Crusade of a lifetime





by digby





According to a review of tax documents from 2007 through 2011, Peterson has personally contributed at least $458 million to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation to cast Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and government spending as in a state of crisis, in desperate need of dramatic cuts. Peterson's millions have done next to nothing to change public opinion: In survey after survey, Americans reject the idea of cutting Social Security and Medicare. A recent national tour organized by AmericaSpeaks and largely funded by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation was met by audiences who rebuffed his proposals.



But Peterson has been able to drive a major shift in elite consensus about government spending, with talk of "grand bargains" that would slash entitlements, cut corporate tax rates and end personal tax breaks, such as the mortgage deduction, that benefit the middle class.



To put Peterson's spending in context, all corporations and unions combined spent less than $4 billion on lobbying in 2011.

This shows, once again, just how dangerous it is to have this .001% that is richer than God deciding they'd like to buy themselves a government. They can, literally, afford it. Just as we are seeing obscenely wealthy people write checks for millions to Super PACs without blinking an eye, ideologues like Peterson are willing to put up even more over time to completely change the basic structure of government for their own gain.

The article goes on to describe the breadth of his endeavors to shred what's left of the safety net and it's amazingly comprehensive. I'll just add a bit of history





Pete Peterson is not a "centrist." He's not a liberal either, although he's pretended to be both over the years depending on which constituency he was trying to con at the time. He has one mission and one mission only: to end "entitlements." There is no deal, short of that, that will satisfy him and as long as the beltway considers him and his ilk to be nice, centrist deficit hawks instead of the wrecking crew they are, they will be right there with him until he (or whoever follows him) gets the job done.



I suppose it's possible to imagine a "deal" which would modestly raise taxes on non-wealthy individuals in exchange for benefits cuts (which doesn't sound like much of a deal to me.) But if it happens I can guarantee that Pete Peterson and the boys will be back in business the next day. They have been doing this for 30 years and they aren't going to stop until they get what they want. After all, actuarial balance doesn't mean anything to people who don't believe that social security is separately funded in the first place.



Here's old Pete in 1994:

"We will no longer be able to afford a system that equates the last third or more of one's adult life with a publicly subsidized vacation." I think that most accurately reflects his real concern.

In January of 2009, before President Obama was inaugurated, I could see the handwriting on the wall when CNN turned two hours on two days to Pete Peterson and his crew. I wrote a long piece about it here and I'll just repeat In January of 2009, before President Obama was inaugurated, I could see the handwriting on the wall when CNN turned two hours on two days to Pete Peterson and his crew. I wrote a long piece about it here and I'll just repeat this one thing: