Free Republic

FROM the moment they entered the workforce in the 1960s, baby-boomers began to shape America’s economy and politics. They will do the same as they leave. The first of the estimated 78m Americans born between 1946 and 1964 turn 65 in 2011, the normal age for retirement. As their ranks swell in coming years, the burden of financing their retirement will mount. So will their electoral importance. Retiring boomers will squeeze the economy from two directions. The number of people enrolled in Medicare (federally funded health care, available from the age of 65) will grow from 47m in 2010 to...

Members' premiums up 8-13% for just next year. Spokesman on Fox twisting and squirming, admitting supporting ObamaCare might have been a mistake. AARP spokesman saying it might have been worse without Obamacare. Developing...

Now approaching 50 itself, AARP is heading off a midlife crisis with a new TV ad that celebrates the aging process to the strains of the Buzzcocks' classic punk song "Everybody's Happy Nowadays." The image overhaul, aimed in part at future AARPers now in their 30s and 40s, is part of a long-running effort to reposition the organization formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons (it has gone by just AARP since 1999) as one devoted to vigorous, working people who are 50-and-up. There is a lingering perception that AARP is a retiree organization," said Emilio Pardo, AARP...

I'm writing this letter as a warning to young families; also as a plea to the retired population. My husband and I recently relocated to Central Florida from the Midwest in order to pursue our careers. We chose to move into Winter Haven because it is a growing city and appears to be welcoming to young families such as ours. When moving here we were well aware of the large population of retired people. However, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be accosted at a family restaurant because my child's talking disrupted an elderly group...

<p>BOSTON — Senior citizens angry over the AARP's endorsement of the Medicare (search) bill are ripping up or burning their AARP membership cards and flooding the lobbying group's Internet message board with complaints in what could be the biggest revolt in its ranks since the 1980s.</p>