Neither red nor blue, the purple Divided We Fail logo is part donkey, part elephant.
It's about as hybrid as a party animal can get, and appropriately so.
It represents a national initiative supported by a coalition of labor and business organizations that foresee impending crises that experts say will make America's current economic woes seem minor.
Putting aside their normal political differences, groups such as the National Federation of Independent Business and the Service Employees International Union are uniting with AARP to support Divided We Fail, demanding Congress act to reform health care and financial security programs.
About 50 Dubuque area AARP members met for supper at Bishop's Buffet Wednesday night with the group's state officials to learn about the project and hear appeals for their support.
Divided We Fail is the largest initiative in AARP's 50-year history, according to Bruce Koeppl, AARP's state director, who lead the presentation. With about 900,000 Americans signed on in support -- including more than 25,000 Iowans -- the petition drive is on track to reach 1 million signatures by election day, he said.
The Iowa campaign reached an important point last week when the last of the state's congressional delegation signed on, making it the 18th state to have their entire delegation join. Both presidential candidates, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have publicly endorsed Divided We Fail.
Koeppl and his staff are on a 20-city tour of Iowa, familiarizing AARP members with the issues and arguments concerning entitlement programs they can expect to hear once Congress comes together next year under a new administration.
It is clear the future cannot be secure without a willingness on lawmakers' part to make unpopular choices and a willingness on voters' part to accept solutions that may be less than perfect in their eyes, Koeppl told the Telegraph Herald.
"We think people want to move forward on these issues," Koeppl said. "But we need to get over the political hurdle."
Putting all the information before them helps Americans to better understand all the factors at play and gives them confidence to demand their Senate and House representatives in Congress get to work on the problems.
Addressing his Dubuque audience, Koeppl laid out the options being offered to ensure health and financial security for all generations of Americans, as well as the pros and cons of each reform proposal.
Regarding Social Security, which is widely expected to remain solvent until 2041, the various suggestions typically include some kind of tax increase, something lawmakers tend to shy away from.
The goal of capping Social Security taxes in the past was to tax 90 percent of covered wages. To maintain that level in an age of rising income, the cap could be increased from $102,000 to tax earnings up to $175,000, something opponents believe would weaken the traditional link between contributions and benefits.
Doubling the current payroll tax rate of 6.2 percent could cut the revenue gap in half. Opponents resist that proposal as unfairly burdening low-wage workers, and worry that employers may be moved to pass the cost on to employees or lay off workers.
Gradually increasing retirement age from 67 to 70 would better support our longer lifespan, but those unable to work until then could end up with reduced benefits and become impoverished.
Among the other options for Social Security reform, some advocate investing part of the plan's revenue in indexed funds that bring higher returns.
"I wouldn't want to be arguing for that one right now," Koeppl said as members of his audience shook their heads, apparently mindful of the stock market's downward plunge, that has seen the Dow down by 40 percent over the past 12 months, with investors suffering the paper loss of $2.4 trillion in U.S. markets last week alone.
Additional information about the initiative can be found online at www.dividedwefail.org.
