AARP Bulletin - June 2010

Your AARP ; Where We Stand
By A. Barry Rand, CEO

SENIOR VICE PRESIDEN T, PUBLICATIONS Catherine Ventura-Merkel
EDITOR IN CHIEF & SENIOR VP, PUBLICATIONS Hugh Delehanty
GROUP PUBLISHER & SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Jim Fishman
VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLICATION OPERATIONS Traci L. Lucien

Bulletin™

Attacking the Deficit

With the United States facing a $1.5 tril- lion federal budget deficit, the larg-
est since World War II, AARP members are
concerned about the impact this will have on
future generations. Protecting the fiscal fu-
ture of the nation for our children and grand-
children is a paramount concern and must be
addressed. AARP is committed to that goal.
We support balanced and responsible ap-
proaches to reducing the nation’s deficit,
Social Security and Medicare are two such programs. Medicaid is another.
They not only provide critical benefits to millions of people, they also serve
as a lifeline to older Americans by establishing a foundation for financial and
health security. If these vital benefits were to be reduced, millions of older
Americans could not afford the necessities of life. We will do everything in
our power to protect and strengthen these essential programs.
When President Obama announced the bipartisan National Commission
on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, we applauded his efforts to address
our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges. We also raised a word of caution.
Americans deserve a full public debate on the fiscal challenges facing our
nation by accountable, elected members of Congress.
We know that the commission will likely target the rising cost of health
care, including Medicare and Medicaid. These programs are already under-
going changes as mandated by the new health care reform law. They include
cost containment measures, and we believe they should be allowed to take
effect and be assessed before any additional changes are considered.
Social Security is another likely target, even though Social Security is paid
for with workers’ payroll taxes and has not contributed to the deficit prob-
lem. We need to strengthen Social Security for the future, not weaken it.
If the commission focuses only on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security,
it will be missing an opportunity to reexamine the tax code, especially those
tax breaks that benefit the few. The key to reducing the deficit is economic
growth and jobs. We need a tax code that supports economic growth and
investment. While we can’t simply grow our way out of the deficit, we also
cannot reduce it without growth, especially now, when too many people are
still out of work. The commission could make an important contribution
by focusing on both tax and spending issues.
AARP is committed to working with members of Congress from both par-
ties to find commonsense solutions to our nation’s financial challenges. We
are also committed to serving as the watchdog for our members, for every-
one 50-plus, to ensure that deficit reduction efforts do not unfairly target
the benefits that seniors have earned over a lifetime of hard work. ;

Busted Budgets Changes in taxing , federal spending and deficits over the past 50 years

3. 5

in trillions

3.0

2. 5

2.0

Federal
Spending

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

’60 ’70 ’80 ’90 ’00 ’ 10

2.0

Tax
Receipts

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

’60 ’70 ’80 ’90 ’00 ’ 10

0

-0.5

Deficits
and
Surpluses

-1.0

EDI TOR AND VICE PRESIDEN T James S. Toedtman DESIGN DIREC TOR Eric Seidman EXECU TIVE EDI TORS Barbara Basler, Kim Keister, Carol Simons MANAGING EDITOR Cathy Ginther FEATURES EDITOR Barbranda Lumpkins Walls SENIOR EDITORS Patricia Barry, Carole Fleck, Trish Nicholson MANAGER, EDITORIAL COPY Brian Miller COPY EDI TORS Don Beaulieu, Victoria Lemley SENIOR EDI TORIAL RESEARCHER Roberta Yared EDI TORIAL RESEARCHER Corinne Hayward EDITORIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER Cathy L. Hall AR T DIREC TOR Cathy Kelley ASSISTAN T ART DIREC TOR Anne Masters DIREC TOR OF PHOTOGRAPH Y Michael Wichita SENIOR EDI TORIAL ASSISTAN T Nicole Williams PRODUC TION MANAGER Brian S. Horting QUALITY MANAGER Mel Baughman PRODUCTION COORDINATORS Roland A. Bland, Sherry Coleman, Judy Skilling ADVER TISING POLICIES MANAGER Pamela Byrd Berard ADVER TISING POLICIES ANALYS TS Brenda Allen, Mireya G. Donahue DIR. OF PUBLICATIONS PLANNING & PROMO TION David Singleton PLANNING & PROMOTIONS MANAGER Heather Nawrocki EDI TORIAL CON TRAC TS SPECIALIS TS Amelia Jones, Pauline Moukouri SENIOR MANAGER, MEDIA RELATIONS Michelle Alvarez SENIOR RESEARCH ADVISER Earnestine Hargrove I T SUPPOR T Consuela Allen, William Coulter, Matthew Haines, Nono Kusuma, Bonnie Russell, Josh Singer VICE PRESIDEN T, ADVERTISING Shelagh Daly Miller DIREC TOR, SPECIAL ACCOUN TS Ina Nordstrom NE W YORK SALES MANAGER Peter Zeuschner TRAVEL CATEGORY MANAGER Patricia Slattery ACCOUN T MANAGERS Kelly Burke, Raquel Hagen, Helen Holtzman, Michelle Weisfeld VICE PRESIDEN T, MARKE TING Patricia Lippe Davis MARKE TING DIREC TOR Bonnie Maglio RESEARCH DIREC TOR Mark Bradbury ASSOC. DIREC TOR, IN TEGRATED MARKE TING & MERCH. Laurie Levitt ASSOC. DIREC TOR, IN TERAC TIVE MARKE TING Linda Tse Correia ASSOC. DIREC TOR, MARKE TING EVEN TS & PROMO TION Shari Horowitz SENIOR MARKE TING MANAGER Chris Tedrick PROMO TIONS MANAGER Lisa Van Dyne SENIOR MANAGER, OPERATIONS Christine Edwards ADVER TISING SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR Lori Cordenner SENIOR ADVER TISING BILLING SPECIALIST Surfina Adams ADVER TISING BILLING ASSOCIATE Tracey Fanuele ADVER TISING SALES REPRESEN TATIVES NE W YORK Advertising Sales Office 646-521-2500 DETROIT Maiorana+Partners 248-546-2222 MIDWEST Zoeller Media Sales 312-782-8855 ATLANTA McLaughlin Media Mix 770-888-2212 FLORIDA McLaughlin Media Mix 561-904-9190 SOUTHWEST Carol Orr & Co. 214-521-6116 WEST COAS T PP W Sales Group 415-543-5001 CANADA York Media 613-832-0576 DIREC T RESPONSE Adriana Associates 212-719-5952

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