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Jewish World Review Oct. 2, 2000 / 3 Tishrei, 5761

Michelle Malkin

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Consumer Reports


Not every senior demands a handout

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- THERE WAS an old lady who lived in a shoe, and in Vice President Al Gore's fairy-tale world, it's because Medicare didn't provide her with free drugs.

Gore visited Florida this week, kissed an elderly woman on the head, and touted his new campaign tome, "Medicare at the Crossroads." The booklet outlines Gore's plan to provide prescription drug coverage to all senior citizens – "even middle-class seniors," Gore emphasized – regardless of need.

I am sick of this wrinkled pandering. And I am not alone. I don't usually publicize the reader mail I receive, but my recent column about government-funded prescription drugs and the burden on younger workers elicited an amazing response seldom reflected in the mainstream media. Out of 200 e-mails and letters, all but a few dozen agreed that expanding Medicare with a universal prescription drug benefit is a foolish, free-lunch fiasco. The majority of letters were written not by elderly-bashing young people, but by some very wise older Americans.

Gene Mercer, an Arizona Republic reader, wrote: "I am 77 and do appreciate the Medicare I have received, but we cannot strap this next generation with increased benefits for so many who do not need it."

Ila Richardson, 72, of southern Oregon, added: "It's sickening to see the politicians, on both sides, pandering to the elderly for a few more votes. I have asked several of my senior friends how they feel about this whole ripoff of the young and they have all said, adamantly, 'Stop doing this!!!' "

Phil Edmunds, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reader, told me he sent a letter to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) "after getting yet another solicitation to join that organization of selfish fogies. I told them I despise the organization for demanding from the federal government benefits that most of its members have not earned and do not need."

Jim Perrin, 72, a Denver Rocky Mountain News reader, noted: "The problem today is that too many senior citizens don't care about the costs as long as someone else pays for them. I choose not to belong to AARP because they promote the 'poor pitiful old people' mentality…It makes me angry when I see groups of senior citizens dressed in Bermuda shorts with plane tickets in their pockets protesting for more tax money. Getting to be my age should cause them to be thankful not greedy."

Margaret Scheele, an elderly JewishWorldReview.com reader from Jacksonville, Florida, wrote: "I am appalled at the pandering of the candidates on this issue. I am equally appalled at the elderly who think they deserve this benefit."

Carl Walther, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reader, said: "Those of us who worked a full-time job and two part-time jobs at the same time so we could retire comfortably have very little sympathy with those who expect taxpayers to cover their lack of planning."

Jackie Upton of Baton Rouge, La., wrote: "My husband and I are 71 and have been [complaining] about Social Security and Medicare for years…We are well aware that, as healthy as we are, and even though he paid in the max during his working years, we will draw out his contributions at some point and then be drawing money from the young workers, including our five granddaughters. It is insane! We need medical payment help for catastrophic situations, not ordinary health care."

Don Akers, a 69-year-old Houston Chronicle reader, said that while he does collect Social Security and is on Medicare, "I can see that both are Ponzi schemes, and reductions are needed immediately…We need Republicans to stand up and say 'No More Entitlements.' "

Bobby Reeves, a 54-year-old Danville (Ky.) Advocate reader, noted: "I am afraid the Republicans are playing the giveaway game as the Democrats always have."

Indeed. Both major parties and presidential candidates are offering expanded Medicare benefits at a time when entitlement programs are on bankruptcy's brink. Meanwhile, Congress has failed to act on separate federal investigations that revealed $13.5 billion in improperly reimbursed Medicare claims last year and $450 million in annual Medicare overpayments to doctors.

Polls and political strategists advise candidates to kiss up to senior citizens at all costs. But responsible adults are sending a different message: Keep your lips and hands to yourself.

***


JWR contributor Michelle Malkin can be reached by clicking here.

Up

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© 2000, Creators Syndicate