December 13th, 2009 | 
Author: 
This email letter has been authenticated by Snopes – Thought some of you might like it.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/aarp.asp
Dear Mr. Rand,
Recently you sent us a letter encouraging us to renew our lapsed membership in AARP by the requested date. I know it is not what you were looking for, but this is the most honest response I can give you. Our gap in coverage is merely a microscopic symptom of the real problem, a deepening lack of faith.
While we have proudly maintained our membership for several years and have long admired the AARP goals and principles, regrettably, we can no longer endorse it’s abdication of our values. Your letter specifically stated that we can count on AARP to speak up for our rights, yet the voice we hear is not ours. Your offer of being kept up to date on important issues through DIVIDED WE FAIL presents neither an impartial view nor the one we have come to embrace. We do believe that when two parties agree all the time on everything presented to them, one is probably not necessary. But, when the opinions and long term goals are diametrically opposed, the divorce is imminent. This is the philosophy which spawned our 200 years of government.
Once upon a time, we looked forward to being part of the senior demographic. We also looked to AARP to provide certain benefits and give our voice a power we could not possibly hope to achieve on our own. AARP gave us a sense of belonging which we no longer enjoy. The Socialist politics practiced by the Obama administration and empowered by AARP serves only to raise the blood pressure my medical insurance strives to contain. Clearly a conflict of interest there!
We do not understand the AARP posture, feel greatly betrayed by the guiding forces that we expected to map out our senior years and leave your ranks with a great sense of regret. We mitigate that disappointment with the relief of knowing that we are not contributing to the problem anymore by renewing our membership. There are numerous other organizations which offer discounts without threatening our way of life or offending our sensibilities.
This Presidential Administration scares the living daylights out of us.. Not just for ourselves, but for our proud and bloodstained heritage. But even more importantly for our children and grandchildren. Washington has rendered Soylent Green a prophetic cautionary tale rather than a nonfiction scare tactic.. I have never in my life endorsed any militant or radical groups, yet now I find myself listening to them. I don’t have to agree with them to appreciate the fear which birthed their existence. Their borderline insanity presents little more than a balance to the voice of the Socialist mindset in power. Perhaps I became American by a great stroke of luck in some cosmic uterine lottery, but in my adulthood I CHOOSE to embrace it and nurture the freedoms it represents as well as the responsibilities it requires..
Your website generously offers us the opportunity to receive all communication in Spanish. ARE YOU KIDDING??? Someone has broken into our ‘house’, invaded our home without our invitation or consent. The President has insisted we keep the perpetrator in comfort and learn the perp language so we can communicate our reluctant welcome to them.
I DON’T choose to welcome them.
I DON’T choose to support them.
I DON’T choose to educate them.
I DON’T choose to medicate them, pay for their food or clothing.
American home invaders get arrested.
Please explain to me why foreign lawbreakers can enjoy privileges on American soil that Americans do not get?
Why do some immigrants have to play the game to be welcomed and others only have to break & enter to be welcomed?
We travel for a living. Walt hauls horses all over this great country, averaging over 7,000 miles a month when he is out there. He meets more people than a politician on caffeine overdose. Of all the many good folks he enjoyed on this last 7,000 miles, this trip yielded only ONE supporter of the current administration. One of us is out of touch with mainstream America. Since our poll is conducted without funding, I have more faith in it than one which is power driven.
We have decided to forward this to everyone on our mailing list, and will encourage them to do the same. With several hundred in my address book, I have every faith that the eventual exponential factor will make a credible statement to you.
I am disappointed as hell.
I am scared as hell.
I am MAD as hell, and I’m NOT gonna take it anymore!
Walt & Cyndy
Miller Farms Equine Transport
Posted in Common Sense, Politics | 
Tags: AARP, administration, America, conflict of interest, CyndyMiller, Don, faith, honest response, impartial view, lapsed membership, letter, membership, Mr. Rand, power, snopes, socialist politics, voice, Walt, Washington
Thank you for speaking up to AARP. I was disappointed also with AARP, and will cancel my subscription…
You hit the nail on the head! I do think your non-funded poll is more accurate than any taken by the paid pollsters. I hope this letter gets to every person in America. I will do my part in forwarding to everyone on my e-mail list.
A family member just sent me your letter to the AARP. I agree only to some point in your effort to blame the AARP. If we want to change what is happening in this country today, we need to throw out all of the SEFSERVING POLITICIANS in Washington, in our individual states counties and city governments. We need to start again from scratch, electing people we can trust and who will not betray us, we need to give them all ONE TERM (4 years, no more) in office, give them the same benefits that we all have, in other words, the same health benefits, the same social security, no frills, no thrills all the way from the top to the bottom. If that would not change the mess we are in than we would not have a prayer left.
In the 53 years I have now lived in this country and of which I am a proud citizen, I have seen a decline in almost everything, that once up on a time made it the GREAT COUNTRY it was. I served it for eight years, honorably, in the military, I have been a productive citizen and I am proudly saying so!
Today, I no longer have any faith or confidence in our elected officials who can only play partisan politics (one side as bad as the other), can not put differences aside working to make our country better and leave us holding the dirty end of the stick.
Let me say this, I grew up under socialized medicine, lived abroad in countries using it in one form or another in later years and I am preferring it to what 45 million people in this country presently have, that is ONE BIG NOTHING! I feel every citizen is entitled to get health care. I feel, if the right people administer the system, like recent reports also verify, it can be done. Sure, there would be snags and a continuing effort would need to be asserted to make it work at least effectively. Without squandering our money on foreign aid all over the world, on people who do not like us now and never will, on wars we can or do not want to win, we could put that money were it is most “foreign” and that would be our own country. We could eliminate all the current shortcomings in our budgets and get back to what we were some years in the past, A GREAT AMERICA, A GREAT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
It will be no loss to the club when it looses anyone who can’t understand we will all have different beliefs at one time or another. You may recall that this administration was elected by a sizable MAJORITY! I am curious to find what part of the country you live in?
What is your education level? And how much do watch FOX ENTERTAINMENT?
I am sure you don’t partake in any socialist activity like social security….OOOH, you do. So much for your socialist take.
You must also be birthers and tea baggers.
Just to start I am from New York City and now live in Pennsylvania. I am retired Air Force and traveled the world so I know what other countries have compared to the good old US of A! I am well educated by most standards. However your point about education means little to me. I have engaged in conversation with many people of various levels of education. Higher education has little to do with understanding the rugged self reliance our country was founded on versus the view that embraces reliance on the government.
The discussion of socialized medicine is philosophical. You either believe in rugged individualism or you believe in government dependency.
Social Security was a mistake. It has been used and abused by our politicians and is bankrupting America. Due to the Baby Boom Social Security became a Ponzi Scheme. You do not need a degree to understand that it is not sustainable.
A Ponzi Scheme falls apart when those who have invested their money start to ask for it back. This is exactly how Bernie Madoff got himself into trouble. The government pays out more than it takes in but passes the debt along to future generations. Between Social Security, Medicare / Medicaid, it represents over 40% of the US budget. This does NOT include Unemployment and other benefits.
The total spent on Defense is 20.5% of the budget. Unlike Social Security etc the Defense Budget actually stimulates the economy by employing the military and providing jobs for those that provide goods and services for the military. Regardless of how the military is used one must admit without our great military America as we know it would not exist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_%28United_States%29
Mr. George Forsyth, I would be happy not being a part of Social Security system and do want out of it. Please return my $103,969.00 I was forced to pay into SS, then return my current and former employers their $119,712.00 they were forced to contribute to SS in my name, then return my $30,310.00 I was forced to pay into Medicare and finally, please return the $30,541.00 my current and former employers were forced to pay into medicare in my name. Both I and my former and current employers also wish to claim the interest all of these funds have earned since 1971. I would be more than happy to take my money and leave the SS system to you. You deserve it.
Career carrier pilot sends: we are in real trouble. AARP is one of the bigger scams going. They get kick backs from insurance of all types,from all the junk they endorse and probably places I have never considered. They are pawns of the gun control lobby and shills for the Obeyme administration. He may have been elected by a majority but you can be most of them had their hands out for more of my money. Anyone care to guess the results of the midterm?
It is always amazing to me, Mr. Forsyth, that when someone stands up for what they believe, as did Walt and Cindy Miller, that the liberals attack you by saying things about your education, what country you came from, personal attacks.
I respect very much what the Miller’s did and I also am thankful that I live in a country where (for now) people such as you are allowed to act like jerks!
Have a great day!
To Rick Caudle: Your response was brilliant. Thank you for echoing the sentiments of many of us baby boomers who will be accused of bankrupting social security. The accusers wouldn’t dare point fingers at the liberal Democrats who initiated social security or the liberal Democrats who thought nothing of using it as a slush fund for any liberal cause du jour!
Mr. Forsyth, you are an example of what is wrong with our society. You immediately criticize other people without knowing anything about them. I thought we had freedom of speech in this country. Apparently you haven’t heard of the first amendment. Can’t we express our views without having someone question our intelligence and integrity? Where a person lives and his educational level isn’t important. We are all Americans and have a right to express ourselves. By the way,Obama did not win by a huge majority. He won by four percent. And what is your educational level and where do you live? I live in SOUTH LOUISIANA and am proud of it. I also have a PhD and am a college professor. OH, you might want to brush up on your spelling and grammar. I noticed a few errors in your letter.
Conservative are such sore losers… But losers still
I know it is a long shot but are you the Mike O’Connor from the American Legion?
Mr. Forsyth-
I am appalled at your response to this honest and heartfelt letter written to AARP. Apparently you feel your education and knowledge is superior to the many people who agree with this letter. Your letter does not show any counter-arguments or logical retorts, but rather, ad hominum insults at peoples level of education andwhat TV programs they might tune into. This tactic is straight out of the left wingers playbook. This shows at the most basic level, the hatred you have for anyone who disagrees with the current administrations policies. You are, as my teenage kid would say: “weak”
There is room for all of us at this great table of debate, including ingnoramuses like yourself. If you have a salient…logical…factual retort to another persons opinion, I suggest you make it. Otherwise, you show yourself to be a hate filled air head who demeans and degrades another person who disagrees with you or others of like mind.
Grow up sir. Respond respectfully or keep your hands busy in doing something that ADDS to America, not detracts from it.
Reply to me at mfleming52@gmail.com …if you can…
If anyone replies to this thread of comments you should see it. No need to open your email to possible spammers. Simply reply here if you would like your email removed from that post. All the New Years Best to you Michael Fleming.
I wrote that letter to AARP in August ‘09. I KNOW I said I would send it to my entire addy list, but did not. When push came to shove, I was concerned about mixing business & personal. So I only sent it to 8 of Walt’s conservative friends. 8 people. 4 months later I am averaging about 60 emails a day from all over the world. Most of the states, Iraq, Afghnistan, Germany,Denmark, Canada. 99% of it has been positive, which is, to a certain extent, a textbook example of target marketing. I want to address the less than 1% of dissenters. While this entire experience has been an exercise in time & stress management, I have particularly enjoyed getting people who disagree most rationally. Those whom I can banter with and help them off the fence or further. That is energizing. What I am still struggling with is the hateful verbally abusive emails demonstrating the serious shortage of verbal tools.And now we can add to that anonymous phone calls in the middle of the night telling me things I never knew about myself that total strangers apparently know better. Apparently I am a racist redneck bigot whore who will meet her end violently and none too soon(and those are just the ones I can print here without censure). I lived most of my life in suburban NY. I am a card carrying genius, started college classes (not AP’s) in my junior year in HS, and am now finishing my Masters in Psychology. I recognize cowardice when I see/hear it. I am pretty sure I can read the arrogance and disdain for us little people from Pelosi, can accurately identify blatant corruption and betrayal by Reid and too many occupants of Capital Hill whose salary I contribute to. Now,I am no longer out of reach from a shotgun, installed a couple of security cameras, and got a schutzhind trained shepherd. I answer over 90% of the 50-70 emails/phone calls/letters I get every day. My life has turned upside down because I sent a letter to AARP and 8 other people. Anyone see a disproportionate response here?
ANd if I had it to do over again, the only thing I would do differently is I would have sent it a lot sooner. Right is right, wrong is wrong and there is not a lot of wiggle room here. The middle class is likened to a tube of toothpaste being squeezed by both ends. I can only eliminate one population of squeezers by eliminating the other population. GO GREEN…RECYCLE CONGRESS…2010: the time for REAL change!
Way to go.
I can just hope that the 2010 elections will send the right message. “Reid and Pelosi Go Home”
Thank you.
[...] A few rarely get the chance to feed back something to the AARP. Imagine a private enterprize needing to piggy on the government. Read the letter and see if you don’t agree. It also appears here: http://paontheweb.com/Pennsylvania_Blog/2009/12/13/letter-to-aarp-from-walt-cyndy-miller-farms-equin... [...]
My husband and I are closing in on retirement age and have been getting several requests from AARP to join. NO THANKS!! We have been so fed up over the years, with their kissing up to the liberal politicians and lack of true concern for the real needs of our seniors . Along with clearing out all the elitist liberal, socialistic incumbents from congress this fall, let’s also get rid of AARP and like-minded organizations that can’t function without our financial support. Let’s return America to it’s hardworking citizens like the Millers and the rest of us. We would gladly vote for someone like Cyndy Miller for US Congress!!