AARP, the group advocating for people ages 50 and up, released a survey Wednesday showing that most older Americans don’t want lawmakers to alter the Social Security and Medicare programs during the lame-duck session.
It’s a warning shot to lawmakers looking for options to avoid the fiscal cliff from a group that has almost 38 million members and last year spent more than $15 million on federal lobbying.
The survey found that 70 percent of older Americans said that changes to the entitlement programs should not be part of any end-of-the-year deal addressing the deficit and looming tax increases.
“This survey shows that older Americans have significant concerns about any attempt to make major changes to the lifeline programs of Social Security and Medicare in rushed negotiations in the short time before a new Congress arrives,” AARP Executive Vice President of the State and National Group Nancy LeaMond said in a statement. “We commend the bipartisan group of leaders and public officials who have expressed the need to work together on important issues facing our country including the deficit.”
The survey also found that 76 percent of people over age 50 oppose reducing benefits for Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly and disabled, to reduce the deficit. And 75 percent of respondents oppose reducing Social Security benefits to reduce the deficit.
The AARP survey was conducted by Woelfel Research Inc., which interviewed 800 adults over the age of 50.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
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