Letters to the Senator

Senator Bingaman,

(and Senator Udall, and, even though he isn't mine, Representative Grayson - hey, I'm a completist...)

So, I'm curious. How much do you know about the newest Social Security commission? Now admittedly, parts of this are from Huffington Post, and I haven't been entirely satisfied that they aren't trying to be a left-wing Fox News (which, God knows, is the last thing we need - we're getting enough lies from the Republicans).

However, we seem to have a group of white, middle-aged millionaires, meeting in secret to decide the fate of Social Security, Medicare, and all the other social programs the GOP hates.

They're the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and they seem to be trying to stay under the radar, possibly until the midterms are over. But some of their members are fascinating. For example, the only member who knows about defense spending, for example, is David M. Cote, CEO of Honeywell (you know, the major defense contractor).

And Peter G. Peterson, billionaire and former Nixon administration Secretary of Commerce (and former Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers) has already sponsored an event attended by both co-chairs and two other members of the commission, where they ignored a lot of the real problems we're facing, and tried to get all banker-friendly.

(Peterson, by the way, has been on a crusade to destroy Social Security for decades now.)

Just thought you should consider looking into this. I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for your time.