DISQUS

Malcolm · 3 months ago

As a senior, I have to quibble with this post. We, and the other seniors we know, are fervent advocates of single payer universal health care. We may not be typical, but we exist. The current plans for health care reform fall so far short of what we want, and are likely to fall so much shorter before anything comes to a vote, that we don't see much point in tilting at windmills. We're not scared by change; we're disgusted by the lack of real change.

SouthernYankee · 3 months ago

As a young feeling senior, I agree with you. I am lucky to have Tricare which is a government health care for retiree military and their families. I am in support of a single payer plan for my son and grandchild and that age group who really need the help. These young people pay double what I and my family pay. He makes less than $20,000 a year.

RobertSanDimas · 3 months ago

Watch it, folks! And be careful that you don't lump us all into a category of "they" - the seniors who you seem to think are all dumbass, selfish, nitwits. Many of us (partner and I are 67, 70) are savvy and know exactly what's going on. We are on Medicare and have no complaints whatsoever about it. Problems arise with the Medicare Advantage programs (HMOs, eg.). Seniors are stuck within a confined group and have little choice about providers. We have the same docs we had long before we reached 65. All of our friends (many gay, and most family) are progressive, intelligent, up on the issues and active participants in the political scene. I was surprised at some of the nasty comments that characterized seniors as a group of greedy, uninformed Americans.

PeteWa · 3 months ago

lol... as a whole, gay people and their friends are generally more liberal than others, and that includes seniors.
and of course, in any age group, there are people who are good, and there are people who are bad.

I have found in my life that people tend to just become more like what they already are.
If you were selfish as a younger person, you become more selfish as you age.
If you were generous, likewise, you continue to be generous, and often become even more generous.

now, you don't really want to meet most of my relatives who are of senior age.
you wouldn't want them as friends, and I barely want them as family.

cowboyneok · 3 months ago

You said it, PeteWa... perfect response.

RobertSanDimas · 3 months ago

PeteWa, I agree: if you grow up in generous family, you become more so as you age; if you grow up wanting, perhaps you remain closed to others' needs. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mid '60s (yup, that long ago), and I did it because of my upbringing (and the adventure). Most didn't travel the world in those days. After all these years, I still have a vivid memory of that one room, with a single oscillating fan, a table and a cot, that I lived in for two years. It was wonderful.

PeteWa · 3 months ago

Where did you go with the Peace Corps?

RobertSanDimas · 3 months ago

Thailand, '65-'67, far south (now dangerous to visit because of Muslim unrest). Were you a PCV? By the way, thanks for your kind comment above.

PeteWa · 3 months ago

No, I was not in the PC, but I always thought it was a great program.
Thailand back then must have been pretty amazing.

RobertSanDimas · 3 months ago

Pete, you seem to have shown some interest so I'll elaborate. It was pretty amazing. I was in the southernmost province, 27 hours by slow train from Bangkok, just 40 miles north of the Malaysian border. I taught in the provincal capital's high school (pop 3000). Fortunately it was gorgeous, on the west coast. Our only communication was via aerogram which took about 2 weeks to reach California - both ways - no phones, no radio, no TV. People were marvelous, friendly, receptive, but there were already signs of unrest among the Muslims which were actually a majority. I and a young woman who taught at the girls' school were the only Westerners there. I did a lot of reading, often by candlelight, especially during the monsoons. They were two years i wouldn't trade for anything in the world. :) Thanks for the interest. PS: Your age, etc?

PeteWa · 3 months ago

That sounds amazing.
Thanks for the additional information.
I'm 40, spent a lot of time in Hawaii growing up - but have lived all over the U.S.

RobertSanDimas · 3 months ago

I'm intrigued. My email is robert1644@aol.com. I'd love to hear more about you if you're interested in telling me. We're (partner and I) in So CA.

rayso · 3 months ago

You are quote "lol" - at RobertSanDimas? You may consider yourself liberal but where is your humanity.

SCLiberal · 3 months ago

"you wouldn't want them as friends, and I barely want them as family."

That's probably what Pete was laughing at. I did.

PeteWa · 3 months ago

It was gentle laughter, I like RobertSanDimas, and enjoy reading his posts.

Fireblazes(cheetohsandcatfood) · 3 months ago

Perhaps those that are not in your circle of friends fit the other characterization. Most of the seniors I know are extremely conservative.

Malcolm · 3 months ago

Uh, hello? I'm a senior. I was there for MLK's I have a dream speech on the mall, with my two-year-old daughter on my shoulders. I was there for all of the massive Vietnam war protests. I worked for the Washington Free Press in those days and lived in its commune, where the cops came every few weeks to bust everything up, including our typewriters. I was there for every single anti-Iraqi war demonstration, although I'm now disabled and walk with difficulty with a cane. I licked envelopes for Adlai Stevenson and showed the Carter folks how to use a fax machine. I've spent untold hours volunteering in every Dem campaign since Carter, and interviewed JFK when I was in grade school. All of my friends have similar work histories and are similarly aged. What have you done lately, Fireblazes? Bias against elders is every bit as offensive as bias against gays or anyone else.

Fireblazes(cheetohsandcatfood) · 3 months ago

Seems to me you are trying to fill me with BS. Your time line seems a bit
incongruous. Seniors are no better than the general population. Their
demographics tend to the more conservative side. The silent generation is
extremely conservative and still make up a huge portion of the elderly.

RobertSanDimas · 3 months ago

His timeline works for me. Do some math.

Fireblazes(cheetohsandcatfood) · 3 months ago

Never has one person done so much in one lifetime. He was probably there
for the Hindenberg too.

An_American_Karol · 3 months ago

AARP has always been the champion of older Americans; it is well respected and funded. It has begun a vigorous campaign for Obama's health care reform.
I joined AARP for the first time a couple weeks ago when I read some older Americans were leaving it because of it's support of the reform.

SCLiberal · 3 months ago

That's not been my take on AARP at all.
AARP derives income from the sale of health and life insurance policies, and by licensing its brand to insurance dealers such as New York Life. I remember talk of them supporting the move to prevent the government from negotiating for lower drug prices. I've just heard bad rumors around and don't trust them. They seem too tied to the insurance industry.

Helga3412 · 3 months ago

The seniors are afraid because the believe the dickheads like the one that shows up in the ads on this web page every day. Kevin McCarthy. He lies continually, he had a town hall meeting last week and it was nothing but non answers or BS. I hate seeing his face in the ads every day. He is a Newt and Boehner wannabe.

timncguy · 3 months ago

I have been MYSTIFIED for quite a while now why no one has clearly explained to seniors where the "cuts" in medicare are coming from. I have known for a while that the savings are largely coming from the subsidies going to insurance companies for medicare advantage.

So, why can't or won't he White House explain that to seniors?

Sen Schumer was on "The Ed Show" on MSNBC this evening. He had the chance to explain it then. But, all his response to the claim of cuts to medicare was that it wasn't true.

Democrats and the White House seem to be totally INCAPABLE of actually explaining anything when confronted with the distortions and lies.

I've been asking for weeks why the proponents of the public option can't or won't clearly explain that if you implement reforms such as eliminating pre-exisiting conditions or life-time caps etc without the public option, the cost of insurance will simply INCREASE. Why can't the dems explain that clearly?

the only place I ever hear these kinds of explanations is on MSNBC. And I've never even heard the cost increase without the public option there. Besides, MSNBC is only preaching to the choir anyway and certainly not changing anyone's mind.

nancy50 · 3 months ago

I saw that interview - I wish Ed Schultz had pressed more for the explanation. I thought Schumer was doing a decent enough job using the analogy of private colleges and public colleges, but I think they were pressed for time.

Until you go into your local quickie mart and find MSNBC or even CNN on instead of FoxNews, the liberals will have a difficult road.

gonzalez · 3 months ago

If you dig depper into this problem you'll find out that this is due to race. The republicans have done a good job of making sure this happens without saying the worlds "he is black". Check it out!

Asterix · 3 months ago

Oh, I don't know--seniors have already been told that their Social Security checks will be smaller next year because of larger deductions of the Medicare prescription drug program.

If the current administration was determined to further subsidize big pharma, this was not the time to do it.

http://wcbstv.com/national/Social.Security.paym...

I get the feeling that these knuckleheads actually WANT health care reform to fail.

gregory lyons · 3 months ago

I suppose we're all too worried about Obama's impending failure on health care. Or something. He may be Nancy Pelosi's equal in manufacturing defeat.

Timelines, anyone?

Fireblazes(cheetohsandcatfood) · 3 months ago

Many of the seniors I know are some of the most selfish people I have ever met. The local Salvation Army passes out food bags at the Senior Center weekly. Each person that shows up gets 3 or 4 bags of food. Rice, beans, canned goods...A lot of food. These people get more food than they could possibly eat. So they pass it out to their families and friends that could afford to pay for the food in the first place. We have asked my mother in law why she keeps getting the food when she really does not use any of it. She just shrugs it off and says its free so why not. Young people and families are going hungry and homeless, yet the old folks just keep lining their pockets.

Indigo · 3 months ago

Most of the seniors I know just say they hope any changes do not affect or change their Medicare. For the most part, they're satisfied with their Medicare. It doesn't seem to cross their minds that other citizens could also benefit from Medicare. They're not very good at thinking about the well-being of others.

rayso · 3 months ago

Medicare was expanded to cover handicapped persons.

Fireblazes(cheetohsandcatfood) · 3 months ago

That is because they only seem to think about their own problems. It is as if we have re-enrolled them all back in Junior High.

Indigo · 3 months ago

I agree with that thought.  They used to say that if you wondered why Nixon was president, just think back to the jock jerk that was your class president in senior year high school.  That approach explains so much.

PeteWa · 3 months ago

Seniors are also the most... *cough* *cough* racist segment of our society.

Especially the ones who say they aren't racist.

rayso · 3 months ago

Are there no smart progressive seniors then?

bob915 · 3 months ago

I can proudly say my dad is a very smart very progressive, Teddy like Democrat. He is 77, a cancer and heart attack survivor, and he ain't afraid to tangle with the right wing nuttery he comes across. He sent me a video of a health care forum he attended (yes, he is media savvy--uses nonJitterbug cellular, the Web, and he just purchassed a Blackberry) and he filmed himself absolutely dressing down some lady 'bout his age, telling her if she was gonna wake up as dumb on the issues as she was right now every day, then she just oughta stay in bed.........I try to follow his example, yet be a small bit kinder........he served in the Peace Corp in Bangladesh when Bangladesh was an unknown land............

cowboyneok · 3 months ago

Oh my Gawd! You are so lucky to have such a progressive hero as your father! You need to put that video on YouTube and provide the link for us. I want to see him wipe out the conservative lady.

rayso · 3 months ago

Thank you so much for a breath of fresh air here. The broad brush being used in this post, to unfairly paint your dad and my mom (78 yo) as selfish know nothings is despicable. These are folks of the Greatest Generation who would gasp to see how they are being characterized by many who consider themselves enlightened.

KarenMrsLloydRichards · 3 months ago

He'll go after Bingo next! Outlawing it and taxing my winnings!

He'll take all the string and baggies I've saved! For the recyclers.

He'll murder me in my bed! And then give my bed away to a black family!

He'll put up the price of drugs so's I'll have to skip even more days than I do now!

He'll make me eat cat food like my mother did, because he took away the Cost-of-living raise I am owed!

SCLiberal · 3 months ago

There's a haiku in there somewhere.... ;)

Asterix · 3 months ago

I think it's ridiculous to paint all seniors as "selfish". If someone's selfish in their old age, they've always probably been selfish (or racist). Plenty of seniors volunteer and are active in their communities. Charitable endowments largely come from seniors.

And yes, as in other times in life, there are some real stinkers.

Such is life.

anon · 3 months ago

Seniors were resistant in Canada too as Medicare took hold in the 1960s. The truth of the matter is that individuals seldom if ever change their minds, they just die out much as the prohibitionists did. Instituting a seamless web of social benefits is a multi-generational enterprise which is not yet complete in Canada even after 40 years. You just have to keep your eyes on the prize and keep on plugging along getting the program in place bit by bit.

cheetos · 3 months ago

I'm almost a senior...or maybe I already am. AARP says I am.
For the life of me, I don't understand what's wrong with these old fuddy-duddies. I thought my fellow baby boomers were going to age into smart seniors . I am so disappointed so far.

dula · 3 months ago

I am amazed that so many seniors are so uninformed. They remember a time when our media did it's job but they seem to have forgotten how issues used to be fully covered. It's odd that they don't desire the facts anymore.

bob_h · 3 months ago

Further, their advancing age and declining mental capability makes them vulnerable to lies and fear-mongering.

g2k · 3 months ago

I think the government death panels should only pull the plug on people who actually believe there will be government death panels.