ShAARP Session: Observations from AARP

Hello,

We are starting to hear more comments about race as we come down to the wire. I would like for Divided We Fail to address this issue, by asking the American public if they would identify themselves as racist be they black, white, hispanic, asian, or native american. How would they describe themselves in their thinking, in their beliefs of who and how they are and who and how this great America choose to be. Are we in the 21st century or are we still bound by the past. We are at a point where everyone should be judged by the content of their character, weighing ideas, and abilities. This should be our focus for this election. Truly divided we fail.

With respect to health care, I'll believe our candidates are sincere about reform when they pledge to put members of congress and federal employees on the same health care coverage as the rest of the public. Only when our federal employees, and all members of congress, the judiciary and the executive branch are subjected to the same policies and coverage as the rest of us will we have real, meaningful reform. Otherwise, the folks who are drafting the laws, passing the laws, and proclaiming their benefits for all the rest of us, are exempt from them! Sounds oddly like taxation without representation, doesn't it? And, if memory serves correctly, that was the basis for the American revolution. Perhaps we need another one.

I am truly disappointed in the AARP policy statements about healthcare reform because they are not supporting a single payer option, which has been advocated by medical professionals and economists as the ONLY real reform. Every other option just supports an "insurance industry light" version of what we have. The faster we provide true competition to the fraud and waste of the private insurance companies the better we will be served.