After fighting for Social Security benefits for decades, AARP announced
last week that they will accept cuts to Social Security but will not
champion them. Amongst criticism of their position, AARP has spent the
last week engaged in damage control.
The original article announcing the group’s shift ran in the Wall Street Journal and described AARP’s new view on Social Security. Although AARP has opposed changes to Social Security in the past, the group now concluded that changes to social security were inevitable and wanted to participate in talks to minimize the pain of such adjustments. The group also announced plans to engage in coast to coast town hall meetings, in order to explain the problem and possible solutions to their members.
After the article was printed, backlash from the liberal base directed at the new position has led AARP to reframe and clarify their position. According to David Certner, AARP’s legislative director, AARP has not settled on whether it supports specific cuts to benefits but favors raising the Social Security wage cap to bring in more tax revenue. The string of town meetings will help them gather feedback from members and seniors on what solutions the group should propose to the federal government.
Read “AARP goes into damage-control mode as Democrats criticize shift” on Politico.
