The Liberal AARP

Rich Lowry points out the increasingly partisan nature of the liberal lobbying group, the AARP.

In attacking Bush's [Social Security] proposal, AARP defenders might say the group is only doing its job -- standing up for the interests of its members. Nonsense. The Bush proposal wouldn't touch anyone 55 years or older, and thus leaves the vast majority of AARP members undisturbed. What the AARP is advocating for is not the financial well-being of its members so much as an ideological vision of an entitlement state that limits individual choice and emphasizes governmental dependence.

This is the only reason a seniors organization would go to such lengths to oppose personal savings accounts as part of Social Security for young people, who aren't AARP members now and would probably be better off for having the accounts when they are old enough to become members. In other words, by opposing the accounts and proposing other fixes to the system -- such as tax increases and benefit reductions -- the AARP is essentially doing nothing to protect its current members at the same time it hurts its future members.

Another sign that the AARP is driven by politics is that it has stumbled into that common pitfall of partisan advocates -- hypocrisy. In one of its ads it has a couple saying of investing in the stock market: "If we feel like gambling, we'll play the slots." This from an organization that offers its members the opportunity to invest in 38 separate mutual funds. To date, the AARP doesn't encourage its members to play Internet poker or slots on its Web site, a sign that it doesn't truly consider investing equivalent to gambling.