HIP TO THAT JIVE:

Seniors Air Doubts to Obama: President Tries to Allay Fears Over Cuts to Medicare Spending, Says Waste Is Target (JANET ADAMY, 7/29/09, WSJ)

Concerns from seniors about possible benefit cuts are forcing the big seniors' group AARP, which supports the House bill, to walk a tightrope as it tries to keep members on board.

The group on Tuesday sponsored a forum in which Mr. Obama took questions from a small audience of seniors, as well as by phone and Internet.

Carolyn Engers from Joliet, Ill., told the president that she had just come from an AARP meeting where seniors said cuts to Medicare spending rank as one of their top concerns. "Even if I decide when I'm 80 that I want a hip replacement, am I going to be able to get that?" she asked.