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Name:	lotowner -	Reply
Subject:	AARP Letter
Date:	5/25/2010 7:20:54 AM

Seniors need to stand up for what is right, not what the politicians want or big Corporations want.

This was sent to Mr. Rand who is the Executive Director of AARP.

Dear Mr. Rand,

Recently you sent us a letter encouraging us to renew our lapsed membership in AARP by the requested date. I know it is not what you were looking for, but this is the most honest response I can give you. Our gap in coverage is merely a microscopic symptom of the real problem, a deepening lack of faith.

While we have proudly maintained our membership for several years and have long admired the AARP goals and principles, regrettably, we can no longer endorse it's abdication of our values. Your letter specifically stated that we can count on AARP to speak up for our rights, yet the voice we hear is not ours. Your offer of being kept up to date on important issues through DIVIDED WE FAIL presents neither an impartial view nor the one we have come to embrace. We do believe that when two parties agree all the time on everything presented to them, one is probably not necessary. But, when the opinions and long term goals are diametrically opposed, the divorce is imminent. This is the philosophy which spawned our 200 years of government.

Once upon a time, we looked forward to being part of the senior demographic. We also looked to AARP to provide certain benefits and give our voice a power we could not possibly hope to achieve on our own. AARP gave us a sense of belonging which we no longer enjoy. The Socialist politics practiced by the Obama administration and empowered by AARP serves only to raise the blood pressure my medical insurance strives to contain. Clearly a conflict of interest there!

We do not understand the AARP posture, feel greatly betrayed by the guiding forces that we expected to map out our senior years and leave your ranks with a great sense of regret. We mitigate that disappointment with the relief of knowing that we are not contributing to the problem anymore by renewing our membership. There are numerous other organizations which offer discounts without threatening our way of life or offending our sensibilities.

This Presidential Administration scares the living daylights out of us. Not just for ourselves, but for our proud and bloodstained heritage. But even more importantly for our children and grandchildren. Washington has rendered Soylent Green a prophetic cautionary tale rather than a nonfiction scare tactic. I have never in my life endorsed any militant or radical groups, yet now I find myself listening to them. I don't have to agree with them to appreciate the fear which birthed their existence. Their borderline insanity presents little more than a balance to the voice of the Socialist mindset in power. Perhaps I became American by a great stroke of luck in some cosmic uterine lottery, but in my adulthood I CHOOSE to embrace it and nurture the freedoms it represents as well as the responsibilities it requires.

Your website generously offers us the opportunity to receive all communication in Spanish. ARE YOU KIDDING??? Someone has broken into our 'house', invaded our home without our invitation or consent. The President has insisted we keep the perpetrator in comfort and learn the perp language so we can communicate our reluctant welcome to them.

I DON'T choose to welcome them.
I DON'T choose to support them.
I DON'T choose to educate them.
I DON'T choose to medicate them, pay for their food or clothing.

American home invaders get arrested.
Please explain to me why foreign lawbreakers can enjoy privileges on American soil that Americans do not get?

Why do some immigrants have to play the game to be welcomed and others only have to break & enter to be welcomed?

We travel for a living. Walt hauls horses all over this great country, averaging over 10,000 miles a month when he is out there. He meets more people than a politician on caffeine overdose. Of all the many good folks he enjoyed on this last 10,000 miles, this trip yielded only ONE supporter of the current administration. One of us is out of touch with mainstream America . Since our poll is conducted without funding, I have more faith in it than one which is power driven.

We have decided to forward this to everyone on our mailing list, and will encourage them to do the same. With several hundred in my address book, I have every faith that the eventual exponential factor will make a credible statement to you.

I am disappointed as hell.

I am scared as hell.

I am MAD as hell, and I'm NOT gonna take it anymore!

Walt & Cyndy
Miller Farms Equine Transport

Name:	water_watcher -	Reply
Subject:	AARP Letter
Date:	5/25/2010 7:50:42 AM

every time I get an AARP letter trying to get me to join or buy their insurance ... I tear it up, put it in the postage paid envelope they give you and mail it back to them. More should do the same. I make sure my name is address is clear so they can remove me off their list (I used to write on it remove me), but they never do. But if enough people do that, they may start getting the message that they are not advocates for seniors ... but rather their own political agenda that grows their insurance business.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Never joined and never will
Date:	5/25/2010 4:40:49 PM

They should change their name to the American Association of Liberal Retired People (AARLP). There are a couple of very good senior organizations that cater to seasoned Americans that don't see big government as the solution to our problems but as they really are, the source of our problems. One is called AMAC (www.amac.us) and the other is ASA (www.americanseniors.org). Both offer many, but not all, of the AARP benefits.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	AARP Letter
Date:	5/25/2010 5:07:19 PM

This letter has been circulating on the web -- this is the 4th time I've seen it, and I'm not even sure it is not a hoax. I'm very suspicious of these "letters" and most of them turn out to be a hoax.

I have been solicited for membership lately on AARP, but I don't join. I throw their solicitations in the trash on principle, because if I was interested in joining, I would seek them out.

With or without their advocacy, I have a gut feeling that this country is going to be facing major changes in the next few years. And I don't think it is going to matter who is sitting in the WH. My predication is big spending cuts, and big tax increases.

Name:	water_watcher -	Reply
Subject:	A bit sad, don't you think?
Date:	5/25/2010 7:04:58 PM

We run spending up on programs the american people did not want and the country did not need now .... so the answer is raise taxes which will slow any economic recovery and delay job growth. I disagree that it would not matter who is in the WH .... it is the combination of the WH and congress and the WH is setting the tone.

Where is the press as the current administration and congress are say they do not have to submit and pass a budget. I guess they do not want to submit a budget with a $1 trillion deficit ... may scare people even more and make them realize the tax and spend label is true. Except this time it is spend, spend, spend .... then tax, tax, tax.

Name:	alahusker -	Reply
Subject:	Brilliant prediction Hound..
Date:	5/25/2010 8:04:56 PM

Federal government has spent it's way to oblivion, it's broke, only income is from our taxes and the bill is due.. Options.. stop spending (good idea) and increase the source of income, taxes (bad idea.) We are in trouble, girl..

Name:	water_watcher -	Reply
Subject:	Brilliant prediction Hound..
Date:	5/25/2010 8:27:58 PM

I heard on CNBC tonight that we have fallen to the lowest level of income from the private sector ... 41%. Why does Washington not see that adding a government job is a financial drain to the economy and has no benefit. As we keep growing government jobs, now we only have 41% of the population to pay for them.

They also pointed out that the last 5 recessions we had, there was ZERO government stimulus other than rate cuts and limited tax cuts that are paid for through economic recovery and far less costly than government spending that will take decades to get back in line and pay back (if ever) ... and as we came out the growth was stronger and job recovery much faster. Now this time we spend $800 billion, plus all the other programs and now another $190 billion is proposed and the recovery (if you can call it that) is the weakest ever. FACT: Government stimulus using tax payer money slows a recovery.

Last fact ... the $8,000 housing credit that was paid for by tax payers, actually cost people more than if they did not get it. The "stimulus" raised interest rates short term ... since the program ended rates are down 50 basis points or more ... when you compare the 50 basis point saving over the life of a mortgage, to the $8,000 housing credit ... the 50 basis points are worth $30,000 or more even for a moderate home loan.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Brilliant prediction Hound..
Date:	5/25/2010 8:29:49 PM

We definitely are in trouble. I don't think the whole of population understands that -- they still think if you get a conservative in the WH, then everything will be fixed and everything will go back the way it was.... Most don't even grasp how what is going on in Greece and Portugal is just the tip of the iceberg.

I'm generally an optimist, and I almost always think things will get better. But, not this time. Our paradigm is being shifted (again from outside forces, as it usually goes) and it's going to take a lot more than a change in the WH to save us.

BTW, I'm no longer defending Obama. He's still playing the Washington game and doesn't realize our paradigm is being shifted.

Name:	water_watcher -	Reply
Subject:	Brilliant prediction Hound..
Date:	5/25/2010 8:36:26 PM

I agree. You forgot to add that France is nationalizing banks and Italy is in trouble too. China is slowing their growth which impacts the US and lets not forget the crazy man in North Korea ready to go to war to get attention.

Name:	alahusker -	Reply
Subject:	Hound
Date:	5/25/2010 9:14:35 PM

you are either naive or didn't listen.. President Obama ran on a platform of change.. Just reconsider his political background and look at the composition of his administration.. Recall that He openly vowed to "fundamentally change America." He is not a victim of Washington, his success has surpassed his wildest expectations.. The Nation is now on the road to fiscal default and a socialist society. Just maybe, we, the people, have an opportuity to reverse the tide.. I'm not optimistic nor am I giving up.. Were am I wrong here girl? I'm sure you can set me straight...

Name:	MAJ USA RET -	Reply
Subject:	State of the Nation
Date:	5/26/2010 8:26:54 AM

Did you see where, in the polls, 15% of citizens are ANGRY at the WH and Congress? Look out, Geroge the III… uh… Barack Obama.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Brilliant prediction Hound..
Date:	5/26/2010 11:06:33 AM

The problem is Obama and his administration has greatly exacerbated the economic woes and with the debt he has mounted he will debilitate our economy for years to come if not decades. As I have said from the very beginning of this administration he is repeating all the mistakes of FDR. It is uncanny how similarly he is responding.

I don't understand the hubris of liberal, big government types that refuse to look at history, refuse to look at the present-day ramifications of socialist big government spending and turn away. Do they somehow think they are so brilliant that they can defeat 100% consistent historical results? This is why I often say that liberals cannot be trusted to govern. They are too dangerous and too destructive and they let ideology blind them to the changes that always work in times like these.

I am glad you are no longer defending Obama. It seems obvious to me that unlike Bill Clinton he is an ideologue and not ambitious. I have come to believe that if he can implement his big government agenda he will gladly accept one term. In fact if you look at his employment history he never lasts very long in any job and rarely finishes anything. I suspect he would be relieved to no longer have the burden of governing so he can play as much golf and bball as he wants.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Brilliant prediction Hound..
Date:	5/26/2010 1:25:22 PM

I'm not saying that Obama did not add to the problems, but I think that what we are seeing now has its seeds back for several Administrations before. I'm not blaming Bush entirely. The war in Iraq added to the problems. While popular, I'm not sure I think his tax cuts were a great idea either.
I do think Obama is playing a Washington game -- in fact, the whole damn government is just playing a game and not recognizing the disaster that is looming -- "fiddling while Rome burns" if you will.

I can only hope that someone with a vision is out there, looking to run in 2012 -- someone that can implement the hard choices that are going to have to be made. It's not going to be pretty and people are going to get a whole lot angier about what is going to have to be done.

For the first time in a long time, I can say that I am really worried, because what the US looks like in 10 years is likely to be a very different picture than today. And Obama's changes won't be but a drop in the bucket. In fact, I doubt they will matter at all in the face of what is to become.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Brilliant prediction Hound..
Date:	5/26/2010 2:09:10 PM

I agree that many of the current problems had their genesis in prior administrations but the fact is Obama is President today and what he is doing in response is in fact disastrously wrong. In the last four recessions the only thing necessary was a reduction in taxes and the recovery happened in its normal course. You may not like tax cuts but they work and when deficits increase it is ALWAYS due to too much spending. Federal revenues increase after taxes are cut. It happens every time and I cannot understand how otherwise intelligent people can just ignore this fact.

What we need is for him to make the Bush tax cuts permanent and to reduce federal spending. Revenue will go up, deficits will go down and the economy will recover. It works every time its been tried. However, if the boviated blowhards in DC and state governments continue their profligate spending no amount of tax increases will work and we will simply end up like Greece.

Simply put, Obama is the problem right now. The Dem lead Congress is the problem right now. And they simply refuse to do what is right because they are blinded by ideology and beholden to the various left wing nut constituencies that hate America and want to see us fail. They must be replaced starting in November of this year.

One other comment Hound. You and I are about the same age and I have very vivid memories of the malaise under the feckless one Jimmy Carter. I remember all the talk about this being the end of the U.S., the decline of the west, energy shortages forever, high interest rates, high taxes, double digit inflation and unemployment. I grew up in SW Pennsylvania where all the mills and mines were closing, men who worked there for 30 years committing suicide and all the abject misery. And yet three years later we experienced a resurgence in the country because of the leadership of Ronald Reagan. We can do it again but we have got to stop Obama/Reid/Pelosi in order to do it. They must fail in order for America to begin to recover. I wish that were not the case but it is clearly so. I share your desire for alternative leadership and shame on the GOP if we get another McCain as our candidate. But don't lose hope in America. We can recover but because of the profound damage done by Obama it will take some time. Be optimistic!

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