By Warner Todd Huston —— Bio and Archives September 25, 2012
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"the AARP aggressively, and successfully, lobbied to keep Medigap reforms out of Obamacare, because AARP receives a 4.95 percent royalty on every dollar that seniors spend on its Medigap plans. Reform, DeMint estimates, would have cost AARP $1.8 billion over ten years.Then there is the insurance windfall that AARP makes off Obamacare that amounts to another $1 billion. The media should not report the boos Paul Ryan received from AARP as if it is news worthy of note. On the other hand, at that same AARP event, the same news outlet, The Hill, reported Obama's welcomed reception as if it was nothing short of the epitome of policy success. Obama, The Hill reported, was scornful over all the money those evil insurance companies will make without his Obamacare "reforms" What was missing from The Hill's report of Obama's appearance at the AARP gathering? You guessed it, any mention of the $1 billion that AARP will make off its own insurance program thanks to Obamacre. With a $1 billion windfall, it’s no wonder they were so happy to see their patron in chief! But, The Hill wasn’t the only news outlet that was so happy to report Ryan’s booing. Any search of the news about the AARP event will net similar results — and similarly neglectful reportage — of the event. While just a small example, the treatment that Ryan received by the Old Media over his appearance at the AARP event was typical of the negative and uninformative coverage that the whole media establishment has afforded Romney/Ryan throughout this campaign.
Warner Todd Huston’s thoughtful commentary, sometimes irreverent often historically based, is featured on many websites such as Breitbart.com, among many, many others. He has also written for several history magazines, has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows.
He is also the owner and operator of Publius’ Forum.