AARP's overhaul support a sham

To the editor:

Your commentary column on AARP’s endorsement of the president’s healthcare reform was informative but not surprising.

Years ago I told my husband that my problem with AARP was that people universally accepted their pronouncements as accurate and unbiased without question. Such power doesn’t just open itself to abuse, it attracts it. Now AARP is endorsing a program that cuts $400 billion from Medicare. If a Republican administration tried to do that, there would be red ink flowing from the AARP pens like blood at a bullfight.

Then, of course, it turns out that the Democrats have conveniently included language in the bill that would damage AARP’s leading competitor in Medicare supplement plans, while strengthening their own. Add to that, the fact that the new CEO of AARP, Barry Rand, was a strong supporter of President Barack Obama’s during the campaign and you have all the information you need to realize that an organization that likes to market itself as the champion of senior citizens has become a self-serving poodle on the leash of the Democratic party. AARP has become ACORN for the elderly. What a shame. What a betrayal.

Louise Butler
Edinburg