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Trump the Fiscal Commission; Tell Congress: "Don't Cut Social Security--Strengthen It!"
Nov 30, 2010
On December 1, President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
is expected to make a pitch for addressing the nation’s deficit and
debt challenges by attacking the retirement security of working
Americans.
The commission co-chairs-former Republican Senator Alan Simpson and
former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowes-have made no
secret about their determination to serve Wall Street speculators rather
than the victims of the speculators.
Simpson and Bowles want to:
- Raise the retirement age to 69.
- Slash retirement benefits by up to 35 percent for middle-income earners.
- Reduce Social Security’s annual cost of living adjustments.
- Cut healthcare benefits, including Medicare, and raise fees for veterans.
Make no mistake: The Simpson-Bowles plan is a scheme to begin the
process of privatizing Social Security and Medicare -- a goal already
outlined by key congressional Republicans such as Wisconsin Congressman
Paul Ryan, the incoming chair of the House Budget Committee.
This approach plan is wrongheaded. It asks nothing of the Wall Street
interests that created the crisis. It asks everything of working
Americans who have already bailed out the banksters once.
That’s unacceptable. And today, before commission co-chairs grab the
headlines with itheir wrongheaded proposals, Americans need to flood the
switchboards of Congress and the White House to say: Don’t gut Social
Security and Medicare to pay for another Wall Street bailout.
The 215 labor, religious, civil rights and community organizations that have formed the national coalition to strengthen Social Security have designated today, November 30, as “National Call Congress Day.” They’re urging Americans to call senators toll-free at 1-866-529-7630. Get more information here.
What’s the ask?
The coalition says:
1.) Social Security did not cause the federal deficit; its benefits should not be cut to reduce the deficit.
2.) Social Security should not be privatized in whole or in part.
3.) Social Security should not be means-tested.
4.) Congress should act in the coming few years to close Social
Security’s funding gap by requiring those who are most able to afford it
to pay somewhat more.
5.) Social Security’s retirement age, already scheduled to increase from 65 to 67, should not be raised further.
6.) Social Security’s benefits should not be reduced, including by changes to the COLA or the benefit formula.
7.) Social Security’s benefits should be increased for those who are most disadvantaged.
That’s not the commission’s plan. That’s not Wall Street’s plan.
That’s America’s plan. And Congress needs to know that-no matter what
Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles say-working Americans will not pay for
Wall Street’s mess.
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© 2023 The Nation
John Nichols
John Nichols is Washington correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. His books co-authored with Robert W. McChesney are: "Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America" (2014), "The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again" (2011), and "Tragedy & Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy" (2006). Nichols' other books include: "The "S" Word: A Short History of an American Tradition...Socialism" (2015), "Dick: The Man Who is President (2004) and "The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism" (2006).
On December 1, President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
is expected to make a pitch for addressing the nation’s deficit and
debt challenges by attacking the retirement security of working
Americans.
The commission co-chairs-former Republican Senator Alan Simpson and
former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowes-have made no
secret about their determination to serve Wall Street speculators rather
than the victims of the speculators.
Simpson and Bowles want to:
- Raise the retirement age to 69.
- Slash retirement benefits by up to 35 percent for middle-income earners.
- Reduce Social Security’s annual cost of living adjustments.
- Cut healthcare benefits, including Medicare, and raise fees for veterans.
Make no mistake: The Simpson-Bowles plan is a scheme to begin the
process of privatizing Social Security and Medicare -- a goal already
outlined by key congressional Republicans such as Wisconsin Congressman
Paul Ryan, the incoming chair of the House Budget Committee.
This approach plan is wrongheaded. It asks nothing of the Wall Street
interests that created the crisis. It asks everything of working
Americans who have already bailed out the banksters once.
That’s unacceptable. And today, before commission co-chairs grab the
headlines with itheir wrongheaded proposals, Americans need to flood the
switchboards of Congress and the White House to say: Don’t gut Social
Security and Medicare to pay for another Wall Street bailout.
The 215 labor, religious, civil rights and community organizations that have formed the national coalition to strengthen Social Security have designated today, November 30, as “National Call Congress Day.” They’re urging Americans to call senators toll-free at 1-866-529-7630. Get more information here.
What’s the ask?
The coalition says:
1.) Social Security did not cause the federal deficit; its benefits should not be cut to reduce the deficit.
2.) Social Security should not be privatized in whole or in part.
3.) Social Security should not be means-tested.
4.) Congress should act in the coming few years to close Social
Security’s funding gap by requiring those who are most able to afford it
to pay somewhat more.
5.) Social Security’s retirement age, already scheduled to increase from 65 to 67, should not be raised further.
6.) Social Security’s benefits should not be reduced, including by changes to the COLA or the benefit formula.
7.) Social Security’s benefits should be increased for those who are most disadvantaged.
That’s not the commission’s plan. That’s not Wall Street’s plan.
That’s America’s plan. And Congress needs to know that-no matter what
Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles say-working Americans will not pay for
Wall Street’s mess.
John Nichols
John Nichols is Washington correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. His books co-authored with Robert W. McChesney are: "Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America" (2014), "The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again" (2011), and "Tragedy & Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy" (2006). Nichols' other books include: "The "S" Word: A Short History of an American Tradition...Socialism" (2015), "Dick: The Man Who is President (2004) and "The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism" (2006).
On December 1, President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
is expected to make a pitch for addressing the nation’s deficit and
debt challenges by attacking the retirement security of working
Americans.
The commission co-chairs-former Republican Senator Alan Simpson and
former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowes-have made no
secret about their determination to serve Wall Street speculators rather
than the victims of the speculators.
Simpson and Bowles want to:
- Raise the retirement age to 69.
- Slash retirement benefits by up to 35 percent for middle-income earners.
- Reduce Social Security’s annual cost of living adjustments.
- Cut healthcare benefits, including Medicare, and raise fees for veterans.
Make no mistake: The Simpson-Bowles plan is a scheme to begin the
process of privatizing Social Security and Medicare -- a goal already
outlined by key congressional Republicans such as Wisconsin Congressman
Paul Ryan, the incoming chair of the House Budget Committee.
This approach plan is wrongheaded. It asks nothing of the Wall Street
interests that created the crisis. It asks everything of working
Americans who have already bailed out the banksters once.
That’s unacceptable. And today, before commission co-chairs grab the
headlines with itheir wrongheaded proposals, Americans need to flood the
switchboards of Congress and the White House to say: Don’t gut Social
Security and Medicare to pay for another Wall Street bailout.
The 215 labor, religious, civil rights and community organizations that have formed the national coalition to strengthen Social Security have designated today, November 30, as “National Call Congress Day.” They’re urging Americans to call senators toll-free at 1-866-529-7630. Get more information here.
What’s the ask?
The coalition says:
1.) Social Security did not cause the federal deficit; its benefits should not be cut to reduce the deficit.
2.) Social Security should not be privatized in whole or in part.
3.) Social Security should not be means-tested.
4.) Congress should act in the coming few years to close Social
Security’s funding gap by requiring those who are most able to afford it
to pay somewhat more.
5.) Social Security’s retirement age, already scheduled to increase from 65 to 67, should not be raised further.
6.) Social Security’s benefits should not be reduced, including by changes to the COLA or the benefit formula.
7.) Social Security’s benefits should be increased for those who are most disadvantaged.
That’s not the commission’s plan. That’s not Wall Street’s plan.
That’s America’s plan. And Congress needs to know that-no matter what
Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles say-working Americans will not pay for
Wall Street’s mess.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
LATEST NEWS
Vowing to Fight Back, Senate Dems Decry Trump Attack on Liberal-Left Groups
“All of this ties back to money and people enriching themselves, and bending the knee to Donald Trump to make it happen,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost.
Sep 18, 2025
Democratic lawmakers on Thursday vowed to fight back against US President Donald Trump's efforts to attack and dismantle liberal and progressive organizations.
Led by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the Democrats introduced the No Political Enemies Act aimed at protecting organizations' free speech rights from retaliation from the federal government.
During his speech touting the new legislation, Murphy recounted recent actions by Trump and his administration, including the president's threats to "arrest members of the Soros family simply for funding groups that oppose his agenda," as well as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr's pressure campaign to get ABC to fire late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
Murphy then said that the No Political Enemies Act was necessary because "Donald Trump is right now instructing his Department of Justice to go on the hunt for his political enemies" for challenging him.
"Trump is making it 100% clear that he is going to ramp up his efforts to use the power of the federal government to punish his critics," he said. "This is legislation that makes sure that the law is on the side of free speech and the right to dissent."
The proposed law would give political organizations and individuals new tools to combat political harassment from the federal government, and would allow them to both recover attorney fees and more easily file lawsuits against federal officials who abuse their authority for political purposes.
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), who also expressed support for the legislation, put the stakes facing Americans in stark terms.
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Casar, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also took a shot at major corporations who have been caving to the president's demands in recent months.
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Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) pointed out that the FCC's pressure campaign on ABC to fire Kimmel is particularly nefarious given that Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which is the network's largest affiliate, is currently involved in merger talks that will need FCC approval.
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Ed Dept. Will Give Grants to Schools That Adopt ‘Patriotic’ Civics Curriculum From MAGA Orgs
One civics education advocate said the program, which will push schools to teach history content written by PragerU, Hillsdale College, and Turning Point USA, “smacks of authoritarianism.”
Sep 18, 2025
President Donald Trump's Department of Education has announced that it will partner with right-wing think tanks and organizations to develop a new curriculum for “patriotic education” in American classrooms.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration redirected $137 million initially meant for programs aimed at minority students toward what it described as "American history and civics education."
Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced Wednesday that the money will be directed toward discretionary grants aimed at K-12 schools that adopt a new curriculum being drawn up by the 250 Civics Education Coalition—a consortium of more than 40 right-wing groups that launched on same day. The goal, McMahon said, was to advance education that "emphasizes a unifying and uplifting portrayal of the nation's founding ideals" in advance of the nation's 250th anniversary in 2026.
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While little has been publicized yet about what McMahon's new endeavor will look like, it is known who will be crafting it. The initiative is being led by the America First Policy Institute, a MAGA-aligned think tank that has been responsible for staffing Trump's second administration and has received over $1 million from his political action committee, the Save America PAC. Until 2023, McMahon herself served on the board of AFPI.
In 2022, the group presented a piece of model legislation for a "Civics Course Act" to be introduced in states. It included requirements for students to spend ample time studying the nation's founding documents and figures while banning the teaching of what it called the "defamatory history of America’s founding," which suggests that slavery or inequality are in any way inherent to the nation's institutions.
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Also included in the coalition is Hillsdale College, a private Christian liberal arts school in Michigan that has proposed its own K-12 curriculum, which Vanity Fair notes "has been criticized for revisionist history, including whitewashed accounts of US slavery and depictions of Jamestown as a failed communist colony."
Another participant is PragerU, the overtly partisan and often factually loose YouTube channel that has been tasked with creating children's educational content in nearly a dozen red states.
The group has produced content venerating figures notorious for practicing slavery, like colonist Christopher Columbus and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Its videos have argued, among other things, that climate change is a myth, that European fascism was a "far-left" ideology, and that Israel has "the world's most moral army."
The pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA will also be involved in crafting the curriculum. Its longtime leader, Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in Utah last week, went on a crusade last year to, in his words, "tell the truth" about Martin Luther King Jr., whom he described as "an awful person," while claiming his signature achievement, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, was a "huge mistake."
An offshoot of Kirk's group, Turning Point Education, said Kirk's assassination has increased its resolve to promote a "God-centered, virtuous education" in US public schools.
The 250 Civics Education Coalition has not yet published a curriculum. But according to the Department of Education, it will be rolling out "a robust programming agenda" over the next 12 months.
During Trump's second term, he has undertaken an effort to purge federal museums and national parks of what one executive order called "improper ideology," which has resulted in the erasure of exhibits and monuments to Black and Native American history. Last month, he lamented that the Smithsonian Museum focuses too much on "how bad slavery was" and ordered a review of the museum's content.
Federal websites, meanwhile, have systematically eliminated many pages that acknowledged the accomplishments of nonwhite historical figures or important events in women's and LGBTQ+ history.
Critics in the education world view Trump's effort to use grants to induce them to adopt his preferred curriculum as an illegal effort to propagandize children.
"The law is clear," said education historian Diane Ravitch in a blog post. "Federal officials are prohibited from seeking to influence or direct curriculum in any way."
Since 1970, the federal government has been barred by law from "any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum" of public schools.
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