Crossing Hell’s grannies
In political terms, the elderly are Hell’s grannies, especially when it comes to housing, and it’s dangerous to cross them:
This is a frightened city. Over these houses, over these streets hangs a pall of fear. Fear of a new kind of violence which is terrorizing the city. Yes, gangs of old ladies attacking defenceless fit young men.
The AARP’s lobbyists meeting a member ….
Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey recently discovered the perils of crossing them when she said the right thing in the wrong way:
In an interview with the Statehouse News Service published Monday, Healey said: “My opinion is that to extend tax breaks to seniors in order to keep them overhoused and isolated in the suburbs is not necessarily the right answer … they’re probably aging in homes that are too expensive or difficult for them to maintain and where the property taxes are larger than their fixed incomes. Plus, they may have three or four bedrooms and only be using one of them. There are families that need that housing.”
Shades of Dr. Zhivago! Meanwhile, governor Mitt Romney chivalrously let Healey hang out on her own:
Romney said: ”I’ll let the lieutenant governor talk about any of her comments …”
“I’ve never seen this lieutenant governor before in my life.”
Healey said her comments were misinterpreted, contending that they were aimed at only one aspect of the Romney administration’s housing policy, which also seeks to increase multifamily housing in areas clustered near mass transit facilities and city centers.
”I’m so glad to have the opportunity to set the record straight here today, and I don’t blame you for being concerned, because if I had said that, it would be upsetting,” Healey told the crowd. ”But what we’re saying today is the whole picture.”
She kept trying to reverse her tarsal-oral collision:
Speaking with reporters after the event, Healey said she made the appearance yesterday to ‘’set the record straight.”
”I never suggested that any seniors should have to leave their home; that is never what I intended,” she said. ”What I intended was to speak about the need for more affordable housing options for seniors and that we need to build more affordable housing.”
With the elderly probably the nation’s most potent political lobby, bar none:
June 1, 2004 - One billion dollars was spent by organizations lobbying the federal government in the last half of 2003 and the AARP led the way in setting this new record, according to records released today by PoliticalMoneyLine.com.
The biggest jump was caused by AARP that reported spending $16.38 million, up from $4.5 million spent in the first half of 2003. AARP was lobbying heavily on the prescription drug plan.
… the problem of elderly housing will rise rapidly in political importance, as America grays and as Europe grays faster:
The whole problem of these senile delinquents lies in their complete rejection of the values of contemporary society. They’ve seen their children grow up and become accountants, stockbrokers and even sociologists [or lieutenant governors! — Ed.] and they begin to wonder if it is all really… (disappears downwards rapidly) arggh!
(Shot of two grannies replacing manhole cover.)
“It’s not nice to vote against elderly housing …”
