Tough Minded Hope and Faith from Rev. Ron Elving

If you've ever wondered why - when it comes to economic issues - NPR's content almost always echoes the Washington Consensus favoring the wealthy and privileged, you need look no further than Ron Elving, "the senior Washington editor for NPR News, where he directs coverage of the capitol and of national politics."

On Weekend Edition Sunday I was listening to Liane Hansen discuss what she called "twin burdens of the federal deficit and debt" with Ron Elving when I heard him make a remarkable statement. Hansen has just asked him, "And what about the other group, the senators who had a bipartisan group looking into what, a long term global deal on the deficit...?" To which Elving replied:

"Yes and a lot of us were holding out a good deal of hope and faith in that group, but this week the so-called "Gang of Six"...suffered a major blow, a perhaps crippling blow. They lost one of their members, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma."

It is truly a remarkable statement. Notice that Elving didn't say "a lot of people" or "many politicians" etc., but included himself in the congregation of those who held out "hope and faith" in this senatorial "Gang of Six."

Well, that got me wondering just what is the take on "this small group of senators [that] has spent four months in dozens of secretive meetings" on budget issues. No surprise: the group is not progressive and not interested in representing the poor or lower middle classes; its range of "acceptable" options for the budget lies somewhere between Paul Ryan's extreme-right gutting entitlements and Obama's center-right hopey-changey death by a thousand cuts for entitlements.

Amazingly, Reverend Hope and Faith Elving isn't done preaching his articles of faith. Speaking of Paul Ryan's intellectually vacuous rip-off-for-the-rich budget plan (which NPR blessed as inspired long before it landed fresh and steaming on the House floor), Ron Elving says "what Paul Ryan has done,...come forward with something tough-minded, something politically unpopular..."

Lastly, when Liane Hansen asks Elving if he sees any hope on the horizon for the budget, he shows where his treasure lies:

"This week on Wednesday, there is a public event in town sponsored by the Peter Peterson Foundation - this is an anti-deficit outfit, private informal group. And it is billed as the Fiscal Summit 2011. It will bring together the remaining Gang of Five from the Senate, and also Paul Ryan - the man from the House - and also former President, Bill Clinton..."

There you have NPR's senior editor giving his endorsement to a conference organized by the Slash-Entitlements-for-the-Benefit-of-Billionaires Institute (aka Peter Peterson Institute - whose success shaping NPR (and mainstream media) coverage of the deficit "crisis" I've posted on before.

Of course listening to NPR, you would NEVER know about the People's Budget from the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Something that actually represents the polled opinions of the people Congress is supposed to represent, is workable, and threatens the the most wealthy and privileged in Rev. Elving's congregation is simply heresy for NPR. Don't believe it? Check out NPR for the proof. Search NPR's on-air content for the following and see what you get:

• People's Budget Progressive Caucus (0) [BTW, that's a zero - zilch, nada...]
• Ryan Plan (35)
• Peterson Institute (79)

Amen! Church dismissed...

It's What for Dinner

Peter Peterson must be one pleased bankster, turns out his $1 billion dollar attack on Social Security is paying off handsomely (has been for some time: here and here) - and his propaganda gets free and seemingly endless airtime from NPR - mainly through Maya MacGuineas, a paid propagandist for the Peterson Institute. Do a quick search of her as "heard on the air" on NPR and you'll see she's their latest go-to "expert" on attacking Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. She's always introduced on NPR as the "president of the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget" (Ydstie on Monday's ME). Of course, the "Responsible" in this committee's title rings about as true as "Democratic" does in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

So what Peter Peterson cat food "solutions" does Ms. MacGuineas repeat for listeners to NPR? Here are a few choice spoonfuls:

On Saturday's ATC, the painfully clueless Audie Cornish let MacGuiness toss these doozies out there without any challenge:

"Just like you can't go on borrowing forever in your own household. That's not sustainable for the federal government...We put these policies in place before without paying for them, they're still there on the books and they're going to be exacerbated as more people are aging and health care costs are growing...." [those old, lazy freeloaders...sheesh!]

"So in the '90s....a lot of things came together and helped us get out of that fiscal hole...which was great until it loosened Congress' resolve. And then, suddenly, it was tax cuts and spending increases everywhere...." [and about that $8 trillion dollar housing bubble?]

"And what we need to do is have a adult conversation about the different kinds of trade-offs....the co-chairs of this White House commission, Erskine Bowles and Al Simpson, have changed the game by putting forth an honest, straightforward plan about the kinds of things that will be involved."

Anytime you hear these hacks talking about rising health care costs or paying for mistaken policies, you have to ask why they never mention the savings of getting rid of our bloated private insurance "health care" system and never talk about the role of private speculators in creating the debt crisis they are so concerned about.

There was more on Monday's ME with MacGuineas and John Ydstie teaming up:

Ydstie: "But now the cost of Medicare threatens to crush the whole federal budget. And Social Security benefits for the baby boom generation will add to that burden..."

Ms. MacGuineas: "When it comes to Medicare and health care in general, we just don't know how to fix it."

Ydstie: "While a growing population of elderly is part of Medicare's problem, the largest threat is the rising cost of health care....But, without a doubt, the biggest challenge for deficit wranglers is reining in the long term growth of entitlements for the elderly....The President's fiscal commission hopes it can deliver a road map to lower deficits and debt later this week." [Oh yeah, the President's fiscal commission...meeeeeooooowww....]

Maybe NPR realized it was a tad unseemly to have Ms. MacGuineas be the only voice of Peterson, so on Monday ATC, they went fishing for another Peterson clone and found, "chief economist Diane Lim Rogers of the fiscal watchdog The Concord Coalition." And guess who owns the Concord Coalition? You betcha!

The Monday ATC piece offered more of the same with Scott Horsley explaining:

"Both plans would curtail Social Security benefits for future retirees, while increasing payments to the neediest seniors. In other words, both plans involve compromise." [Compromise - oh goody!]

Painfully, NPR promises there will be more: "On Tuesday's Morning Edition, we explore the choices for dealing with the debt."