Progressives Counter Peterson Influence On Obama's Deficit Commission

Hours after President Obama's deficit commission had its first meeting at the White House, a group of progressive leaders argued during a news conference call that Wall Street billionaire Peter G. Peterson was exerting undue influence over the commission's deliberations, resulting in a largely one-sided debate about how to reduce the federal deficit.

Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, said that the experts were part of a broader coalition that is seeking to "pull this deficit discussion back on the basis of reality" rather than on the false assertion that reducing the deficit required drastic cuts in Social Security, Medicare and other safety-net programs.

Joining Hickey in the call was Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, Demos, and author of the new book, "A Presidency in Peril"; Heidi Hartmann, economist and President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research; and Dean Baker, economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

In addition to the news conference, Hickey and other writers have participated in an online Virtual Summit on Fiscal and Economic Responsibility at ourfuture.org/virtualsummit.