Retirees Matter: Little Respect for Retirees at Conference on Aging

Ed Creegan, Retired Members' Council Chair

In March, President Bush was on another of his "town hall" tours speaking to rooms of handpicked audiences about the disastrous Medicare drug plan. It's such a disaster, in fact, that the White House wasn't able to pack the rooms with supporters only and there was actually a probing question or two.

The fact that this administration goes out of its way to avoid confrontation and questions is no secret. But recently, Mike Vivirito, Retired Members' Council president for District 2, and I got some firsthand experience with White House secrecy and staged events.

Mike and I were each appointed by members of Congress to serve on the White House Conference on Aging, which has been scheduled about every 10 years since it was first held in 1961. We were among 1,200 delegates from around the country, appointed by governors, members of Congress and even the White House.

The president always pays a visit — or I guess I should say, all previous presidents did. President Bush was in town throughout the four-day conference but he snubbed us. While we were meeting to discuss senior issues and make recommendations to the White House about needs and solutions over the next decade, the president met with a small group of specially chosen seniors outside Washington and brought the news media.

What a set-up. He gave the appearance of being engaged in issues that are now beginning to affect the tens of millions of American baby boomers, yet he didn't even bother to say hello, let alone listen, to the 1,200 men and women who came to Washington prepared to discuss that very subject. We'd done our homework: As delegates, we'd collectively attended hundreds of regional meetings leading up to the conference, talking with seniors, future retirees and people who provide senior services.

Even without Mr. Bush's presence, the event was thoroughly controlled by the White House. There were no floor microphones, denying us the opportunity to even comment in the general meeting on the wording of the 50 resolutions — prepared for us in advance — that were then submitted to the president and to Congress. There were side meetings at which we could comment within a small group, but nothing we said changed any of the resolutions.

We left feeling we'd been conned. But even so, our gathering wasn't meaningless. We met fellow activists from across the country and shared ideas that may yet help us as a country deal with the issues of aging raised at the conference.

This White House may continue to ignore us, but we're not going away. There are millions of active, angry seniors in the United States and excellent unions and organizations looking out for us, such as our own Retired Members' Councils and the Alliance for Retired Americans. We're making our voices heard loud and clear on the Medicare debacle and we'll shout from the rooftops if our leaders again attempt to privatize Social Security. We are a force to be reckoned with, whether President Bush chooses to acknowledge us or not.

To find out more about the CWA Retired Members' Council and what's available in your area, send an e-mail to: RMC@cwa-union.org.