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An extravagantly funded campaign is underway to, in effect, steal Social Security benefits from future retirees and starve Medicare and Medicaid programs, says William Greider, who has written a cover story in The Nation exposing this effort. Grieder explains in this interview why citizens should be prepared to mount a grassroots effort now to preempt this attempt to undermine retirement and health security for millions of Americans.

The leader of this effort is former hedge fund manager Pete Peterson and his Peterson Foundation, perhaps best known for bankrolling the film "I.O.U.S.A." That film makes the one-sided argument that the nation is facing a fiscal crisis that can only be addressed through substantial cuts in "entitlement" programs, including Social Security. Peterson's goal is to have a commission write a set of recommendations, that would be characterized as the only plausible solution to the country's long-term fiscal challenges, that Congress would rubber-stamp. In reality, there are several approaches to lowering the nation's debt that should be up for debate that do not involve taking funds that people have paid into the Social Security and Medicare systems.

Peterson has assembled a bipartisan group of prominent people who "think they have a way to slip this past the American people," Greider said. What must happen, he said, is that citizens should respond by telling their representatives in Congress, "If you vote to gut Social Security benefits, you're on our list and your career is doomed."

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and representatives from labor and business groups came together Tuesday to make the case for the economic recovery plan that the House is expected to vote on this week. They were at a news conference that featured some of the key arguments that should be made to lawmakers in support of the legislation, which generally adopts the principles of the Main Street Recovery Program of the Campaign for America's Future.

The movement to cut federal spending on entitlements and public infrastructure is getting more aggressive even during a time of public agreement on the need for increased federal spending to address the economic downturn. Here's why progressives should not be afraid to argue for a larger public role in ensuring a sustained, broad-based prosperity. We talk to Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., talks to OurFuture.org about President-elect Barack Obama's request to Congress to release the second installment of Wall Street bailout funds. Grijalva, the new co-chairman of the House Progressive Caucus, says that while Obama has made good promises about how he will handle the $350 million in funds, "I think we can do more." Grijalva calls for more accountability and transparency than the public has received from the Bush administration. Grijalva had made a presentation to the Tuesday Group, organized by the Campaign for America's Future.