60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin, “The ugly truth is coming out on AARP’s secret White House deals.”

(Alexandria, Virginia) – Newly released emails, memos and other documents pertaining to the White House’s effort to pass health care reform in 2009 and 2010 undermine claims by the AARP made as late as December of 2009 that the seniors group did not endorse the President Obama’s health care bill, and prove that AARP was in fact working behind the scenes with a coalition of corporate lobbyists, unions and political organizations to strategize a public relations campaign to get the legislation passed.

AARP denied as late as August of 2009 that they were endorsing Obamacare, even though in April of that year they were strategizing in secret on its behalf.  Further, information released by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce show that White House operatives were helping direct the advocacy efforts of AARP to help get the bill passed.  In one instance that occurred in December of 2009, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina specifically called on the AARP to put pressure on Democrat Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, requesting a flood of robo calls into his state promoting the bill.

“The ugly truth is coming out,” said 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin, leader of the nation’s largest conservative seniors organization with over 7.2 million supporters.  “Candidate Obama promised us total transparency for health care reform, with C-SPAN panels and town halls with doctors and health care professionals.  What we got instead was a back room deal made with political operatives, industry insiders, and the AARP. The more information that comes out from this closed-door operation,  the more AARP’s credibility sinks to new lows,”

“AARP was publicly staying neutral while privately pushing Obama’s health care bill, purposefully hiding their activities because they wanted the ‘appearance’ of being neutral and independent.  This is shameless deceit on their part, and another reason why seniors can’t trust them.  While the elderly were lighting up AARP phones by a ratio of 14 to 1 opposing Obamacare, the AARP was planning with the White House to pass this bill which is an absolute disaster for seniors, and absolute gold mind for AARP.  I would ask whose side are they on, but the facts are pretty clear that it’s not seniors.

“AARP’s current ‘listening tour’ is just another publicity stunt, but seniors won’t be fooled.  They see now how far AARP is willing to go to not only betray them, but deceive them.”

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