For those who don’t know, the Committee’s Web site offers some answers. The group was founded in the early 1980s as an outside-the-government voice on budget matters. It runs a number of ongoing projects. One is the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform, funded, according to the Web site, “through generous support from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and Pew Charitable Trusts.” It also runs the Fiscal Roadmap project. I clicked on the link, and up came an April 2010 report exploring fiscal crisis scenarios. The report listed the Committee’s directors. They included Peter Peterson and David M.Walker, who heads Peterson’s foundation.
In the spirit of disclosure, Peterson is also a funder of CJR.
There was a good interview with Dean Baker on the subject:
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/19/social_security_under_attack_cuts_proposed
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2010/7/19/part_ii_social_security_under_attack_cuts_proposed_higher_retirement_age_suggested
"BEN BERNANKE: The type of programs are not self-funded. They’re unfunded liabilities to a significant extent at this point. They are the biggest single component of spending, going forward. Now, there are various ways to address this. You can restructure entitlement programs. You can cut other things. But at some point, you need to address the overall budgetary situation. If you don’t, you’ll get a picture like this one, where interest rates are rising, interest payments are rising, because the debt outstanding is growing exponentially, and at that point, things will come apart...
AMY GOODMAN: Economist Dean Baker, your response?
DEAN BAKER: Well, this isn’t the first time Mr. Bernanke has misled Congress on something very important. You recall, he was a big factor in pushing for the TARP and fundamentally misrepresented the situation in financial markets to get Congress to approve it. But he’s done the exact same thing here again. He uses the term "entitlements" a lot. People here in Washington do that. They know better. Again, the story with Social Security, we’re all looking at the same numbers. Ben Bernanke would not, if he had him here, tell you anything other than what I just told you, that the Congressional Budget Office says the program could pay all benefits through the year 2039 with no changes whatsoever. Relatively minor changes would keep it fully solvent decades more into the future. The bigger problem is Medicare and Medicaid. But again, Mr. Bernanke knows full well, it’s not that those programs are out of control; it’s that our healthcare costs are out of control. So the real problem is that we have to fix our healthcare system. We pay more than twice as much for our healthcare per person as people do in Germany, in Italy, France, Canada, whatever country you choose to pick. If our per-person healthcare costs were the same as what they are in those countries, we would be looking at enormous budget surpluses for the indefinite future, rather than deficits. The problem is that people like Mr. Bernanke don’t want us to challenge the insurance industry, the highly paid medical specialists, the pharmaceutical companies. Instead, they’re saying cut Medicare, Medicaid for the elderly. So it’s just really a dishonest story. The issue here is healthcare. That’s what we should be talking about.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Dean Baker, what did the so-called landmark healthcare legislation do?
DEAN BAKER: It extended coverage to a lot of people that wouldn’t have had it otherwise. So, in that sense, I think it was a very good thing. It also established community rating, so that people who get sick and lose their job could still hope to get covered, because otherwise typically people, when they lose their job, no one is going to cover them if they have a serious health condition. So, in that sense, I think it was a big step forward. But in terms of covering—controlling cost, it’s really hard to see that accomplish much. We have to go back to the drawing board. And what’s really pernicious is you have all these people running around Washington saying, "Oh, we tried that. We didn’t get anywhere, so now we have to cut Social Security, we have to cut Medicare." That’s not acceptable. "
It goes on to talk about the morality of cutting this generation's guaranteed retiree benefits after their other retiree benefits were wiped out by the crash.
I don't see too many other
#1 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Tue 3 Aug 2010 at 01:03 AM
What's happening with social security disability? I am 56 years old, and was denied applying my first time. Is this to be expected?
#2 Posted by Jack Simpson, CJR on Mon 1 Nov 2010 at 10:20 AM