Kicking off the 912 Super Seniors concept is a challenge, but one that we welcome.  This newsletter was created to help support our goals to:

- Form 912 Super Seniors groups across the country

- Improve the education of America's children

Forming 912 Super Seniors Groups

This newsletter was designed to keep us connected geographically. We will match those who wish to found a group with those looking to join a group. This will be done with complete protection of individual contact privacy.

Exciting things are already happening.  Many of you have written to the 912 Super Seniors to say, "I want to start a group!" We volunteers are inspired by your responses. You are springing into action to make a difference right now...a difference for yourselves, your children and your grandchildren and for the country you love.

Seniors in many states are already contacting others for a conversation about common concerns. From these unstructured and open discussions will come the beginnings of the new group.  The key word is "unstructured".  If you agree with the 9 Principles and 12 Values and support the goals to Educate, Empower and Act stated on the site's home page, those will be your guides. 

How you approach the goals of the 912 Super Seniors is up to each group.  As we reach out across America, we understand that concerns, movements and policies may differ from one location to the next.  We simply advise you to take that first step.  Together we will unite the 912 Super Seniors in America into a powerful voice for Seniors.  Regardless of where you live or how nervous you may feel about the task before you, we admire your determination to begin. We, too, are nervous - but also excited!

To support this growth of new groups, each newsletter will address some basic steps in the process of founding a 912 Super Seniors group. Your feedback in emails about your challenges and successes will help drive our newsletters. Please know that your experiences and emails are vital to us and to the cohesiveness of this group. No question is too small. Together we will begin at the beginning.  Together we will move forward from there.

Improving the Education of America's Children

The second major goal of the newsletter is to support what is a new challenge for most of us, that of providing educational excellence for our grandchildren.

As parents and grandparents we have seen that children are babies one day, teenagers the next and voting adults - all in the blink of an eye. We have seen that the window of opportunity to educate young children and inspire them with principles, values and compassion is all too brief.

Already we are contributing time to care for grandchildren, and to volunteer for religious organizations, communities, charities and civic groups. On the October 11 show Glenn Beck challenged us to go one step further; that is to engage in the education of our grandchildren through homeschooling.

Some of you responded in your emails in support of Glenn's comments about homeschooling children and grandchildren. Others suggested supplemental tutoring approaches for teaching American history, principles and heritage. Several Seniors have volunteered to share their considerable knowledge and experience on educational initiatives.

One of our founding members and a lifelong educator, Mary Jo Schroeder, has a driving interest in the education of our children and will coordinate the organization of a project of education initiatives for the 912 Super Seniors.

Millions of Americans who objected to the Healthcare law did so because they knew a lie when they heard one. A huge bill which most politicians had not read let alone openly debated was touted as covering forty million more Americans, cutting over 500 billion from Medicare and miraculously having no adverse effects on our healthcare.

The annual report on the future health of Medicare has been released and proves those skeptical Americans were so right. Headlines everywhere should highlight the courageous actions by the Medicare chief actuary, Richard Foster. Required to analyze and report on the healthcare bill in the exact fairy tale form passed by our politicians, Mr. Foster added to the annual Medicare report a second and damning analysis based on reality.

With 15 years of experience in Medicare analysis, Mr. Foster concludes that the assumptions on which the healthcare law is based "do not represent a reasonable expectation for actual program operations in either the short range . . . or the long range."

Mr. Foster's criticisms are shared by Stanford G. Ross and David M. Parker who have served as public trustees for Medicare. They stated in the NY Times ("Mislead on Medicare", Aug 14) that the overly optimistic body of the report will do real harm by producing an incorrect picture of the condition of the Medicare program and also will seriously confuse the issues involved.

We hear Douglas Elmendorf, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office,  say that this healthcare reform is likely to result in people receiving less healthcare than they may need or want. Some Seniors are already reporting procedures no longer covered, doctors accepting no more Medicare patients and upfront cash payments requested for continued physician coverage.

We Seniors are on notice that our decreased home values, retirement investments and investment income are not the only facets of our lives being assailed. We know that the new healthcare law debacle is a threat to the good healthcare we anticipate as a result of our years of working and saving and paying our taxes.

Barbara Samuells