Washington Post: Many deficit commission staffers paid by outside groups

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

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.

The outsourcing has come under sharp criticism from seniors' organizations and liberal activists, who say the strategy is part of a broader conservative bias favoring painful entitlement cuts over other solutions. The fears of some liberal groups appeared to come true on Wednesday, when the commission's two leaders recommended significant reductions for Social Security and other social-welfare programs.

. . .

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

[mediaman007]

1. Social Security for most of us is not a "social-welfare" program!

It is a return on investment.

[Solly Mack]

2. k/r

[Myrina]

3. And Peterson is all about killing SS and Medicare.

Although I haven't been able to figure out why. :shrug:

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

4. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget reacts to comissioners' proposal

Guess what... it's teh Awesome! Surprise, surprise.

http://crfb.org/document/crfb-reacts-draft-fiscal-commission-proposal

[RainDog]

5. K&R

the assault on Americans continues.

[chill_wind]

6. Obama & Team know exactly what Pete Peterson is all about.

It's not the first time he's been invited to the party. Peter Orszag sat down with him at least twice during the HCR. They must either feel they owe him something or they just like his politics.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. knr

:grr: