Saturday, December 8, 2012

Dude, Where's My Job?

If you're feeling frustrated by getting caught up in the austerity-deficit-obsession framing of the Right, Center, and Neo-Liberal-Left, don't feel bad.

You're the victim of a corporate scam, funded by the ill-gotten gains of private equity billionaire Pete Peterson, who has been generously investing in media and think tank generation of deficit hysteria, through his tax-exempt (!) foundation.

Meanwhile, the former CEO of Blackstone group pays the bargain-basement 15% tax rate on carried interest that is the relatively exclusive privilege of America's richest families and hedge fund managers.   The guy ran around leaving a trail of smashed union jobs and corporate wreckage.

We were idiots to let him get away with this, but we are insane if we treat him as a source of authority for dealing with the severe unemployment crisis this country is facing.  You know the old saying, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice....

Criticizing a "Fiscal Summit" that Peterson organized, Bob Kuttner of the American Prospect pointed out the irony of involving Peterson's hand-picked experts -- Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin -- to pontificate about how to fix the economy they wrecked.
If the orgy of financial deregulation that led to the crash had two prime sponsors, the Democratic one was Rubin and the Republican one was Greenspan. Inviting these characters to a fiscal summit to devise a way out of the crisis is like inviting arsonists to design a seminar on fire prevention.
Peterson himself, who underwrites the work of the foundation with a billion dollar gift, made his money as one of America’s private-equity moguls. Private equity companies have been among main offenders in the world of shadow banking that helped cause the collapse, and are now lobbying against tough financial reform and regulation.
So, the next time you see Peterson, or David Walker, or one of these "Fix the Debt CEOs" running around barking economic orders, turn on your crap detector.  You want to fix the Debt, Mr. Corporate CEO?  Shut up and pay your fair share, and quit gouging the public and gouging workers with your lavish tax breaks, corporate welfare and union-smashing schemes. 

As Malcolm X said, "...Ya been had! Ya been took! Ya been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok!"


Cross-posted from the Campaign for America's Future

What You Need To Know About Peter G. Peterson

What's Behind His Big-Money Campaign On The Federal Deficit

Related Topics:
Peter G. Peterson is an American businessman who was CEO of several prominent companies such as Bell & Howell and Lehman Brothers before founding the private equity firm Blackstone Group. He is currently most well-known for being the founder and principal financier of his Peter G. Peterson Foundation, that claims their mission is to "increase public awareness of the nature and urgency of key fiscal challenges threatening America's future and to accelerate action on them." He also served as Secretary of Commerce under President Richard Nixon.
He has been called the most influential billionaire in politics due to his spreading of his wealth throughout the political spectrum to reduce the debt.

Our Take on Peter G. Peterson

These "Fix the Debt" CEOs are the same CEOs that crashed our economy, took their bonuses, and ran, leaving the rest of America to clean up their mess. Although their calls for bipartisan cooperation hit all the right notes to the American public, we believe that the push to get a lower corporate tax rate from a bipartisan solution is the ulterior motive of these CEOs. Peterson himself has contributed almost half a billion dollars to his foundation that pushes for the reform of programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Peterson has not limited his donations to one party, but rather built a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. His efforts are complimented by his online news service, The Fiscal Times, which supports the Peterson-funded groups in his vision.

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