Obama's budget nominee is on the advisory board for Pete Peterson's anti-Social Security Foundation

[HiPointDem]

Other Professional and Leadership Experience:

Member of:
Board of Directors, Council on Foreign Relations
Aspen Strategy Group
Trilateral Commission
Advisory Group, Nike Foundation
Advisory Board, Next Generation Initiative
Advisory Board, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Professional Advisory Board, ALS Association Evergreen Chapter

https://www.metlife.com/about/corporate-profile/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/index.html

jesus fucking christ.

[HiPointDem]

1. kick

[librechik]

2. just what we need, some WalMart exec who doesn't believe workers deserve a living wage.

the hits keep right on coming. I'm building a tent on my ledge.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

3. Couple of things...

From what I've read on the Peterson website (and this is just gleaned from a single graphic - a position paper would have been helpful), they're calling for chained CPI on the top half of retirees, leaving the bottom half with no change to their benefits. They also advocate raising the taxable base in retirement to cover 90% of one's income in retirement. Again, this would effect only affluent retirees. While this is not a genuinely progressive position -- i.e., tax high incomes and unearned income -- it's at least 50% less draconian than has been put forward by others, including some other Democrats.

And the fact that she's on the "Advisory Council" is not very meaningful. She's a name on the letterheard and probably shows up once a year at some junket/conference to present a paper. The Advisory Board of most organizations like this have nothing to day with the day-to-day operations.

[HiPointDem]

5. baloney.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

10. Thank you for that insight commentary...

I see your baloney and raise you head cheese.

[HiPointDem]

11. more insightful than your apologetics

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

12. Not apologizing...

Just saying, compared to others out there, you could do worse.

Yes. She's a retread Clinton Third-Way Democrat.

There are worse people in this world than apostates.

[HiPointDem]

13. no apostates in this picture.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Right now, 85% of one's Social Security Income is subject to fed income tax if one makes just

$34,000 in total retirement income. That seems to make your assertion that upping that by 5% only effects the affluent, does it not?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

22. Sort of...

That's the answer to every question regarding taxation.

A couple with about $40K in income, based on the current calculation (and assuming they received $10K in Social Security Benefits), would have about $6,200 in taxable Social Security. Under the a 90% base, their taxable Social Security would be about $6,400. I'm rounding.

We're talking about maybe $40 in increased taxes. And the $40,000 in income excludes things like non-taxable portions of pensions, Roth IRA's, and non-deductible contributions to Traditional IRA's, so the person could have more income than $40K, but isn't being taxed on it.

But "affluent" clearly was not the right word, but with $40K in income and $10K in Social Security, the couple would be above the median income for the United States. That much being said, I don't know how this Foundation determines who would be taxed at the 90% rate -- like I said, I was just going off an info graphic. But the implication is that lower income households would still be at the 85% rate.

As always, the devil is in the details.

[Egalitarian Thug]

50. Is there just something so alien or mind bendingly difficult to understand here?

Stealing people's retirement money is just flat out, plain wrong, period.

It seems a simple enough concept to me and the overwhelming majority of people not on DU, yet here, this idea takes on mythic attributes that can only be accounted for by divining the alignment of stars juxtaposed with string theory and gravitic effects within the heart of a pulsar.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

57. Stealing?

You know who refers to taxation as stealing? Yeah, all those folks over on Fox News.

We're talking about raising the taxes on Social Security benefits by about a buck a week, paid by people who are above the median income. Poor folks on Social Security, the ones who can't afford to give up a buck a week, they would have no change in their taxes.

Let me say again that the preferred way to bolster Social Security is to raise (or remove) the cap on taxable income and/or to have Unearned Income taxable. If you can get the votes to make that happen, that would be great.

[sabrina 1]

21. Pete Petersen is an enemy of SS and of the poor and always has been.

Trusting him with anything to do with the most vulnerable Americans in any way, is like deciding that just because someone who once commit murder is now sounding less violent that they should be consulted on how to help the victims of murder. Frankly, I prefer that those we put in charge of the well-being of Americans in general, have ALWAYS been on the correct side of the issues.

Why are we always in the position of trying to justify these choices when the country is filled with great Progressives who do not need apologies or explanations, whose records speak for themselves?

And more importantly, why on earth would ANY Democrat take anything someone like Pete Petersen or his followers have to say about Social Security, a program is determined to privatize and has spent oodles of money over the years trying to do, with even a grain of salt?

So sick of this. We have some great people in our party, but they never seem to get the attention of this administration, leading to threads like this, where there will always be someone jumping in to try to 'explain' why we should simply trust these decisions. There should be no need for these defenses at all as all it takes is to make choices that are not questionable like this.

It is a travesty that this person is being considered in a Democratic Administration. His resume is more than questionable and I hope he drops out, or is simply dropped. The lives of too many Americans are at stake to cater to this kind of thing.

Get the money out of politics. Until that happens, this is what we can expect.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

24. Ummm...

You DO realize that Pete Peterson was not nominated, right? The nominee is a former Clinton Administration staffer with OMB experience who is on the Advisory Committee to the Foundation.

And I'm not telling you to "trust" anything. It's just that this is the Office of Management and Budget, which has very limited policy-making ability. There are bigger fish to fry that the OMB.

[HiPointDem]

28. glad you're here with the admin spin. what would we do without it?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

31. Yep. Nailed it.

Whenever the Obama Administration needs spin, the first thing someone says is, "Let's get on the horn to Jeff in Milwaukee."

I'm a key insider, I am.

As I said, this is the OMB. The people responsible for managing the Paperwork Reduction Act. Their primary function is beans and the counting thereof.

Having a center-right person in the position is not going to be measurably different than having a liberal-left person. It's not something over which I'm willing to experience a spike in my blood pressure.

[HiPointDem]

32. peterson's effort is not 'center right'. it's radical right.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

35. Peterson isn't being named to the OMB

It's a individual who was on the advisory commission to his foundation. People get named to advisory commissions to add gravitas to the roster -- I have no idea what Sylvia Burrell's specific politics may be. And in any case, as OMB Director she will have very little policy-making authority.

[HiPointDem]

37. no, his advisor is. "The main job of the OMB is to assist the President to prepare the budget."

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

44. You seem determined to have a conniption.

Don't let me get in your way.

[HiPointDem]

45. not having a "conniption" but thanks anyway.

since it's all so meaningless & unimportant one wonders why you're here posting about it. you must have better things to do.

[demwing]

54. I don't have better things to do, and you *are* having a conniption

in several threads, with a great deal of enthusiasm, but little to support your position.

[sabrina 1]

62. Pete Petersen was associated with the Deficit Commission through some of those

actually ON the Commission. I know he is not the nominee. My point, not clear now I realize, was that anyone associated with him in any way does not belong in a Democratic administration. To be associated with him means either very bad judgement or complicity with his anti-SS views.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

63. On the Commission

Dick Durban, named as one of the most liberal Senators of 2011-12 by the National Journal, was on the Commission, as was the President of the SEIU.

No members of the Peterson Foundation Advisory Board or on its paid staff are or were on the Deficit Commission.

[sabrina 1]

64. Petersen has had enormous influence over that Commission.

You forgot to mention Paul Ryan and Alan Simpson, and SS betrayer, Erskine Bowles, both good friends of Petersen. Then there is the recent exposure of Petersen behind the 'grassroots' Deficit reduction group.

Anyone in any way associated with, who worked for or is friends with Pete Petersen is automatically suspect when it comes to SS.

I recall this president stating that if he were elected he would not be using 'commissions' to decide issues important to the American people. He called them an 'end run around Congress'. I remember how excited I was about this and other statements he made during his first campaign, such as his opposition to mandated insurance.

But then he appointed a Commission which had done exactly as he said such Commissions do, they are doing an 'end run' around Congress. We now hear that he intends to continue to 'reach out to Republicans' on SS and Medicare. Pete Petersen is definitely getting his money's worth. Beginning with SS even being a part of these so-called deficit discussions. SS HAD ZERO TO DO WITH THE DEFICIT!! So, why has Petersen been able to influence this Commission? Why is SS a part of these discussions?

And mostly, WHY was Alan Simpson and Paul "SS is no longer the third rail of politics" Ryan even on such a Commission?

This nominee is associated with Petersen. That disqualifies him from any position in a Democratic Administration.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

65. The nominee is a female

Until you know something specific about the nominee -- and what the fuck, let's start with her gender or the fact that the nominee had nothing to do with the Deficit Commission, perhaps you should withhold judgment.

[dreamnightwind]

47. Great post, however

either I misread the penultimate paragraph or you're confused. Pete Petersen is not the person being considered by the Obama administration, it's Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

Love your posts, pretty much all of them.

[sabrina 1]

61. Yes, I realize that and should have been more clear. My point was that anyone associated

with Pete Petersen should not be considered for any position in a Democratic administration. It shows extremely bad judgement at best, and at worst, support for his views.

Thanks for your comment

[dtom67]

38. bottom line is....

This isn't a game.

We are talking about taking food from our Elders' mouths.

On an issue like this, there is no " ahh, it ain't so bad! ".

If we can afford to give Banksters free money, we can take care of those that came before us.

Its about right and wrong.

Not about masturbatory political punditry.


Sometimes, being open-minded just doesn't make sense.


Politicians try to make everything about money.

Just remember that we have a fiat currency.

That means nothin'.

Amen....

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

48. Speaking of masturbatory punditry...

The bottom line is that we're talking about taking an additional $1 a week from retirees who are at an income level that is above both the poverty level and the median income in the U.S.

The best way to solve Social Security's solvency issues is to remove (or raise) the cap on taxable base income for Social Security and/or make unearned income (dividends, interest, and capital gains) subject to Social Security taxation. THAT is the Progressive Approach.

But given the choice between the Progressive Approach (and how often has that actually worked out for us in the past twenty years) and a less-progressive approach -- either of which will gaurantee the long term financial stablity of a vital party of the social safety net, I'll take whichever approach gets the job done and is achievable in the current political climate.

You give me 61 Senators and a Progressive Caucus in the House that is in the majority, and we'll get some serious shit done. In the meantime, we do the best that we can do.

[HiPointDem]

49. elect more dems and everything will be great!

[SidDithers]

53. This is Democratic Underground, Hannah...

everyone here is supposed to want more Dems elected.

Do you want fewer Dems elected?

Sid

[demwing]

55. So are you now against electing more dems?

[bornskeptic]

40. Others on the advisory board include Bill Bradley, Mario Cuomo, and Donna Shala.

http://www.pgpf.org/single-rail/foundation-advisors.aspx

Of course membership on it means nothing, but anything is a good excuse for outrage on DU.

[HiPointDem]

46. yeah, it's so meaningless, you wonder why they bother. because bill bradley et al are such

staunch defenders of the little guy.

[bobduca]

60. I think you are supposed to call it "poutrage"

But yeah, nothing to see move along.

[HiPointDem]

4. it's a cast of sellouts & shills

Foundation Advisors

Diana Aviv: President and CEO, Independent Sector

Craig Barrett: Former Chairman, Intel Corporation

Richard Beattie: Chairman, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Sen. William Bradley: Managing Director, Allen & Company LLC; Former United States Senator

Sylvia Mathews Burwell: President, Walmart Foundation

Gov. Mario Cuomo: Of Counsel, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP; Former Governor of New York

Barry Diller: Chairman and CEO, IAC/InterActiveCorp

Roger Ferguson, Jr.: President and CEO, TIAA-Cref

Harvey Fineberg: President, Institute of Medicine

Leslie Gelb: President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations

Thomas Mackell: Chairman, United Benefits and Pension Services, Inc.

William Novelli: Professor, Georgetown University; Former CEO of AARP

Richard Plepler: Co-President, Home Box Office

Sec. Robert Rubin: Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former United States Secretary of the Treasury

Richard Salomon: Managing Partner, East End Advisors

Sheryl Sandberg: Chief Operating Officer, Facebook

Sec. Donna Shalala: President, University of Miami; Former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

Sec. George Shultz: Thomas W & Susan B Ford Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institute – Stanford University; Former United States Secretary of State

David Beaumont Smith: Executive Director, National Conference on Citizenship

Lesley Stahl: Correspondent, 60 Minutes

Paul Volcker: Chairman, Economic Recovery Advisory Board; Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve

David M. Walker: President and CEO, Comeback America Initiative

http://www.pgpf.org/single-rail/foundation-advisors.aspx


http://www.pgpf.org/single-rail/foundation-advisors.aspx

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Notice the return of the Clinton Neo-Cons,

same shit just a new day. You can see the real picture emerge now,Wall Street has our President by the short ones. Same shit that we seen in the late nineties,balance budgets on the backs of the workers and old people. Watch the amp-up on the P.R.machine this week. More yaddy-yaddy,bottom line,F---- the workers and Seniors. Said before,the fix is in. Noticed Dashle and Gephart in the back ground with the XL crap.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. Notice the repeated interconnections with the Trilateral commission

( Zbigniew Brzezinski, co-founder of the Trilateral Commission with David Rockefeller in 1973,)
Geithner also is a member, and his informal group of advisors include E. Gerald Corrigan, Paul Volker, Alan Greenspan
and Peter G. Peterson, among others.
Geitherner's first job after college was with Henry Kissinger at Kissinger Associates.

[HiPointDem]

18. and burwell came out of jay rockefeller's turf; her resume is much like geithner's in that she

stepped into high-level gov't work right after college (hell, during college).

groomed from an early age.

and the little fairy-tale story; grandchild of poor immigrants makes good!

except whenever you actually look into those stories, you generally find something like a rich/powerful relative in the picture.

Mathews' parents were Greek immigrants who came to America to provide a better life for their children. She and her siblings were the first generation of her family to go to college. Now her daughter - a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard graduate - has risen to the heights of U.S. government.

"She's a grandchild of poor Greek immigrants that came here and worked hard and sent their kids to college," Mathews said. "It just shows that this country works, it still works for all of us."

Mathews said her daughter's interest in politics began at a very young age.

When she was in grade school, she helped campaign for her best friend's father, who was running for Summers County Commissioner.

At 11, she and her friends volunteered to help out with Jay Rockefeller's first gubernatorial campaign. "They were out campaigning for Jay - they were just little kids," Mathews said.
http://dailymail.com/News/NationandWorld/201301280240

yup, uh-huh, i believe that.

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. Well, if poor immigrants is a qualifier

Al Capone was the CHILD of poor immigrants.
How's that for a false equivalency, Mathews?

[bluedigger]

7. Who is Peter G. Peterson and Why Should We Trust Him?

The Peter G. Peterson foundation claims to be bipartisan, yet their former CEO is out pimping a book, a new advocacy group and a position. Peter G. Peterson served as Secretary of Commerce under Richard Nixon. He claims to be very, very, very concerned about our deficit, yet not one word is uttered in this report about Wall Street's contribution to the deficit, the collapse of our economy, or any responsibility on the part of the financial industry to help reduce the deficit they helped create.

Peterson Foundation staff members served as staff to Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson. Peter G. Peterson is founder of Blackstone Group, an investment group that made him billions during his Wall Street tenure. He is a fiscal conservative, a deficit hawk and he and his foundation are on a mission to tell us that we should all sacrifice and suffer to pay off the national debt while letting Wall Street completely off the hook.

Erskine Bowles is also on Wall Street's payroll, so it's not too much of a surprise to discover that he might have "forgotten" to pay attention to Wall Street responsibility for our current economic woes.

...

Here's my bottom line on our good friends at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. They may not be extremists like Dick Armey and his ilk, but they are motivated by power, profit, and what's good for Wall Street, not what's good for ordinary folks like you and me. Given their deep and fundamental involvement in this draft report, my verdict is that the whole thing should be rejected on its face, simply because motives aren't altruistic, nor are they really serious about what's good for the country. They're far more serious about what's good for investment bankers, hedge fund managers, and Wall Street. http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/who-peter-g-peterson-and-why-should-we-trus

[KoKo]

20. Another Nail goes in.....

[RobinA]

67. Check Out

the most recent issue of The Nation for almost an entire issue devoted to Mr. Peterson and why you should not trust him.

[HiPointDem]

8. burwell's political donations

Recipients

Barack Obama President of the United States
3 contributions ? $4300 ('08) [ +1 ]
Alan Khazei City Year co-founder and Brookline MA resident
4 contributions ? $3500 ('09?'11)
Democratic National Committee
1 contribution ? $1000 ('08) [ +1 ]
John Kerry US Senator from Massachusetts
2 contributions ? $2000 ('04)
Hillary Clinton Former Secretary of State
3 contributions ? $1750 ('06?'08)
Erskine B Bowles Bill Clinton's chief of staff from 1996-1998; Senior Advisor at...
2 contributions ? $750 ('02?'04)
Darcy Burner
1 contribution ? $500 ('06)
Kent Conrad US Senator from North Dakota
1 contribution ? $500 ('03)
Anne Barth
1 contribution ? $500 ('08)
Joe Manchin III US Senator from West Virginia
2 contributions ? $500 ('10)
WV State Democratic Executive Committee
1 contribution ? $350 ('96)
Joseph M Torsella
1 contribution ? $300 ('04)
Jon Tester US Senator from Montana
1 contribution ? $250 ('06)
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
1 contribution ? $250 ('10)
Patty Murray US Senator from Washington
1 contribution ? $250 ('10)
Byron Leslie Dorgan US Representative and Senator from North Dakota
1 contribution ? $250 ('03)
David Allen Nacht
1 contribution ? $250 ('07)
Fred Duval
1 contribution ? $250 ('02)
Rahm Emanuel Mayor of Chicago: Former White House Chief of Staff
1 contribution ? $250 ('01)
Ira S Shapiro Lobbyist
1 contribution ? $250 ('01)

http://littlesis.org/person/33550/Sylvia_Mathews_Burwell/recipients

[joeybee12]

9. "Nice" article on their site about how corporations are taxed too heavily...

What a phucking scam.

[duffyduff]

14. Peter J. Peterson is basically a gangster

He is 86, and he can't die fast enough for me.

[HiPointDem]

23. +1. he gets tax breaks for spending $500 million on destroying social security via his tax-exempt

'charitable' foundation.

just like bill gates gets the same breaks for destroying education.

[L0oniX]

16. The good cop bad cop corporate sociopath plan is working. n/t

[KoKo]

19. Spelled Out:

Burwell, Sylvia Mathews

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, 47
President, The Walmart Foundation

Professional Highlights:

President, The Walmart Foundation (Jan. 2012 – Present)
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation
President, Global Development Program (Apr. 2006 – Dec. 2011)
Chief Operating Officer (2002 – Apr. 2006)
Executive Vice President (2001 – 2002)
Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. (1998 – 2001)
Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton (1997 – 1998)
Chief of Staff to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin (1995 – 1997)
Staff Director, National Economic Council (1993 – 1995)
Manager of President Clinton’s economic transition team (1992-1993)
Staff, Clinton/Gore Campaign (1992)
Associate, McKinsey and Company (1990 – 1992)

Other Professional and Leadership Experience:

Member of:
Board of Directors, Council on Foreign Relations
Aspen Strategy Group
Trilateral Commission
Advisory Group, Nike Foundation
Advisory Board, Next Generation Initiative
Advisory Board, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Professional Advisory Board, ALS Association Evergreen Chapter

Education:

B.A., cum laude, Harvard University
B.A., Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar)

[Teamster Jeff]

26. K&R

[MannyGoldstein]

27. Finally! Pete Peterson will have a voice at the table.

This great American has been kept at arms length from robbing the 99% blind reforming government for too long.

Regards,

Third-Way Manny

[KoKo]

59. Absolutely "3rd Way"...Petersen Breaks his Chains!

and...he comes out in the guise of an "ANGEL!"

She's quite lovely..and has good connections to Clinton/Gore/Robert Rubin....that she is special in the celestial universe.

Oops...forgot...the connections with the "underworld"....but then there are those who think that Angels are converted from the Dark Forces of Satan.

REDEMPTION ...from Pete Petersen, and the Other Dark Sides...can be forgiven....IF __ __ _ ________. (fill in the blank)

[nykym]

29. We could take a cue from

our ummmm friends across the aisle and FILIBUSTER her nomination.

[kenny blankenship]

30. Ah yes, the Audacity of Hoax

[99Forever]

33. President Obama would never nominate someone...

... that wasn't just a wonderful person with the best interests of all Democrats in mind. He is a Democrat, you know. All Democrats are good, all Republicans are evil.

[jsr]

36. Correction: the best interests of CERTAIN Democrats

himself among them.

[99Forever]

39. You must hate him.

In fact, you must have always hated him.

[jsr]

41. Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists?

LOL.

[99Forever]

42. Correct.

And you hate us for our freedoms. And you always let the white Presidents get away with everything.

[hay rick]

34. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Not.

[WillyT]

43. K & R !!!

[AnotherMcIntosh]

51. Is anyone who has been following the news since Bush and Cheney left office surprised?

[SammyWinstonJack]

52. Shocking!

[YoungDemCA]

56. I guess we need to figure out what's more important

Being Democrats, or being principled progressives.

This administration is making it very hard to be both, I must say.

[WillyT]

58. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said !!!

[RobinA]

66. Is It Not Possible

to find qualified people for these positions who have actually worked at something meaningful in their lives. Groups, Commissions, Foundations, Initiatives, Chapters, Boards of Directors, Wall Street this and that???? Who are these people?

It seems there's this incestuous cabal floating around over top of everything, running everything. Half of them seem to have gone to Yale (I have nothing against Yale), and the other half a handful of other approved schools.

A new idea from somewhere certainly would be refreshing, but they are going to have to get someone from off the reservation to come up with it.