The President?s Fiscal Commission held its first meeting in Washington today. No real surprises here, with the standard promises of non-partisanship, while at the same time both sides expressed very different views of how to meet the President?s call to reduce the deficit. One thing is clear; the future of Social Security is at the heart of those differences.We?ve written here before about the seemingly singularly goal of many on this commission to cut Social Security as the way to balance our federal books. The media too has jumped on this bandwagon with little coverage of how Social Security is actually fundedand the seldom-mentioned truth that the program?s funds have been provided by American workers, not the federal government.Social Security hasn?t contributed a penny to our fiscal woes. That is our message to reporters writing on the Fiscal Commission meeting today. Did they get that message? Maybe. Here is just some of their coverage this morning.
- Obama panel weighs politically toxic deficit fixes-ASSOCIATED PRESS
- Panel to seek solutions to budget woes-REUTERS
- Liberals battle for benefits-THE HILL
- Commission On Debt Will Focus On Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security- KAISER DAILY HEALTH
- Kennelly Warns Against Social Security Cuts-CONGRESS DAILY
- Advocates for Seniors Want Social Security Off Deficit Commission?s Agenda-CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY
Tomorrow, billionaire Pete Peterson?s foundation shows us just what that kind of money buys when they host their own fiscal summitwhich you can be sure will continue their campaign to cut Social Security to pay for fiscal failures of the past. But we recommend you spend your time here instead–the Campaign for America?s virtual summit.The Fiscal Commission will meet again May 26th.