They're Baaack

I say this is a shock doctrine documentary because it is nearly impossible for me to believe that it is a coincidence that the deficit hawks have put together this slick "non-partisan" documentary and well financed campaign to cut spending at the moment of what many people believe is America's greatest economic peril since the 1930s. They are, quite obviously, attempting to use the crisis to dismantle the social safety net and avoid doing the real work of reforming the financial system. Shock Doctrine 101.

And when I say slick and non-partisan, it really is. The show also featured a panel with none other than the smarmy village saint Bill Bradley and the Clinton era deficit maven Alice Rivlin. Of course, it also included hedge fund king and deficit fetishist Pete Peterson and his little dog ex-CBO GAO chief David Walker. (Walker seems to be halfway aware that he might not be on the right track, but he's committed to this project.) It couldn't be more in keeping with the post-partisan, non-ideological zeitgeist. Except it's ideological to the core.

One would think this message is so dissonant that no one could possibly find it persuasive. After all, they are worrying about some potential future catastrophic event while we are in middle of a current calamity. But it's actually very clever ---you can see by the press release that it sounds like they are talking about the current problem, even though their prescription is exactly the opposite of what is required . Indeed the diabolical effect of this project and its timing is that it's designed to make people believe that government spending is the cause of the current economic crisis.

And it's smart. What they are prescribing makes more intuitive sense to many people than what is actually necessary to solve the problem. We are all coming to terms with the fact that we are going to have to stop spending beyond our means and pay down our debt in order to get our financial houses in order. Why shouldn't the government have to do the same thing, especially if it's facing an imminent "balloon payment" with all those retirees and sick people getting ready to explode the debt? We all know that the government has been spending like drunken sailors and it stands to reason that's why we find ourselves in this crisis, right?

The sainted Bill Breadley said it right out on the program:

People understand that if they run up debts in their own lives, it's no different than when the government runs up debts the same way.

Americans have been mentally trained over the past few decades to believe drivel like that--- the free market is always the preferred method to solve economic problems, that the government should be run like a business (or your household budget) and, most importantly, that government is the cause of problems, not the solution. This deficit obsession plays into all those beliefs and makes it very difficult to explain in the middle of the crisis that the government isn't a business or a household and needs to go further into debt in periods when everyone else is trying to escape it. And, needless to say, it also sounds like the tax 'n spend libruls are at it again.

This weekend, CNN is giving four hours of free airtime to the leading propagandist fanning the flames of deficit hysteria, Pete Peterson, along with his lackeys.Click here to demand CNN stop giving free airtime to deficit crazies this weekend - And if they do go ahead with this programming, tell them to provide balance to Pete Peterson's deficit hysteria. Give equal time to defenders of Social Security, Medicare and public investment.

CNN plans to air Peterson's thoroughly debunked propaganda movie "I.O.U.S.A," - and then his acolytes will have free reign to spread their usual lies about Social Security, Medicare and government in general without any fiscal expert to challenge them and give a different point of view.

How do we know? Because CNN did the exact same thing with "I.O.U.S.A" last year. No debate. Just Peterson's propaganda. Is this how "the most trusted name in news" should cover the debates on retirement security, job creation and fighting poverty?

We have just one day to get CNN to balance it's programming.Click here to demand CNN stop these programs - or give equal time to defenders of Social Security, Medicare and public investment.

Whose voices will be shut out this weekend? The nation's leading economists who are urging our government to use deficits today to invest in long-term prosperity - such as Paul Krugman, James Galbraith and Dean Baker. The fiscal experts who have repeatedly said Social Security is sound and broader health care reform will protect Medicare. All of you who voted for an active government to invest in our future.

While you are kept silent, who does CNN give the microphone to? A multimillionaire Wall Street mogul who wants our government to slash investments while millions are losing their jobs. This guy had no problem taking tax cuts for the wealthy that caused our deficit problems - and his Wall St. buddies crashed the economy.

Click here to demand CNN stop these programs - or give equal time to defenders of Social Security, Medicare and public investment.

We are in the midst of a great debate over the direction America should take. "The most trusted name in news" should be the place where we have the debate, not where one opinion is deemed to be absolute truth. We already have a cable news network that does that. We don't need another unfair, unbalanced channel.

We have just one day to act. Use our action page to sound the alarm on Facebook and Twitter. Forward this email far and wide. Don't let Pete Peterson take over the debate about our future.