60 Plus Monthly Update
April showers bring May flowers. With all the activity (and potential activity) in Washington, who knows what sort of showers we can expect, and thus, what sort of surprises (good or bad) will rise up and bloom.
For our part, 60 Plus remains active on several fronts, and we plan expand and grow our efforts in the coming months.
In this issue:
- Pat Boone Honored for Defending Liberty
- President Should Suspend the Unconstitutional ObamaCare Now
- Unhappy Anniversary: 2 Years of Obama’s ‘Stimulus’
- White House Abandons Entitlement Reform, GOP Picks Up Baton
- 60 Plus Honors Ronald Reagan
- ObamaCare Bombshell: Billions of Funding Hidden in Legislation
- Democrats Double-Down on Disaster, Affirm Vote on ObamaCare
- 60 Plus Partners with ASA to Offer Senior Benefits
- 60 Plus in the News
Pat Boone Honored for Defending Liberty
Entertainment legend and 60 Plus national spokesman Pat Boone has earned enough awards and accolades in the entertainment field for movies and acting to fill several lifetimes.
But last month it was his lifetime of civic activism and devotion to the founding principles of our nation that earned Boone a Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC.
Many know that Boone is one of the few islands of political conservatism in the vast liberal sea of Hollywood. But few know how long and how passionately he has been supporting issues and candidates behind the scenes despite the pressure of his industry to do otherwise.
Of the CPAC Lifetime Achievement award Boone joked, “It surprises me because my lifetime is still in progress,” adding, “I’ll treasure this more than any Academy or Grammy award, or anything the entertainment industry could offer me.”
Boone has swam against the liberal tide in the entertainment industry for decades, frequently offering help to local conservative candidates in California, supporting Presidents Nixon and Ford, and serving as a delegate for Ronald Reagan at the 1976 GOP convention in Kansas City.
He also raised eyebrows in 2010 — and spirits among many conservatives nationwide — when he and his neighbor hosted the first and only Beverly Hills tea party.
Boone writes and speaks frequently on political issues, often quietly, away from the spotlight . “I am a conservative, always have been and will be till I die. And beyond…”
“A conservative hallows the Constitution, which laid out and prescribes the simple system we call democracy, which, according to our Declaration of Independence, credits our Creator with the equal rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not the governmentally provided happiness itself.”
Today Boone hangs his hat with the 60 Plus Association, advocating for seniors and their families by speaking out on issues such as repealing ObamaCare, abolishing the Death Tax, and offering support to conservative candidates. As just one example, dozens of freshman Congressmen have expressed gratitude to Boone for his role this past November in helping them cement victory with his targeted messages to senior voters. (Boone’s voice entered the homes of the 7.1 million seniors who support 60 Plus).
Congratulations Pat, upon recognition for your leadership and heartfelt commitment to America’s enduring principles. You continue to entertain, but most importantly you continue to inspire and make a lasting difference.
See Pat Boone on the Sean Hannity show by clicking here.
President Should Suspend the Unconstitutional ObamaCare Now
If ObamaCare were a person, it would have the kind of face only a mother could love. And even that may be a stretch.
Obama promised his legislation would be “one of the biggest deficit-reduction programs in history” but it in fact is adding more than $562 billion to our national debt over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Democrats promised Americans that ObamaCare would “lower costs for every patient,” but patient premiums are not only rising, they are rising faster than ever before in an attempt to comply with all the new government mandates.
You get the point. Just about every claim Obama made in order to pass this Edsel of a bill has already been proven false. It will strengthen Medicare? Nope, it cuts over $500 billion from Medicare and half of Medicare Advantage patients will lose coverage by 2017.
It won’t cause people to lose coverage or promote rationing? Oops, wrong again, rationing is starting with a vengeance.
Now on top of all the broken promises, a second federal judge has ruled that ObamaCare is unconstitutional for compelling American citizens to purchase health care or face criminal prosecution, a demand beyond the government’s constitutional authority.
Late last year a federal judge in Virginia ruled the same, guaranteeing the issue will be taken up by the Supreme Court. 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin is speaking out in the media, joining others urging the Administration to suspend ObamaCare until the issue is settled.
Said Martin, “States and private businesses now have no clue what to do with so much uncertainty surrounding ObamaCare. It will be extremely costly to start implementing it only to have it declared unconstitutional and dismantled by the Court.“
“The physician’s maxim is ‘first do no harm,’ and moving forward on expensive healthcare legislation only to backtrack will cause tremendous harm to seniors and America’s families. With two courts now ruling this legislation unconstitutional, it is entirely reasonable for President Obama to do the only fair and sensible thing, and that is to suspend the health care law until the matter is resolved.”
Adding insult to injury to Obama’s ‘signature’ legislation is that some Democrats are now claiming the word ‘ObamaCare’ to be a slur against the President. But if the bill is so great, wouldn’t they want the President to get credit, and wouldn’t the word ObamaCare fill them with pride?
Whatever name you call it, this bill should be orphaned without delay, and suspended while the courts have a final say on this clearly unconstitutional legislation.
Unhappy Anniversary: 2 Years of Obama’s ‘Stimulus’
Last month marked a dubious anniversary of sorts, it has been two years since President Obama pushed through his $870 billion ‘stimulus’ plan he promised would kick start the American economy and ensure that unemployment wouldn’t go above 8 percent.
Instead our economy and financial markets are as weak as they were two years ago, and the unemployment rate was over 9 percent for 21 straight months, shattering a record not seen since the Great Depression.
We sure got our money’s worth.
On top of this, Obama unveiled his 2012 FY budget which predictably set new records of spending and adds another $1.6 trillion to our national debt. Can someone in the White House just fess up and admit that no one in there has a clue as to what they’re doing?
Said 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin on Obama’s refusal to take his foot off the spending accelerator, “In the aftermath of massive voter rejection of his philosophy the President is to be admired for sticking to his big government, big spending ways. The words changed, instead of spending, the President now proposes to invest taxpayer’s money. Sort of a semantic cesspool in politicalese.”
“It’s the same song he sang in 2008 when campaigning. But his 2008 rhetoric ran smack into 2010 reality. The same outcome is shaping up for 2012 unless voters are listened to more closely, specifically the elderly who are still on the march.”
60 Plus remains committed to fighting the President’s continued deficit spending, and is firmly behind Congressman Sean Duffy’s (R-WI) bill that would return all stimulus funds that have yet to be spent or distributed. We urge everyone to visit and join tens of thousands of fellow patriots who have already signed the ‘Peoples’ Petition’ to stop the further flushing of taxpayer money down the drain.
Said Martin, “Most Americans know you can’t tax and spend your way to prosperity. The ‘stimulus’ plan made our economy worse and remains the sticking point for government to get out of the way and let the American worker and free market system pull us out of this recession. So long as government spending is gobbling up resources and creating debt, our economy will never get out of Obama’s ditch, let alone fire on all cylinders.”
Let’s continue to fight together to make sure the ‘Stimulus’ does not have a 3rd anniversary and by visiting www.DefundTheStimulus.com join with the efforts of nearly a dozen of smaller-government-is-better-government organizations.
White House Abandons Entitlement Reform, GOP Picks Up Baton
Despite the fact that candidate Obama promised that he would make the “hard choices” on entitlement reform, President Obama has continued to pass the buck, offering up a new budget to Congress that says nary a word on saving Social Security and Medicare from insolvency.
If anything, the President has made entitlements much weaker with his massive deficit spending, as this will put added pressure on Congress to trim programs for seniors even more in order to fund his programs and pay interest on our debt.
Because of decades of embezzlement on the part of Congress, Social Security now runs in the red, even though it has produced $2.5 trillion in surpluses to the Treasury since the 1960s.
Leadership has come in the form of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), who is proposing Medicare reform that will put our nation on a path to balanced budgets, while protecting today’s seniors Medicare and giving future generations free market options.
While no plan is perfect, Ryan’s plan is a good starting point, and his leadership on the issue is a far cry from the hypocrisy and abdication on the issue from the President, who would prefer to score political points rather than protect America’s seniors. Said 60 Plus President Amy Frederick, “Seniors and seniors-to-be have much to lose if Medicare is not reformed and is instead cut to pave the way for a much, much bigger entitlement program. The Ryan Roadmap to Medicare solvency is the right course that protects America’s seniors and ensures there is a Medicare program still in place for future generations.”
60 Plus Honors Ronald Reagan
February 6, 2011 marked the 100th birthday of perhaps our most revered President.
Said 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin on the occasion last month, “We honor the 100th anniversary of President Ronald Wilson Reagan, a champion of liberty and a hero for history, whose legacy will resound for decades and generations to come. For his defining leadership and for his rekindling of liberty in America when we need it most, the 20th century will always be known as ‘Reagan’s Century.’
“When our nation was struggling with its identity and the people were struggling under a government that had lost its way, Ronald Reagan emerged to rekindle the sacred fire of liberty, setting the people free to reignite the American engine of prosperity. ‘Government was the problem,’ he said, and people were the solution.
“President Reagan has a special place in the heart of the 60 Plus Association, where we and our millions of supporters continue to fight for the ideals and policies to which he devoted his life. Ronald Reagan abhorred the estate tax as an especially insidious policy of the federal government, and used the often-quoted 60 Plus term ‘the death tax‘ to highlight how wrong it is for the IRS to be the first to greet us on our passing and embarking on the journey for eternal peace.
“Thank you President Reagan, as we remember and honor you on this, the 100th anniversary of your birth. Your love of America will never be forgotten, and your legacy will live on this day, 100 years from the date of your birth, and for many, many years to come.”
ObamaCare Bombshell: Billions of Funding Hidden in Legislation
If President Obama’s talent for hiding government spending deep inside of legislation is translated to his other activities, then at this year’s annual White House Easter egg hunt the children poking around on the White House lawn seeking the colored ovals don’t stand a chance.
Recently unearthed by Reps. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) and Steve King (R-IA) is over $105 billion of spending authorization hidden deep in the ObamaCare legislation.
Said Bachmann, “This is a crime against democracy. No one knew that Harry Reid, Pelosi and Obama put $105 billion in spending in the bill. … This is a bombshell.”
Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) apparently hid billions in appropriations throughout the bill from not only their Congressional colleagues, but from the American people and the media, specifically for the purpose of ensuring that no matter what, ObamaCare would receive the funding it needs to be enacted.
Noting that legislation rarely if ever contains actual funding when it is enacted, former Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) points out, “Obamacare strips the authority of current and future Congresses to make funding decisions… It takes eight pages for CRS (Congressional Research Service) simply to list the provisions that seek to bypass the normal appropriations process.
Now we understand what Pelosi meant when she famously said during debate, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Unfortunately the President and Democrat leadership don’t trust the American people to deliberate on legislation which will have a dramatic effect on their lives, and believe the only way they can get their ideas passed is to hide them, deceive the public as to their contents, and rush them through.
News of the hidden funding comes as President Obama’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, is granting over 1,000 waivers to insurance providers who can not comply with the legislation’s requirements, highlighting even more shortcomings and flaws in ObamaCare.
For these and all of the other reasons 60 Plus has spelled out over the past 18 months, we will not rest until this legislation is defunded and repealed.
Democrats Double-Down on Disaster, Affirm Vote on ObamaCare
Despite polls showing that Americans were overwhelmingly against the passage of ObamaCare, and are overwhelmingly in favor of its repeal, the U.S. Senate last month refused to repeal this terribly unpopular and fraudulent legislation.
According to a Rasmussen poll, 63% support repeal of this government-run healthcare law, yet every Democrat Senator — even the so called ‘moderates’ — went along with reaffirming their original vote in favor of ObamaCare despite the increasing tidal wave against it. (Some of them will be looking for a new line of work come election day 2012).
And despite Obama’s promise on June 9, 2008 that he would “bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family…” even the New York Times notes that reality is just the opposite, with premiums heading through the roof and quality and availability of health care falling at an alarming rate.
More than one commentator has pointed out that, just as in last year’s November mid-term elections, politicians siding in favor of ObamaCare are printing a one-way ticket home from Washington. Popular sentiment to vote against pro-ObamaCare Congressmen will be in full force in 2012.
60 Plus Partners with ASA to Offer Senior Benefits
The 60 Plus Association is proud to announce a new partnership, with the American Senior Association who now offer a variety of great products and benefits to America’s seniors and their families.
For too long many conservatives were reluctant to sever their connection with the liberal AARP (Association Against Retired Persons) because of the various products and services the AARP has historically offered to seniors.
Now senior supporters of 60 Plus can get the same great products AND support their conservative values at the same time. Simply sign-up for a free membership with the ASA to get access to great products and important news and information for older Americans.
The ASA offers very competitive products assisting seniors with prescription drugs, travel, insurance, and many others, making any continued relationship with the AARP unnecessary.
Said 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin, “For years our supporters have asked us to offer benefits like those offered by that ‘other’ senior group, the AARP. We have held off in doing so because we want to remain true to our conservative values and not be distracted by benefits and other services which may take our focus off our true mission, which is limited government, lower taxes, and a strict adherence to the Constitution.
“But Stuart Barton, and his late father Jerry — who founded ASA, share the conservative values of the 60 Plus Association, and they have put together a fantastic offering of benefits and services. Pat Boone and I encourage everyone to sign up to get your FREE one-year membership to the American Seniors Association, and say ‘goodbye’ to those other guys — the AARP — the Association AGAINST Retired Persons!”
60 Plus in the News
The fast pace of Congressional activity has kept 60 Plus busy and on our toes, with Chairman Jim Martin and National Spokesman Pat Boone making the rounds of the media to discuss the key issues of the day.
Recently Pat Boone was on the Fox News Channel’s Hannity show defending our nation against President Obama’s trillions in new spending and debt.
Meanwhile, Chairman Jim Martin has been in high demand, appearing in February and March on the Fox Business Channel regarding the most recent court ruling declaring ObamaCare unconstitutional. In the clip here, Jim takes on the issue of elder care, and how seniors must be protected in the face of new health care legislation.
