AARP Throws Granny Under the Bus

by S.K. Bhattacharya
October 24, 2012 at 5:00 am


There is nothing wrong with being a successful business, and the AARP should be credited for being just that. But there is something unsavory about being in the business of duping the elderly. What is poorly understood is that there are eight entities linked to the AARP label, of which five are taxable, for-profit companies. To put it crudely, the non-profit part of AARP is a front. Its primary function is to sell stuff to old people via AARP Services, Inc.-- and to blackmail congress, which it does.

If any single business lobby—yes, business lobby—stands as an obstacle to entitlement reform, it is the American Association of Retired People [AARP]. There is nothing wrong with being a successful business, and the AARP should be credited for being just that. But there is something unsavory, at least, about being in the business of duping the elderly. Dissimulating—even to the elderly—is not illegal, nor should it be. A government powerful enough to prevent the AARP from duping old people is a more powerful government than any of us should want. There is no evidence that the AARP is technically breaking the law. But what they are doing is exploiting the elderly for a fast buck while lobbying—consistently—for the massive expansions of the federal government.

Let's start with this statement from the AARP's website:

Barry Rand is chief executive officer (CEO) of AARP, the world's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to social change and helping people 50 and over to improve the quality of their lives. Mr. Rand is a dynamic leader and change agent who brings to AARP a proven track record of leading both multibillion-dollar businesses and smaller, private equity-driven businesses. He has served as chairman and chief executive officer of Avis Group Holdings, CEO of Equitant Ltd., and executive vice president, Worldwide Operations, at Xerox Corporation. He serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Howard University.

That's a a heavy-hitting resume for the head of "a non-profit, non-partisan nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps people 50 and over improve the quality of their lives," isn't it? It should be a clue. It is. Barry Rand is the CEO not only of a non-profit organization, but a very profitable organization that is also called the AARP.

The AARP, in principle, is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt non-profit association. The (c)(4) designation is reserved for "Civic Leagues, Social Welfare Organizations, and Local Associations of Employees;" the key constraint upon its operation is that its net earnings must be devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes. What is poorly understood—particularly by the elderly—is that there are eight entities linked to the AARP label, of which five are taxable, for-profit companies: AARP Insurance, AARP Services, Inc., AARP Global Network LLC, AARP Properties LLC, and AARP Financial, Inc. The profit-making and non-profit AARP entities are not only linked by their name—there is a great deal of overlap among boards of directors.

This is not illegal, but it is clearly unethical, in so far as these companies are using AARP's reputation as a neutral advocate for the elderly to sell stuff to the elderly. Given that only the Catholic Church has a larger American membership, the AARP's endorsement is to the old-people market as a Papal indulgence is to sinners.

To put it crudely, the non-profit part of the AARP is a front. The non-profit arm, as advertised, "provides a wide range of unique benefits, special products, and services for our members." If you join the AARP for a low annual membership fee, you get discounts on hotels and cruises, and lots of magazines and newsletters about graying gracefully and staying spry. You can even listen to AARP radio and watch AARP TV—in Spanish, too!

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3409/aarp-business-lobby

AARP is a sham. It is also heavily tilted to the liberal wing.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2012/09/22/the-aarps-2-8-billion-reasons-for-supporting-obamacares-cuts-to-medicare/
Holy Moly!

I don't see any reason the AARP can't do what the church has been doing for centuries - steal from the elderly with the promise of a better future. They just need to figure out how to steal from the poor and uneducated and they'll have the exact same gig.

A little from the link!

As you know if you’ve been reading this blog, Obamacare cuts $716 billion from Medicare in order to pay for its $1.9 trillion expansion of coverage to low-income Americans. It’s one of the reasons why seniors are more opposed to the new health law than any other age group. So why is it that the group that purports to speak for seniors, the American Association of Retired Persons, so strongly supports a law that most seniors oppose? According to an explosive new report from Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), it’s because those very same Medicare cuts will give the AARP a windfall of $1 billion in insurance profits, and preserve another $1.8 billion that AARP already generates from its business interests.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKol6bkHEO4

Grandma Got Run Over By Obama care.