Many deficit commission staffers paid by outside groups

[n2doc]

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 10, 2010; 8:12 PM

The leaders of President Obama's deficit commission sparked criticism from both sides of the political aisle Wednesday for proposing broad cuts to federal programs.

But the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has also come under attack for its unusual approach to staffing: Many of its employees aren't employed by the panel at all.

Instead, about one in four commission staffers is paid by outside entities, many of which have strong ideological points of view about how to tackle the deficit.

For example, the salaries of two senior staffers, Marc Goldwein and Ed Lorenzen, are paid by private groups that have previously advocated cuts to entitlement programs. Lorenzen is paid by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, while Goldwein is paid by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which is also partly funded by the Peterson group.

more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/10/AR2010111006850.html?nav=hcmodule

[Hannah Bell]

1. k&r. what a farce. this would have been a major scandal 30 years ago.

now it's taken for granted.

what a sad joke our so-called democracy is.

[TexasObserver]

2. It was a stacked deck from the beginning.

Pete Peterson is one of the worst scoundrels in America. He's left over Nixon trash. He's a long time right wing "hit" man on these kind of issues.

[somone]

3. Just like the legions of industry lobbyists working on the health care reform bill

a.k.a. the Health Insurance Industry Enrichment Act.

[leftstreet]

5. +1

Exactly!

[girl gone mad]

4. k & r

[leftstreet]

6. Everyone has a seat at the table but us

:-(

K&R