Paul Ryan was booed at the AARP Convention

If you are talking about medicare, I have heard him talk on the subject. I do not believe that he is interested in taking away medicare. I think he wants to improve the system. Medicare needs some improvement. There are a lot of problems with it. I do not believe that booing someone ever solves any problems or issues. Ryan was invited by AARP to speak to the conference. They should have seen to it that he was treated better even if they did not agree with his views.

I have to disagree. He really wants to privatize it. That's the Republican plan and that's what it has always been. They want to make money off of people that are not in good health plain and simple. I think the booing lets him know people are not falling for his manipulative ways. Again it has nothing to do with respect because he is not respecting the people he is addressing, so why should they show him respect.

I remember a discussion on mylot about whether or not it was right for Ron Paul to take his Social Security payments. I know that I hear a lot from the left about making the rich pay their fair share. But when someone suggests that when it comes to Medicare, the rich should pay more of their own premium than the government does, all the liberals cry foul. I don't get it. Ryan's plan doesn't change anything for anyone already receiving these services. His plan doesn't affect anyone who is already 55 or older as of 2013. It doesn't even take effect for anyone until 2022. But it will leave Medicare in the black and it will prevent its collapse. Obama's plan and the short term solutions of pumping in money to replace the money that Congress has stolen from the trust fund, will not save Medicare. The entire thing will collapse and be gone. If you are really worried about the future of Medicare for seniors in the future, you will not be in favor of doing nothing and allowing it to collapse. You may not know this, but there are already several private insurers that are servicing Medicare patients by taking the premium directly from their SS and in some cases, charging a small premium above that. These are HMO plans that are very popular and prized by those who choose them - note I said CHOOSE them. And these seniors are very distressed that OBamacare will prevent them from choosing these private HMO plans. Seniors need protection for the future, not a lot of pretty words that mean nothing and in fact, spell doom for Medicare. We need to deal with the real world and fix it before it's gone. There are so many who rely on Medicare, to avoid reforming it just to garner votes is a despicable thing to do.

They were booing maybe because they have already made up there minds.The one thing I do know is that they definitely didn't want to hear him. True If would have just walked away but I like that he was booed.Rude? Yes, but effective. The next time Any candidate books a spot , he/she better know their audience. Just because people are older does not mean they are automatically Anything.

So, when it comes to free speech, you're for booing any speech you don't like so as to prevent others from hearing it? Okay, you're happy he was booed because you've made up your mind. Those who wanted to listen perhaps could not, because others tried to drown him out. That's rude. I think it's more courageous and a sign of someone with a real message that he would take it to people who may not listen, but for whom he has a message he thinks they should hear. Only the coward goes only where he expects to be applauded. Still, I believe that if you refuse to hear any opinion but the one you have decided upon, you can never know if your opinion is right.

How will you know your enemy or your friend if you do not listen to their words and understand their meaning? They have every right to boo, but it isn't polite. Worse, it leaves them with no more understanding than they had before they came in. And definitely, with no better manners. But, in this modern world, we have enemies and boogeymen created by the media, the voices that shout and the voices that boo. We have so few people capable of listening and making up their own minds.

Wouldn't that be great if that could happen on both sides?

I could not agree with you more. It is ok if attendees did not like Ryan or his policies or views. But give him the courtesy of speaking and then verbally disagree with him in a civil manner.

I listened to some of the speech on television. I think they started to listen when he spoke about the payment panel. However, the audience was probably full of AARP execs and employees and AARP is very political. Their endorsements are designed to benefit the organization and its executives. As for the HMOs, I just read that one HMO in my part of the country is dropping out of Medicare because of the regulations and premium changes and won't be available next year. I don't consider this to be a good thing. Competition is a good thing for the consumer, a monopoly always means higher prices and no options.

When Ryan was first picked as Romney's running mate, everything in me sank because I am on medicare. I had already heard about Ryan and the propaganda was not good. However, I would listen to an interview with him regarding medicare and I felt much better about his views and his plans for medicare. Were you at AARP? If so, did you attend Ryan's appearance? or did you just see it on TV? It sounds like the booing was at its worst in the beginning, when he was introduced, and then subsided as he continued to speak. Correct? Ryan has gotten some very bad press when it comes to medicare. I have not been able to figure out if the bad press is justified or not. Some persons at the convention were very unhappy that AARP has become politicized. They feel that politics has no place in AARP.

No, it is welfare. The money you get, is money taken out of other peoples checks, and given to you. That's welfare. The money you paid in, was taken from your check, and give to other people. That was welfare for them. It is welfare. What you are saying is exactly what I'm talking about. You keep rationalizing why you should get what you want, just like everyone else is rationalizing that they should get what they want. The problem is... there simply isn't enough money for all you welfare people. I don't care about how much money you paid in. You should have been wiser, and saved your money, instead of giving it to government which blew it all. (as ALL GOVERNMENTS DO!) Government *IS* going to cut back on what they pay you. Get over it. You trusted government, which was a dumb choice, and now you are going to get burned. Government doesn't have unlimited money to pay you people. What part of that don't you get? There is X amount of money, and Y amount of expenses. Y X. Y must be cut, because X is not large enough. If you only have $100, and you have $120 in expenses, what do you do? You cut your spending right? Government is no different. They have to cut expenses, to how much money they have. They can't just pay out to all the welfare people demanding their programs. Have you seen what's going on in Greece? That's the US in the future if we don't cut spending.

There are an awful lot of problems in today's world but then there have always been a lot of problems in every decade and generation. I agree with what you say to some degree. On the other hand, I am a senior who lives in HUD housing for seniors, receives social security and is on medicare. These programs are very important to me. I paid into social security and medicare. So have all the employers that I have worked for. I had no choice. Money was taken out of my paycheck. This is not welfare that I am receiving. Seniors are very worried about the government cutting back on what was promised to them. Many seniors, if not most, can not just get another job to boost their earnings or pay for cuts to medicare. We are on, what is called, a fixed income. I think that the media may have given Ryan a bad rep regarding social security and medicare. That is all the more reason for seniors to have listened to Ryan and not just booed the guy. They needed to have listened, questioned and persuaded.

I am someone who enjoys listening to all viewpoints whether I agree with the person or not. This includes religion as well as politics. I do not feel that I am always right and I am open to other possibilities. I like learning from other people. I believe that we should treat others like how we would like to be treated.

Should have been "I don't think they're NON partisan...."

Well, I agree that they shouldn't have done that. It was rude and worse, crude to boo him after inviting him to speak.

I think that Ryan should have been given more respect by AARP and those persons attending the convention. It is ok not to like him or his views but I believe everyone, whoever they are, should be treated with respect.

I know many persons who are real unhappy with AARP. Some would not consider joining and others dropped their memberships. I do not do much with AARP but go to their conventions and those I enjoy greatly. In my opinion, they put on a great convention. In meeting other attendees, most of them are middle class and up. I am probably one of the least affluent persons attending the conventions.

I think that AARP members lean towards being Democrats and are leaning towards Obama. I do not think anyone had to bus in Obama supporters to the convention. I think they were already there and in numbers. I think that that may be why Ryan got booed.

I am a senior who is on medicare so I have a lot of concern about the continuation of the program as well as the improvement of the program. I originally had concerns about Ryan's views about medicare but I listened to an interview with him and felt much better after the interview. I have no memory of who did the interview but it was before I went to the AARP convention. It was during the time of the Republican Convention. I understand the reason that some members of AARP might boo Ryan but I felt that it was rude to do so, nevertheless. I have only heard about the booing since I did not attend his appearance. I do not know what he might have said or did say. He should have first been given the opportunity to address the issue before receiving applause or booing. Maybe you are correct. Maybe Ryan knew what he was getting himself into when he addressed AARP. Maybe he was this as an opportunity to set the record straight.