelming percent!

Sorry but this is still a "punk" article. Members only have to mail in their torn AARP card to ASA in order to get the 2 for 1 deal. But they can still remain in AARP -- and just reorder a replacement card. Either way, AARP registers hundreds of thousands of members per month, so losing 60,000 is a drop in the bucket. CBS doesn't even report how many people AARP loses in a typical month.

Also - when did fighting to pump money into Medicare become a "conservative" issue? The people who are complaining are unprincipled. Liberals propsosed and passed AARP; conservatives hate it.

I was in the insurance business for quite a while. And, if you don't think the execs at AARP aren't puckered so hard to their plush board room chairs they can't get up, you are mistaken. Trends are hard to reverse in any business and the bleeding is not likely to stop. Market share is very important to any company. AARP has supported liberals for a long time now and they have been "outed." There are companies like AARP out there that truly serve their customer base better than AARP does.
P.S. What the liberals are finding out is that unlike a baby that is murdered as it is coming into the world to begin life, seniors approaching the end of their "sunset years" can fight back. And that, is major miscalculation by Obamalala and the citizens of La La Land.

Whether or not the percentage of those quiting AARP is small or not, losing 600,000 since July ist is still impressive.

And for those who usually get their news from the MSM, this will get their attention.

Though slanted, the news has still been about elderly showing up at Townhalls to voice their opposition to Obamacare. Now this is reported.
The momentum continues to grow.

The elderly are not stupid. They've been around long enough to have a natural cynicism toward govt programs and especially the promises politicians make.

Obama and the dems have made a fatal error in hoping to fund Obamacare by screwing the elderly. I have to agree with a comercial I've seen on TV stating that the elderly have sacrificed enough.

And how many more never signed up in the first place?

I became "eligible" to join AARP this year. I took their signup form and filed it. And I am not going to sign up for them ever. I have better discount programs elsewhere and I sure as heck don't want them representing me in DC.

Sorry but according to AARP, during the same period that it lost 60,000 members who are upset over its healthcare reform positions, it also registered 400,000 new members AND 1.5 million people renewed existing memberships.

AARP also typically loses around 300,000 members a month -- which is more than offset by new members. This is a punk story.

http://dissentingjustice.blogspot.com/2009/08/cbs-news-continues-misleading-reporting.html

I know none of you trust the MSM, especially CBS, unless, of course, their reporting supports what you already believe.

However, since you brought up the report, you might want to look at the article and do the math.

They are reporting a) AARP has lost 60000 members since July 1 and b)ASA enrolled 5000 new members last week. If you are generous and say that the 5000 is average, not peak, that says the ASA has captured 1/2 of those leaving AARP.

One might assume that a substatial portion of those joining ASA were never members because AARP was too far left for their politics.

If you go back to the CBS item, you will see that a large number of people are leaving AARP because they think AARP is backing a plan that will reduce Medicare. I doubt that many of those people will gravitate to an organization to the right of AARP unless they have some damn good rates on cruises.

In Chicago, it's pronounced "Victery is Arse".

Werks fer me, Yer Honner.

AARP wants healthcare reform because they are in the insurance business and can make a lot of money off the support for this bill. For you lefty loons, if you think AARP is not scorched by their membership for their backing of the plan, then why did they change their mind? You lefties are such a dishonest bunch with Vic leading the charge. ww

Vic might pooh-pooh a 60K decline in membership in ONE month (just when AARP really started pushing support for ObamaCare). It will be interesting to see if the drop continues.

And Vic, don't think the boardroom at ARRP is saying "no big deal". AARP is a business. You don't stay in business by kissing off 60K former customers.

Just saw a 'poll' on Yahoo:

Q. The president's progress with the battered economy has been both praised and criticized. How well are his efforts measuring up with you?

Extremely well: 9%
Fairly well: 9%
Not well at all: 80%
No opinion: 2%
2,624,869 votes cast

Here's the link to vote Vic, spread it around among your ACORN cohorts.

http://js.polls.yahoo.com/quiz/quiziframe.php?poll_id=46067

To be fair, GarandFan, that 80% could include people who were thinking he wasn't going far ENOUGH, as well as the people thinking he was going too far.

(Just trying to present both sides. Personally, I think that the 'not ENOUGH' crowd would be right around the 2-5% mark. Certainly the folks at Reclusive Leftist think he's a sellout - he hasn't gone nearly far enough for their 'progressive' thinking.)

Ahem.

The membership loss suggests dissatisfaction on the part of AARP members at a time when many senior citizens are concerned about proposed cuts to Medicare providers to help pay for making health care available for all. But spokesman Drew Nannis said it wasn't unusual for the powerful, 40 million-strong senior citizens' lobby to shed members in droves when it's advocating on a controversial issue.

...

The approximately 60,000 number represents members who specifically cited AARP's stance on the health overhaul debate in canceling their membership between July 1 and mid-August, Nannis said. He said that on average AARP loses some 300,000 members a month, but he couldn't say how many more members had quit for other reasons in that time period.

He said AARP gained some 400,000 new members during the same period and that 1.5 million members renewed their membership.

The ObamaCare debate has, if nothing else, made one issue crystal clear: seniors believe that they are at greater risk of experiencing diminished care.

Translation: The bullshit we've been peddling is duping the old folks. Success!

The American Seniors Association is a transparent GOP front. Which tells you that all this guff about AARP "losing" seniors is more of the same astroturf we've come to expect from the right.

Lies, dissembling, and tinfoil-hattery: it's all they have left.

"AARP......think DailyKos with False Teeth"

hat tip Rush

VIO - "Losing 1/500th of their membership does not make them smaller and less influential. That's bullshit."

Agreed the AARP being less influential is BS. However, what part of mathematics do you fail to understand?

whether the decline was 1/500th or 50 percent it's still a decline and does indeed make them "smaller."

Only an idiot would argue that the loss of membership isn't a bad thing. You see Vic, this is why people can't trust you lefties with the economy, and certainly not the healthcare part of it - you don't know how to subtract.

Math can be so stubborn. Must be where that 'you've got to spend money to save it' mentality comes from.

"Lies, dissembling, and tinfoil-hattery: it's all they have left."

Projection - it's all the left has left.