Don't quit the AARP, folks. That's what the right wing wants you to
do. They're trying to destroy a powerful non-political seniors'
lobbying group. It's the only one we've got. Let's just throw the
right wing bastards in the AARP executive offices out on their asses.

Harry


From NEWSWEEK, Dec. 1 issue:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/997083.asp

A New Age for AARP

A venerable group draws heavy fire for backing a prescription-drug
plan.

Seniors and politicians are up in arms.

What gives?

By David Noonan and Mary Carmichael
NEWSWEEK


William Novelli had a hell of a week.

Last Monday at the White House, President George W. Bush personally
thanked him and AARP, the huge organization of seniors Novelli heads,
for endorsing a Republican bill to add prescription-drug coverage to
Medicare.

On Tuesday, at a New Hampshire debate sponsored by AARP, top
Democratic presidential candidates ripped the organization's
leadership for its support of the legislation, which they say will
undermine Medicare and threaten the health of millions of seniors.

ON WEDNESDAY, as hundreds of AARP members called and e-mailed to
complain about the organization's stance, a busload of angry seniors
showed up outside AARP's swanky Washington, D.C., headquarters to burn
their membership cards.

While the flames flickered in the damp November chill, Novelli, an
intense 62-year-old, sat in his 10th-floor office and calmly responded
to the charge, voiced by critics, that AARP is under the influence of
the health-insurance and drug industries, which also favor the GOP
bill.

"It's bulls--t," he told NEWSWEEK.

Early Saturday morning, awash in thousands of messages from furious
members, Novelli--who had cocaptained the lacrosse team at the
University of Pennsylvania--tasted victory when, after a bitter
all-night session, the House passed the bill 220 to 215.

This is definitely not your grandparents' AARP.

Perhaps best known over the years for the myriad discounts and
services it offers to members, the 45-year-old nonpartisan
organization has put itself at the center of a no-holds-barred
bipartisan battle on Capitol Hill.

And that's fine with Novelli.

"I don't lose any sleep over this," he says.

"I think we're doing the right thing."

With a mailing list of 35 million people 50 and up, AARP is able to
shape opinion on issues that matter to seniors.

But under the leadership of Novelli (who got the top job in June 2001)
and his team of marketing and policy experts, it is clearly changing
the way it operates.

"I don't want to say that AARP is new. We're building on the past,"
says Novelli.

"But I think we're more aggressive, I think we're stronger."

Throwing its weight--not to mention a $7 million ad campaign--behind
the Republicans' Medicare plan is a high-profile and controversial
move.

________________________________________________________

Don't quit the AARP, folks. That's what the right wing wants you to
do. They're trying to destroy a powerful non-political seniors'
lobbying group. Let's just throw the right wing bastards in the AARP
executive offices out on their asses.

Harry

Don't quit the AARP, folks. That's what the right wing wants you to
do. They're trying to destroy a powerful non-political seniors'
lobbying group. It's the only one we've got. Let's just throw the
right wing bastards in the AARP executive offices out on their asses.

Harry

From NEWSWEEK, Dec. 1 issue:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/997083.asp

A New Age for AARP

A venerable group draws heavy fire for backing a prescription-drug
plan.

Seniors and politicians are up in arms.

What gives?

By David Noonan and Mary Carmichael
NEWSWEEK


William Novelli had a hell of a week.

Last Monday at the White House, President George W. Bush personally
thanked him and AARP, the huge organization of seniors Novelli heads,
for endorsing a Republican bill to add prescription-drug coverage to
Medicare.

On Tuesday, at a New Hampshire debate sponsored by AARP, top
Democratic presidential candidates ripped the organization's
leadership for its support of the legislation, which they say will
undermine Medicare and threaten the health of millions of seniors.

ON WEDNESDAY, as hundreds of AARP members called and e-mailed to
complain about the organization's stance, a busload of angry seniors
showed up outside AARP's swanky Washington, D.C., headquarters to burn
their membership cards.

While the flames flickered in the damp November chill, Novelli, an
intense 62-year-old, sat in his 10th-floor office and calmly responded
to the charge, voiced by critics, that AARP is under the influence of
the health-insurance and drug industries, which also favor the GOP
bill.

"It's bulls--t," he told NEWSWEEK.

Early Saturday morning, awash in thousands of messages from furious
members, Novelli--who had cocaptained the lacrosse team at the
University of Pennsylvania--tasted victory when, after a bitter
all-night session, the House passed the bill 220 to 215.

This is definitely not your grandparents' AARP.

Perhaps best known over the years for the myriad discounts and
services it offers to members, the 45-year-old nonpartisan
organization has put itself at the center of a no-holds-barred
bipartisan battle on Capitol Hill.

And that's fine with Novelli.

"I don't lose any sleep over this," he says.

"I think we're doing the right thing."

With a mailing list of 35 million people 50 and up, AARP is able to
shape opinion on issues that matter to seniors.

But under the leadership of Novelli (who got the top job in June 2001)
and his team of marketing and policy experts, it is clearly changing
the way it operates.

"I don't want to say that AARP is new. We're building on the past,"
says Novelli.

"But I think we're more aggressive, I think we're stronger."

Throwing its weight--not to mention a $7 million ad campaign--behind
the Republicans' Medicare plan is a high-profile and controversial
move.

________________________________________________________

Don't quit the AARP, folks. That's what the right wing wants you to
do. They're trying to destroy a powerful non-political seniors'
lobbying group. Let's just throw the right wing bastards in the AARP
executive offices out on their asses.

Harry

Don't quit the AARP, folks. That's what the right wing wants you to
do. They're trying to destroy a powerful non-political seniors'
lobbying group. It's the only one we've got. Let's just throw the
right wing bastards in the AARP executive offices out on their asses.