Bloodthirsty Liberal

Not so fast, doc:

Some AMA members are outraged that the group’s trustees made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization’s House of Delegates.

The American Medical Association’s much-touted endorsement of the House health care reform bill has triggered a revolt among some members who want the endorsement withdrawn.

Some members are outraged that the group’s trustees made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization’s House of Delegates.

On Monday, delegates will vote on a resolution offered by some members that, if approved, will withdraw the AMA’s endorsement of the bill.

Needless to say, I just listened to an NPR report in which the AMA’s endorsement (as well as AARP’s) got high billing. Curiously, the same report said that it was unlikely that the bill would get bipartisan backing—without noting that the opposition is plenty bipartisan, if that’s actually a benchmark of anything.

And anyone with half a brain (sadly, that excludes Democrats) knows that the AARP has been bought off, anyway:

AARP’s seal of approval provided welcome cover for conservative lawmakers, many of whom have long desired a Medicare overhaul but were afraid to risk the wrath of seniors. Now they could vote for a bad bill and tell older constituents that it was okay with the nation’s largest organization of older people.

Why would AARP, with 35 million members over 50 years old, support Medicare legislation that does more harm than good? In its defense, AARP denies that the law threatens the traditional Medicare program in any way. The organization believes it was “important to establish a Medicare drug benefit,” even if the law isn’t “perfect.”

The watchdog group Public Citizen thinks there may be other reasons for AARP’s support. After doing some research, it found that, in many ways, AARP is more of a business than an organization of and for seniors.

According to Public Citizen, AARP derives about 60 percent of its annual revenue from the sale of health care products (membership dues make up only 29 percent of AARP’s income). It sells insurance plans underwritten by such companies as UnitedHealthcare and MetLife, markets them to members under AARP’s name, and is paid royalties for each policy sold.

In addition to health insurance, AARP sells mail-order prescription drugs and offers prescription drug discount cards. AARP also sells its membership lists and advertising space in its magazines to pharmaceutical and health insurance companies.

Yes We Ca-ching!

It’s not personal, geezers, it’s business.

UPDATE
Soon to come: retirement homes, with bars!

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

Move over Bloods, Crips, and MS-13—here come the Welks.