60 Plus Association Ad Compares Repealing Health Care Reform To D-Day

WASHINGTON -- The nonprofit 60 Plus Association, which touts itself as "the conservative alternative to the liberal AARP," released a new ad this week that seems to compare Americans' sacrifices on D-Day to the fight to repeal health care reform.

The ad is airing nationwide and 60 Plus is spending $500,000 on it. The ad features World War II veteran Philip Storer, who is, according to the group's press release, "concerned Obamacare will take away the freedoms that he and thousands of Americans fought so hard to protect."

"June 1944," says the narrator. "D-Day. Allied troops land at Normandy. Their mission: save the world from a deadly and growing oppression."

"I was one of thousands that landed on D-Day," Storer says. "We fought to protect something we all hold very dear, our freedoms. Today, our freedoms are threatened by a very different kind of enemy. The enemy is big government, wasteful spending, and crushing debt. Nowhere is this threat more apparent than in the attempted government takeover of health care. The first step has been taken. If we don't repeal the health care bill, government will grow, debt will explode, choices will become fewer and your freedoms will be chipped away. I still believe our freedoms are worth fighting for. The fight to repeal the government takeover of health care is up to you."

WATCH:

60 Plus has existed since 1992, but as FactCheck.org notes, the group received "a sudden infusion of money from somewhere" beginning in 2009. It reportedly spent $10 million on TV ads attacking lawmakers who supported health care reform last year. However, because 60 Plus is a politically active nonprofit known as a 501(c)(4), it does not have to disclose its donors. It also claims to have more than five million members.

This ad isn't the first controversial spot by the conservative group. It recently put out a mailer with images of the Great Depression, saying that Democratic policies are on the verge of creating "Obamavilles" -- a reference to the infamous Hoovervilles, which were, as The Plum Line's Greg Sargent notes, "a symbol of government inaction in the face of the poverty and widespread misery of the Great Depression."

Last year, 60 Plus also put out an ad claiming that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act could kill seniors by allowing government to determine if they are "worth the cost" of further medical treatment.

In addition to health care, the group also seems to be pushing for the extension of all Bush tax cuts and a permanent repeal of the estate tax. In the 2010 elections, 60 Plus is the 15th-highest outside spender, dropping nearly $7 million so far.

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Comments

[CanuckistanCommie]

01:53 AM on 11/01/2010

Universal Healthcare 48 years and counting. Single payer system. Cost to per capita for Canadians $2000 per year less. Pre-existing condition is medical history, not a defense for denial. No one can refuse you health-care. Records are private and not a matter of information share for FOR-PROFIT Corporations. "Executive" bonuses go into the program, not into the pockets of the Executive. Prescription drug prices: a fraction of what you pay in the US.
To share the experience of an American doctor who moved up here:
How do you like our system? Love it. No insurance forms to fill out, no asking patience for proof of insurance and no forcing patients to other doctors because their plan doesn't cover what they need.
He also added some of the crap being spewed by the medical associations in the US.
Outside the "Death Camps" the health care system is so poor in Canada, that we close our hospitals from October to February.
And after watching that ad, I shutter to think that there are people out there that believe that diatribe!

[srch4trth]

08:07 PM on 10/31/2010

So I have a proposal for the earnest gentleman (yes I know he is a paid actor) and any other post 65 year old who agrees with him: The USA will refund all of your Social Security and Medicare taxes with 5 % interest minus any benefits you have already received. In return you will no longer be covered by Social Security and Medicare nor will there be any spousal or survivor benefits. Enjoy!

[Kenz300]

04:51 PM on 10/31/2010

The Republicans / Tea Party want to cut taxes, reduce government and balance the budget.

This math does not add up ! Are you waiting to get trickled on ?

How and What?

They want a balanced budget -- but millionaires need a tax break.....

They hate government programs --- but like their social security checks....

They hate government programs --- but like medicare paying their doctor bills......

They hate government programs ---- but want their kids to be in good schools....

They hate government programs --- but sure want police or fire to respond when they have an emergency

They hate government programs -- but want safe drinking water.....

They hate government programs ---- but they want safe food supplies......

They hate government programs --- but they want reliable electric energy......

Democrats are fighting for the average working people..

They need to speak up and not let themselves get drowned out by the 24 hour
right wing infomercial that calls itself a news station --

Democrats need to get out and show their support for Democrat candidates

[Kenz300]

04:47 PM on 10/31/2010

This is a good video --- check it out.

See this before voting!

http://www .youtube.c om/watch?v =QlBOv8m_X a8”

Voters need to be informed when they make their choice.

[BlueDog1]

11:35 AM on 10/31/2010

Ah Joe tell me it ain't Blue Cross, until you blow this lizards (Healthcare Insurance) out of the water you will continue to be pillaged...................

[bill987654]

08:38 AM on 10/31/2010

...so this is " THE GREATEST GENERATION"? ....He lived of government all his life...since 1940's on government pay and health care...GI bill afterwards....mow SS and Medicare...

.....more precisely "I GOT MINE " generation...

[thruseer]

08:33 AM on 10/31/2010

The ignorant old guy is being used. This is pathetic exploitation. Probably funded by the Kochs or Rove's front group or Armey's front group. Or the Saudis, Chinese, Iran etc.

[ena]

07:47 AM on 10/31/2010

This is so sad to see coming from a WWII vet, receiving Social Security benefits, on government funded Medicare and the ability to also get free government funded medical care at the VA.

What this gentleman is actually saying is that he fought for the freedom to institute & take away these programs that help him and thousands of other vets who would never be able to afford the costs of healthcare in today's greed oriented economy.

The sad problem here is that the GOP & these nefarious organizations like the '60 Plus Association' think the majority of Americans are as ignorant and uneducated as the groups they are targeting. The attitude: I've got mine too bad for you, go get yours.

[1differentdrummer]

05:45 AM on 10/31/2010

Okay, I'll give him WWII, but was he actually on the beach on D Day? Prove it. What division was he in? He'd have to be pushing 90 today.

[ena]

07:52 AM on 10/31/2010

Correct, my dad would have been 90 in 3 weeks. He was 23 years old on D-Day.
But you know as well as I do, 1differentdrummer, that facts always seem to elude the GOP & their cabal.

[miketothad]

01:42 AM on 10/31/2010

OK, GOP. You can have the stupid, but must you also exploit the senile?

[Gatemann]

04:38 AM on 10/31/2010

LOL Fanned and Faved

[Shrank]

12:21 AM on 10/31/2010

This ad is beyond disgraceful. Comparing the fight against health care reform to the campaign against Nazi Germany. I'm surprised that this piece didn't include a pic of Obama with a Hitler mustache.

What's next? Using aging WWII vets to advocate the abolition of the Veterans Administration?

[ena]

07:56 AM on 10/31/2010

That's what pee tardies do!

[Javalation]

11:45 PM on 10/30/2010

One can't say often enough that the way our "healthcare" system stacks up against the rest of the industrialized world, is that we are ranked about last. We spend twice as much as anybody else per person, and have worst outcomes in every way of comparing than most.

One of the biggest differences is that our system is totally for profit, with every insurance company wanting a profit off of ever single client. Almost all of our hospitals are now for profit, as are almost all of our doctors. The people who use their services are all too often treated as potential revenue and profit.

There's a lot wrong with our system, and reform must start somewhere. The reforms that have been initialized are only a first step, and hopefully a "Public Option", comes next. That is what every other western country has, to one degree or another, and if our system is ever going to work, it's what we need too.

[CanuckistanCommie]

01:55 AM on 11/01/2010

Works up here!! Universal Healthcare 48 years and counting.

[CanuckistanCommie]

02:18 AM on 11/01/2010

I should add. In Canada, you are a patient, not a commodity!!

[LightShadow62]

10:45 PM on 10/30/2010

So the 60 Plus Association puts forward a speaker that likely uses the VA, Medicare, Medicaid or a combination of all three to say he doesn't want government health care.

WOW.

[buckbuck11]

10:47 PM on 10/30/2010

I was thinking the exact same thing when I saw this piece of tripe air last evening. Absolutely shameless.

[bill987654]

08:41 AM on 10/31/2010

Tea Baggers don't know those are government benefits...

[Totto]

10:18 PM on 10/30/2010

Are the inhabitants of this country so stupid? Is that question rhetorical?

[bill987654]

08:42 AM on 10/31/2010

yes and no

[SheamusK]

10:01 PM on 10/30/2010

a "usual suspect" regarding the funding would be one of the Koch Family or their "fellow travellers".