Alan Simpson: Political poison

By Will Parry

President Obama has appointed former Republican Senator Alan K. Simpson, an inveterate foe of Social Security, to co-chair a bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles will be the Democratic co-chair. The President also appointed Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union; Ann Fudge, former Young & Rubicam Brands CEO; David Cote, Honeywell CEO, and Alice Rivlin, former Federal Reserve vice chairman. Twelve members chosen by Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders will round out the panel.

The commission will be charged with coming up with recommendations for steps to reduce the federal deficit. For the Republican panelists, and especially Simpson, that means cutting Social Security and other basic entitlement programs.

The progressive economist Dean Baker cites an example from Simpson’s record that reflects “his hatred for the (Social Security) program.” During his years in the Senate, Simpson pushed a plan to cut the annual COLA to 1% point less than the Consumer Price Index. The effect, Baker says, would be to cut benefits 5% in five years, 10% in ten years and 20% in 20 years.

Writing in The Progressive, Ruth Conniff says that "on the fundamental ideological issues of tax, spending and deficits, Obama is giving away the store."

"Government deficits are not an immediate threat to American citizens," Conniff says. "The immediate threats are unemployment, foreclosure, and personal bankruptcies -- more than 60% of which are attributable to staggering health care debt."

"The fetish of long-term deficit reduction is politically poisonous -- and economically pointless," says economist James Galbraith. "In reality, we need big budget deficits. We need them now. We need bigger deficits to stabilize state and local governments and to provide jobs and payroll tax relief. And we may need them for a long time, on an increasing scale."


The commission's mandate says nothing about jobs or bankruptcies. Simpson and his Republican colleagues on the commission can be expected to recommend bleeding the checks of Social Security recipients to “solve” the federal deficit. Congress would vote on the recommendations by the end of 2010.

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