In less than a year the MCCA was repealed, mainly due to a firestorm of protests orchestrated by seniors groups that balked at the higher premiums. Led by an upstart seniors organization called the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSM), throngs of seniors picketed the offices of senior congressional Democrats. The NCPSM also prompted a massive write-in campaign to congressional offices. The group sent out shrill direct-mail appeals to seniors distorting the financing details of the legislation and succeeded in creating the impression that all of the elderly, not just the affluent, would be burdened by the extra premium. Want to purchase buy a term paper? Our term paper writers are talented; our assistances are cheap! In one memorable scene, Dan Rostenkowski, the powerful Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, was filmed by a Chicago television news crew fleeing his district office with dozens of angry elderly protesters in his wake. The intense protests caught many members by surprise, but they reacted swiftly. In November 1999 the MCCA was repealed by a wide margin in the House by a vote of 352 to 63. The Senate quickly followed suit and concurred unanimously. The immediate lesson learned by legislators was as simple as it was instructive: Any tampering with Medicare, even constructive tampering, risked stirring the opposition of a powerful, organized grassroots constituency. Future efforts needed the unwavering support of America's organized senior citizens or they would be doomed to failure. It also revealed a serious disconnect between the Washington-based leaders of the AARP and the elderly citizens living outside the beltway. Policy makers could no longer rely on the support of Washington-based advocates as an accurate proxy for elderly citizens' opinion. Seniors groups were diversifying and splintering, with smaller, more aggressive organizations making their voice heard.