There haven't been so many forces aligned to make significant cuts to Social Security in a long time. Dean Baker adroitly exposes the forces behind the assault.
The thing about Wall Streeters is that no matter how much money you give them, they always want more. Now they are using their political power and control over the media to attack Social Security.
This effort is being led by billionaire investment banker Peter Peterson. Mr. Peterson has personally profited to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from the "fund managers' tax subsidy," an obscure provision of the tax code that allows billionaires to pay a lower tax rate than schoolteachers and firefighters. However, Peterson believes in giving back. He has committed $1 billion to an effort that is intended to take away the Social Security benefits that people have worked and paid for.
It's, as always, about the rich getting richer on the backs of the middle class. Read Baker's entire piece for the full story on Peterson and his allies, including the Washington Post, and keep all that in mind over the next few weeks as we watch a multi-pronged effort to weaken Social Security unfold.
Step one was announced at Pete Peterson press conference today. He's launching "a national television campaign drawing attention to the need to tackle the country's fiscal imbalances." On hand were deficit peacocks Evan Bayh and Kent Conrad, who are so concerned about the deficit that they both spoke up on behalf of America's millionaires today, saying that the Bush tax cuts for the super-rich should be extended, and damn the $700 billion we're going to have to borrow from somewhere to do it. Their unshakable belief that the magic of trickle-down is going to kick in someday would be funny, if it weren't so destructive.
With Peterson setting the stage, the next step will come next week, on November 17 when a task force set up by Alice Rivlin and former Sen. Pete Domenici. Their intent? "The ad hoc group, which predates the real deficit commission, is working on a plan that will address the taboos the Obama commission is skirting, including raising taxes and cutting Social Security and Medicare, Rivlin says." Expect a real emphasis on the cutting Social Security and Medicare. Rivlin is also on the catfood commission, and has long been an advocate of cutting Social Security. Her membership in both groups is telling.
Here's one very likely scenario: the Rivlin commission is poised to issue extremely harsh recommendations for Social Security and Medicare cuts, and promote a basic false narrative that Social Security contributes to the deficit; that cutting Social Security is inevitable; that long term austerity for the nation should be aimed at social programs; and that reducing the deficit should be addressed by cutting these programs rather than through tax increases.
The cuts this group will propose in social programs will be so draconian as to make the subsequent catfood commission report on December 1st look reasonable. That's the next stage in the assault. They'll appear as the "compromise" proposals to the much harsher Rivlin commission, and thus be presented as the acceptable alternative. Tools like Kent Conrad and Evan Bayh will dutifully bleat about the importance for our children's future of robbing them and their parents of a secure old age and making sure the rich don't have to pay more in taxes.
This is all happening in the next three weeks, and we can fight back. First, call your member of congress and your Senators and let them know that you oppose any cuts to Social Security--whether that's raising the retirement age, changing the benefits formula, or cutting cost of living adjustments. We'll have more specific actions coming up in the coming days and weeks.