Pete Peterson's Real Crisis: America Speaks and Says the Wrong Thing
06/30/2010 by Peter HartBillionaire Pete Peterson has spent a lot of money trying to convince people that Social Security is a serious threat to the country's finances. And it's a message that the corporate media love to echo. So when Peterson's group decided to hold "town hall" meetings to promote fiscal austerity by cutting Social Security and Medicare, one would have guessed that the media would give it some attention.
But a funny thing happened this weekend at these "America Speaks" events. Members of the public, after being given what Roger Hickey calls "misleading background information about the federal deficit and economic options to achieve fiscal 'balance' and future prosperity," got a chance to weigh in on what they thought the most prudent course of action might be. As Thomas Frank points out in the Wall Street Journal today (6/30/10; subscription required), the results were likely a huge disappointment to Peterson:
The event took place as scheduled last Saturday, with thousands of citizens meeting in different cities. They duly absorbed a booklet alerting them to the danger of deficits. They deliberated. And then something funny happened on the way to the consensus.
According to a preliminary compilation of results, participants supported "an extra 5 percent tax" on incomes of greater than $1 million per year (by 68 percent) and an increase in the corporate income tax rate (59 percent). They thought a "carbon tax" was a good idea (64 percent) as well as a "securities transactions tax" (61 percent). On Social Security, austerity was nowhere in sight as 85 percent backed raising the limit on taxable income, and only a miserable 27 percent thought that we should "create personal savings accounts." Majorities favored cutting defense spending and expressed support for further recovery measures even if they increase the deficit.
Raising taxes on the wealthy, a carbon tax, cutting military spending--who ARE these people? It sounds a political agenda that most pundits would tell you is politically impossible. (It also happens to be what a lot of people want, but never mind that.)
Given the media's general enthusiasm for Peterson's propaganda on austerity and Social Security, it's striking how little coverage these town halls have received. But it's hard not to conclude that the public rejection of the media's conventional wisdom is the explanation. A few weeks ago, Washington Post columnist David Broder (5/2/10) lamented the fact that Peterson was apparently not having as much impact on the political discussion as the Tea Party movement: "Peterson's foundation could do the country a favor by uncovering a credible populist Republican who will buck his party's orthodoxy and take that message of fiscal responsibility to the country."
Instead, Peterson's people are trying to spread their message--but the public apparently wants something else entirely.
Tags: David Broder, Pete Peterson
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June 30th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Hacktivist, United Sons of Toil. United Sons of Toil said: Raising taxes on the wealthy, a carbon tax, cutting military spending — who ARE these people? http://fb.me/C4Uw4hUQ [...]
July 2nd, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Our leaders have their nerve to even consider taking social security as it exists away. We have paid for it, it's our money, and we want our money spent on domestic social programs that would benefit the whole country--we don't want to keep spending trillions on wars that benefit only a few industrialists.
Time to stop the bleeding of our resources into the black hole of Middle East wars. We better invest some money in ourselves if we want to continue to exist as a democracy.
Pete Peterson and his ilk are just plain stupid as well as greedy. They want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Some Americans may be as dumb as Peterson thinks, but most of us know when we are getting screwed.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:05 pm
The monomaniacal Pete Peterson is and has been in it for the long haul (although he's old enough not to live long enough to see his dream of zapping social security come true). He, along with other haters of "lesser people" (as the average American retiree/retiree-to-be is referred to by Sir Alan Simpson of Obama's deficit commission) have been worming away at Social Security patiently through the years so that it's no longer dangerous for politicians to think of it as an inviolate "third rail" that they can't touch. It would be interesting to see a psychological study of Pete to find out why he's so obsessed with the pittance that working people get at the end of their lives. Is he feeling guilty for having lived his life on the dark side?
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:48 pm
PIA: PETERSON IS an ASS!
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Wall Street caused the problem! Why is there no tax on every stock transaction, commodities transaction, and financial trading transactions. Also all foreign currency transactions should pay a very small 1/2 of one percent tax.
This tax would hurt noone and would easily raise enough $ over the next ten years to completely eliminate
the deficit and put the United States back on a balanced budget.
Come on everyone let's start pushing this! We might even be able to limit the individual rate to 50% on those earning
over $500,000.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Peterson and his partner, David Walker, are nothing more than propagandists. I am proud of those people who had an opportunity to attend those meeting and refused to take the Peterson bait. He has been fighting to destroy Social Security for a very long time. His movie, I.O.U.S.A. was “miraculously” offered during an election year and was intended to scare the American people into voting for neo-conservative candidates. That didn't work and I believe the American people are intelligent enough to reject the ultra conservatives in elections this November. This may be one mid-term election where the President's party actually gains more power. I am encouraged by the results of those meetings. The sad part of this is that I just learned that a friend and former Kansas City Star editorial writer is now working for the Concord Coalition, Peterson's propaganda arm. He had invited me to a similar meeting some years ago. A series of meetings were put on by the Concord Coalition; this one was sponsored by the Kansas City Star, a newspaper that has long been influenced by the Heritage Foundation. The star of the business page was an ideologue who wrote countless columns attacking Social Security as a Ponzi scheme and making unsupportable claims about the Social Security system and the trust fund. His misleading columns encouraged me to write columns for a local newspaper in which I challenged his outrageous attacks on that valuable program.
July 3rd, 2010 at 4:20 pm
The real ponzi scheme is the ideal of perpetual growth that is necessary to keep the economy going.
These people have hierarchicalized and concentrated the economy so much that they have forced unemployment up hugely and just added to the costs of social programs that they want to duck out on. Why don't they just start lobbying for what they really want to do … genocide on all the people they think are worthless … then we can know their true colors.
July 4th, 2010 at 8:43 am
And what's with the follow-up phone calls to those who registered for AmericaSpeaks? If a respondent says, Yes, I attended the event.' the caller hangs up! What kind of polling protocol is that? Are they trying to balance the demographics or skew the final report in Peterson's favor? The event questionnaire was designed as "push poll" to begin with.
July 6th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
[...] the elites have many opportunities to exert power. Peter Hart of the media watchdog group FAIR comments: Given the media's general enthusiasm for Peterson's propaganda on austerity and Social [...]