AARP Bulletin - September 2011

Travel/Real Estate Directory

; Letters

efits (or at the exact same age) as we have today.

The money just won’t be there, so we have to find a way to change course and save these programs now.

Jim Tarabor

Peoria, Ill.

Continued from page 32

Health care costs

A couple of years ago, when health care reform was being debated, much was made of the fact that the United States spends way more on health care than any other developed country and yet has a poorer health outcome. Although that fact has not changed, now all we hear about is how Medicare is a major source of our fiscal problems.

Medicare, per se, is not the real problem. It’s the cost of health care, which affects not only Medicare but other parts of government budgets at all levels, not to mention all of our household budgets.

AARP, the media and politicians need to get back to basics and resume the conversation about our health care system and why it is too expensive, instead of trying to solve that problem on the backs of older people.

Dav d Baker

San Francisco
Soldier On for creating affordable
housing in Pittsfield, Mass., for our
veterans, who have sacrificed for
the rest of us to live in freedom.
This is a just reward. Thank you,
and rock on, Soldier On.
Letty R vera
Stamford, Conn.

No phishing allowed
Sid Kirchheimer’s advice to just
delete spam is good [“Zongo and
Me,” Scam Alert], but if you have
time, you can also do your bit to
help fight it. Forward fraudulent
email to the Anti-Phishing Work-
ing Group (reportphishing@
antiphishing.org), an assemblage
of companies working to elimi-
nate spam.
Melvyn D. Magree
Duluth, Minn.

around in the dishwater trying to make enough soap to wash dishes. She saved all kinds of things for a rainy day. Like so many in her generation, she had what was called a “Depression mentality.” The Great Depression put its mark on her.

I fear we are being groomed for that same fearful state of mind. Why should working people, older people, regular middle-class people, have to scrimp just to get by while the wealthiest Americans, with their low tax rates, are partying all the way to the bank? How much soap can we possibly save?

FDR said it best, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Judy Eva.s

Brooklyn, N. Y.

We appreciate hearing from you. Write to: Bulletin Editor, Dept. RF, 601 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20049; or email to: Bulle- tin@aarp.org. Please include your address and phone number.

Housing for veterans I was moved by “Homeless No More.” I wholeheartedly commend the nonprofit organization

Scraps of soap

I read with some uneasiness “99
Great Ways to Save” because it
reminded me of my mother. She
too saved pieces
of soap (tip No.

85) and put them into a little wire container that she swished

Puzzles Answers from page 17

SWEEPSTAKE DETAILS (FROM PAGE 26): NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, 18 years and older. Void where prohibited. Enter contest by 9/30/11. Instant Win Game ends 11/18/11. For official rules, Instant Win Game odds disclosures and prize descriptions, visit createthegood.org/sweepstakes. Sponsor: AARP, 601 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20049.