USA Next, formerly known as United Seniors Association, Inc., is a lobbying front-group for industries such as Big Pharma. They have declared war on AARP, and it's gonna be ugly...

"We are going to be revealing areas where the AARP is out of touch with a large number of their members, including the issue of marriage," said America next boss Charlie Jarvis. In a statement issued Wednesday to anyone who wanted it, he said: "We will engage AARP with an aggressive campaign to educate the people about where they really stand on the issues and how out of touch they are with the large majority of their own members." (Nebraska State Paper, 2/24/05)

("The Real AARP agenda," Advertisement for USA Next on the American Spectator website, taken down since, via Josh Marshall)

Taking its cues from the success of last year's Swift boat veterans' campaign in the presidential race, a conservative lobbying organization has hired some of the same consultants to orchestrate attacks on one of President Bush's toughest opponents in the battle to overhaul Social Security.

The lobbying group, USA Next, which has poured millions of dollars into Republican policy battles, now says it plans to spend as much as $10 million on commercials and other tactics assailing AARP, the powerhouse lobby opposing the private investment accounts at the center of Mr. Bush's plan.

"[AARP] are the boulder in the middle of the highway to personal savings accounts," said Charlie Jarvis, president of USA Next and former deputy under secretary of the interior in the Reagan and first Bush administrations. "We will be the dynamite that removes them." ("A new target for advisors to Swift Vets," 2/21/05, New York Times)

But "liberal" AARP supported Bush's Medicaid drug benefit...

O'REILLY: OK. I understand the Social Security debate. But what about prescription drugs? Lots of seniors need them, don't have a lot of money. Where do you come down on that?

JARVIS: Well, the interesting thing about prescription drugs is that AARP actually has gotten us into the situation we are in. They're heavily bureaucratic oriented. They're captives, and they capture bureaucrats who control the regulations on prescription drug approvals. They overcomplicate things. (Speaking against AARP's support of Bush's Medicaid drug benefit, O'Reilly Factor, 2/16/05, via FUGOP)

... and so did USA Next:

"We're calling on the nationwide network of Seniors and families to activate against forces working to destroy the first Medicare prescription benefit ever created," said Charlie Jarvis, Chairman and Chief Executive of USA Next-United Seniors Association. "Many millions of Seniors can lower their prescription costs right now, but some plan to dismantle the new Senior benefit." (USA Next press release in support of Bush's Medicaid drug benefit, 10/1/04, via FUGOP)

In the end, what does it matter? They're just a bunch of industry shills:

Then there's the benignly-named United Seniors Association (USA), which serves as a soft-money slush fund for a single GOP-friendly industry: pharmaceuticals. USA claims a nationwide network of more than one million activists, but, just like Progress for America, listed zero income from membership dues in its most recent available tax return. USA does, however, have plenty of money on its hands. During the 2002 elections, with an "unrestricted educational grant" from the drug industry burning a hole in its pocket, the group spent roughly $14 million--the lion's share of its budget--on ads defending Republican members of Congress for their votes on a Medicare prescription-drug bill. (Nick Confessore, "Bush's secret stash," Washington Monthly, 5/04, via Josh Marshall)

Who is funding USA Next this time?

Michael Pfau, a professor at the University of Oklahoma who has studied "stealth" political advertising, says his research indicates that "most people miss sponsorship completely" and attribute ads run by organizations like United Seniors to the candidates themselves. "Some of these organizations today," Pfau says, "are what we would call, in public relations language, front groups." ("Pulling strings from afar," AARP Bulletin, 2/03)

In the end, they're simply scam artists preying on seniors.

SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS WARNED ABOUT POTENTIAL SCAMS
Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security and Patrick O’Carroll, Jr., Acting Inspector General of Social Security issued a warning today about a number of scams that have surfaced recently throughout the U.S. They noted that the Agency has received numerous reports about telephone calls or visits from people alleging to be Social Security employees. In each case, the person attempted to obtain personal information, such as a Social Security or bank account number, from the Social Security recipient.

"I find it very troubling that our most vulnerable citizens are being targeted by these unscrupulous people," Commissioner Barnhart stated. "I caution everyone to be extremely careful about releasing personal information." (Social Security Administration, 5/28/04)

"Unscrupulous."

DECISION I sustain the determination of the Social Security Administration Inspector General (SSA I.G.) to impose civil money penalties totaling $554,196 against Respondent, United Seniors Association, Inc.

[...] The words "Social Security" appear numerous times on the envelope. The phrase "Social Security Alert" is printed 18 times as part of a patterned design that forms the front border of the envelope. R. Ex. 13A (front). The identical patterned border design is repeated on the rear of the envelope. R. Ex. 13A (rear). The address portion of the envelope's front contains the phrase "SOCIAL SECURITY ALERT" in highlighted capital letters.

The envelope is decorated with language which highlights the urgency of the mailing. On the rear of the envelope appears the phrase "OPEN IMMEDIATELY". That phrase is placed above the word " - URGENT - ", which is printed diagonally across the envelope in a manner that makes it look as if the word had been stamped on the envelope. R. Ex. 13A (rear). Beneath " - URGENT - " there appears the phrase "SOCIAL SECURITY INFORMATION ENCLOSED" in large print.

Perhaps most significantly, the address label on the front of the envelope incorporates the phrase "SOCIAL SECURITY ALERT" into its logo in large, contrasting (white for "SOCIAL SECURITY" and red for "ALERT") on a black background), stylized print. R. Ex. 13A (front). The phrase is set forth in a way that makes it more noticeable on first impression than any other part of the envelope's front. The phrase's incorporation into the address label makes it appear at first glance that the label, and the envelope itself, is from the Social Security Administration.

[...] The inescapable inference that I draw from the envelopes' designs in light of [USA]'s sophisticated marketing experience is that [USA] intended that its envelopes would deceive recipients into believing, at least momentarily, that the envelopes were from or authorized by the Social Security Administration. First, these envelopes were designed to look like overnight delivery or express mail envelopes. In fact, the envelopes were not sent as express mail or overnight delivery. Respondent sent the envelopes as bulk rate mailings. Tr. at 70. With the exception of the address, none of the information in the address label was necessary for delivery of the envelope as part of a bulk rate mailing. (Social Security Adm. vs. United Seniors Association, Appeals Board, DHHS, 8/8/03 via Josh Marshall)

What will the Swifties think of "Next"?

(Billmon, 2/24/05)