Submitted by Illinoisnoki1 on Wed, 07/21/2010 - 14:41

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By Bill Bianchi, July 16, 2010

Andy Stern, that is.  Last April, the long-time head of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who built his career on organizing working people to improve their standard of living by standing up to corporate America, abruptly resigned from his labor career. While Stern’s tenure was controversial, he was one of the few leaders who successfully reversed labor’s long membership slide. During his time in office, SEIU membership increased by 50%.  Then he quit.

Debt Commission today, Wall Street tomorrow?  Arguably the most successful union leader of the past two decades, just resigned, but where did he end up? Well, he’s sitting with a bunch of deficit hawks on Obama’s debt commission, but soon who knows, could Wall Street be his destination?

Obama’s Commission is charged with coming up with ways to slash the federal deficit to within 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2015. And prime targets for the slashing are Social Security and Medicare—even though Social Security contributes not one dime to the deficit.  Last year, the nation’s annual budget deficit hit a $1.4 trillion, or just over 10 percent of GDP, the highest rate since World War II.

Many knowledgeable economists, like Paul Krugman and even some Wall Streeters are warning against austerity, lest it push the country back into recession, the infamous ‘double dip’.

     Nevertheless, it seems that whenever Democrats are in the White house, all kinds of leadership types and their communication flaks, not to mention centrist and conservative Democrats and now even ex-labor leaders turn their attention to cutting the budget deficit. Strange, during the asset bubble years of Bush/ Cheney, when the national debt skyrocketed 100% from 4 to 8 trillion, these same types actually said very little about cutting the deficit. I guess they were so busy slashing taxes for the rich and borrowing money to pay for America’s ceaseless foreign wars they didn’t have time to worry about deficits.

     In fact, back on 2002, when Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil complained that Bush’s tax cuts would increase the deficit, Vice President Cheney cut him off saying, “You know Paul, Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter”. But now, with Democrats back in power, apparently deficits once again matter.

Invest in Stocks   So what has Andy Stern been doing and saying on the Debt Commission? His big idea so far seems to be, Invest Social Security Funds in Wall Street!  That’s right, according to Ryan Grim of Huffinton Post, ex-labor leader Stern wants to turn over a portion of the Social Security Trust fund to those good fellows who gave us the financial crash of 2007-8, the crash that wiped out trillions in savings and asset value.

Now with that experience on Wall Street’s resume, why would a labor leader, or any honest person, for that matter, want to give them a portion of the people’s retirement trust fund? Well, according to Stern, “…like any pension fund, [Social Security] needs to be brought back into balance.” Balance, of course. And where do we find balance? On Wall Street?

Actually, some progressive like Dean Baker support the idea of taking 10% to 15% of the trust fund and investing it in Wall Street to get a higher return and thus stave off the problem of growing retiree population and a declining worker population.

It may well be that technically, in an ideal world, the idea makes sense. But the real issue is not the idea or its feasibility; the issue is trust. Why should any working person or representative of working people trust the political, business and financial leaders who would oversee the investment of their trust fund monies in the stock market?

That would be like a farmer turning over some of his best hens to a pack foxes to be raised for market. “Don’t worry,” the foxes say, “we’ll feed them the best food, and return them to you plump and happy.” Oh yeah!

If we have learned anything over the past 10-15 years, it’s that the leadership class in this country is untrustworthy, that they are all enamored with the mystique of the ‘free market”,  and  they are all feeding at one corporate trough or another.

Oh Andy, if you are indeed headed for Wall Street good luck, but please leave our trust fund alone.  For millions of us, it’s all we've got. And anyway, it’s not yours, or Obama’s, to bargain away.

Members of the Obama Debt Commission:

Co-chairs Erskine Bowles, Democrat, White House chief of staff for President Clinton
Alan Simpson, conservative former Republican senator from Wyoming (watch their interview on the NewsHour).

People with ties to Clinton administration:
Alice Rivlin, a former vice chair of the Federal Reserve who also served as director of the Congressional Budget Office and the White House budget office;
Bruce Reed, the CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council and a former Clinton White House official, serves as executive director for the commission.

Business Types:
Ann Fudge, former head of Young & Rubicam Brands, a global marketing and communications company.
  David Cote, the CEO and chairman of Honeywell, a technology and manufacturing company.

Conservative Democrats:
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who chairs the Senate Finance Committee and famously placed single-payer health care reform, “off the table”
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who chairs the Senate Budget Committee;

Liberal Democrats:
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate;
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., a member of the Budget and Ways and Means committees;
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee; and
Rep. John M. Spratt Jr., D-S.C., chairman of the House Budget Committee.
Conservative Republicans:
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who has sponsored legislation aimed at spending cuts;
Sen. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, a member of the Senate Budget Committee;
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee;
Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee;
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, an outspoken proponent of deficit reduction;
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the top Republican on the House Budget Committee.
Former labor leaders:
Andrew Stern, retiring president of the 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union