How a Billion Dollars Convinced the Media & Washington, it's Social Security's Fault

[jtown1123]

What Will a Billion Dollars Buy You? … Redux
By NCPSSM | March 3, 2011

We first asked this question just over a year ago about multi-billionaire and anti-Social Security scold, Pete Peterson. Back then he had just started spending the fortune he’s promised to invest convincing Washington that Social Security is to blame for our fiscal woes. While he hasn’t spent the entire billion dollars yet, it’s clear he definitely owns a large share of the inside-the-Beltway thinking. Here’s where some of that money has gone: millions to groups who deliver his anti-entitlement message as their own, a propagandist movie CNN airs as a legit documentary, a “news service” the Washington Post used without identifying it’s funder, (until called on it), “loaning” Peterson-paid staff to the President’s fiscal commission and now funding yet another seemingly bi-partisan, unaffiliated effort to keep the spinners spinning.

Meet the new Moment of Truth Project, led by the New America Foundation which collected up to $999,999 from the Peterson foundation. Claiming, “the era of deficit denial is over”, this project gives Fiscal Commission Chairs, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, new jobs now that the Commission has finished its work without issuing a final Committee report.

The “Truth” Project’s kickoff event is a virtual who’s who of Washington fiscal hawks and commission members who voted in support of the Chairmen’s fiscal recommendations. Not surprisingly, those who voted against the Chairmen’s fiscal proposals were not invited to next week’s shindig.

The REST: http://www.ncpssm.org/entitledtoknow/?p=1622

[liberal N proud]

1. And they call it class warfare when we object

[jtown1123]

3. Exactly. It's is scary the wealthy backers to these anti-middle class initiatives...

take the Koch brothers for example.

[gratuitous]

2. But let's not raise taxes on Pete Peterson

He needs every penny to corrupt the system, and punish the proles for not being as greedy as he is.

[jtown1123]

6. Every time I see his name I get filled with rage. Unfortunately, explaining

Pete Peterson's influence to a man on the street will make their eyes glaze over...not a fun bumper sticker saying.

[RandomThoughts]

4. Social security is the same concept as the light bulb.

The problem is that education to thinking decades ahead is very difficult.

So at some point some safety net is required for those that have a failing in retirement planning.



In the same way the light bulb is part of that same concept of freedom/security.

So with education most people would pick better bulb, then if society ruled by representative form agreed to a tax on bad product, or restriction, people would understand why, and it would not add to implosion direction.

with education, and proper financing, most would save for retirement, but since letting people die in poverty at retirement is a bad idea for the individual and society, some enforcement exist. Although actually it should be paid in a way that also balances fault in top pay in capitalism errors.

The other side is to hide the restriction, so people don't know they are being restricted. That is why some want media control.

[JHB]

5. Correction: they are not "fiscal hawks", they are vultures, pure and simple.

When your "problem" only has one solution that you will accept, you're not actually trying to solve the problem.

[jtown1123]

7. I like that.