in Washing- ton on behalf of the elderly. 'Old-age interest groups ap- pear to be one of the great po- litical success stories of the last two decades," writes Day, a University of New Orleans po- litical scientist. Federal spend- ing on programs for the elderly rose from less than 15 percent of the federal budget in 1960 to about 27 percent in 1986, cut- ting the poverty rate among the elderly from 33 percent in 1959 to 12.5 percent in 1987.
Politicians, fearful of a back- lash from the "gray...