Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid named his picks to the congressional debt
reduction “super committee” yesterday. The Huffington Post reports: “The
choices are not particularly trusted in liberal circles either, in part
because of concerns that moneyed interests may come in to play when it comes
time to negotiate. In Kerry’s home state of Massachusetts, meanwhile, the
defense industry has tripled in size since 2000.”
DEAN BAKER [via Alan Barber], barber at cepr.net, http://www.cepr.net/index.php/beat-the-press
Available for a limited number of interviews, Baker is author of Plunder and Blunder: The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He said today: “The Washington Post told readers that Senator John Kerry’s appointment to the ‘super committee’ that is supposed to come up with $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction ‘could help appease liberals.’ Senator Kerry has repeatedly expressed his willingness to cut Social Security and Medicare, despite the fact that retirees and near retirees saw much of their wealth destroyed with the
collapse of the housing bubble. It is difficult to see why liberals would be
appeased by this selection, especially since the Republicans selected are
likely to be adamantly opposed to any tax increases.”
Baker also co-wrote the book Social Security: The Phony Crisis and regularly
blogs at “Beat the Press.”