Retired? They're Coming After You

Republicans aren't just looking to kill Medicare and Social Security. They're looking to dismantle any organization that supports these programs.

Representatives Dave Reichert (R-WA), Wally Herger (R-CA) and Charles Boustany (R-LA) sent a letter on Friday to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman requesting that the IRS investigate the Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons (AARP) to see if the organization actually qualifies as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

Herger provided a false-flag motivation for the request:

Over and over during the healthcare debate, questions arose about why AARP was appearing to lobby in opposition to its members," said Herger, who chairs the panel's health subcommittee. "We couldn't understand why AARP would support a healthcare reform bill that would threaten access to doctors (and) hospitals and could force seniors out of the plan they know and like ... We believe that AARP operates in direct opposition to the needs of their senior membership, and that seniors ought to be aware of these practices.

Like most Republicans, however, Herger lied about Obama's health care reform: it never threatened access to doctors, and never would have forced seniors out of a plan they know and like. Which were two of the reasons AARP supported the reform.

The real reason, of course, is that Republicans want, desperately, to privatize Social Security and Medicare. They've been trying for the last two years to make a case that Social Security is contributing to the deficit, even though it does not. And Representative Ryan has just proposed a plan that would privatize Medicare. And AARP is opposed to both such moves.

But not every Republican thinks going after AARP is a good idea:

In an op-ed in POLITICO earlier this month, former House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Bill Tauzin (R-La.) implored Republicans not to push for an end to AARP’s tax status on both policy and political grounds.

“[I]f one of the largest non-profits in existence becomes an expendable political casualty for short-term political gain coming out of congressional hearings, every non-profit organization would be left wondering if they’re going to face similar inquiries,” Tauzin wrote. “This won’t help Republicans long-term and it won’t help seniors in the short term.”

Tauzin is right. For Democrats, this attack on AARP can't be but a good thing. Republicans won big in 2010 partly by stoking seniors' fears that Democrats were cutting Medicare. This attack on AARP, coupled with Ryan's move, should signal to seniors that Republicans are the real party to fear.