Coalition For Fiscal And National Security Boasts Deep Financial Ties To Military Complex
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/coalition-for-fiscal-and-national-security_n_2248011.html
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Coalition For Fiscal And National Security Boasts Deep Financial Ties To Military Complex
Christina Wilkie
Paul Blumenthal
Posted: 12/07/2012 12:01 am EST Updated: 12/07/2012 3:18 am EST
WASHINGTON -- The multi-million dollar lobbying campaign to fix the national debt opened a new front this week, when a group of retired foreign policy experts -- many with longstanding ties to private equity billionaire Peter G. Peterson -- launched an effort to influence the debate over defense spending and debt reduction.
The Coalition for Fiscal and National Security is chaired by retired Adm. Michael Mullen, and includes 14 other former high-ranking government officials. Four former secretaries of state -- Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, George Shultz, and James A. Baker -- are in the group, with three former defense secretaries and three former secretaries of the treasury.
The coalition is funded by Peterson's family foundation and boasts a lineup of recognizable luminaries well out of the prime of their careers (the average age of coalition members is 79). All but one of the 15 coalition members has a personal financial stake in companies that stand to be affected by the group's advocacy, raising the possibility of conflicts of interest.
The coalition is the latest Peterson-funded group advocating cuts to retirement and health care benefits. Peterson, a longtime proponent of cutting Social Security and Medicare in order to finance deficit reduction and low corporate tax rates, has spent nearly a half-billion dollars in the past five years spreading his austerity agenda by funding groups that include the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the Campaign To Fix the Debt, the Moment of Truth, and the Concord Coalition.
unhappycamper comment: I like Gen. Westmoreland better than I like Henry the K and James Baker. Actually I prefer a colonoscopy bag over Henry the K and James Baker.