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On On December 1, 2010, after six lengthy meetings,<ref>[http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/meetings Past Meetings], ''FiscalCommission.gov'', Accessed January 8, 2013.</ref>the 18-person Commission released a controversial report titled "The Moment of Truth"<ref>[http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/TheMomentofTruth12_1_2010.pdf The Moment of Truth], ''FiscalCommission.gov'', December, 2010.</ref> with many of the austerity measures strongly resembling those suggested in the Peterson-lead America Speaks town hall meetings and the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform. The report included a proposed raise in the retirement age for Social Security eligibility to age 69 by the year 2075, a decrease in the cost of living benefits for Social Security recipients, new limits on Medicare health insurance programs, an end to several middle-class tax breaks, the elimination of funding for the [[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]], the capping of jury awards in malpractice cases, and a major reduction in corporate income taxes.<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/11/obama_deficit_commission_criticized_for_proposals Obama Deficit Commission Criticized for Proposals to Slash Social Security, Medicare], ''DemocracyNow.org'', Nov. 11, 2010.</ref>
→Criticism over Austerity Measures: moved graph
The plan contained painful [http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/Bowles_Simpson_Brief.cfm austerity measures] that critics contended would further weaken the economic recovery. The plan called for cuts in benefits for the elderly, veterans, and many government employees. Most importantly, it would have cut the [[Social Security]] “cost of living” or COLA increase. Reduced COLA would amount to a benefit cut of close to 3% for a typical retired worker. Since the median income for households of people over age 65 is just $31,000, this would be a big hit to a segment of the population that is already struggling. <ref>Dean Baker, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/10/erskine-bowles-wall-street-influence-washington Erskine Bowles: An Object Lesson], ''The Guardian'', September 10, 2012, Accessed January 7, 2013</ref>
The report also included a proposed raise in the retirement age for Social Security eligibility to age 69 by the year 2075, a decrease in the cost of living benefits for Social Security recipients, new limits on Medicare health insurance programs, an end to several middle-class tax breaks, the elimination of funding for the [[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]], the capping of jury awards in malpractice cases, and a major reduction in corporate income taxes.<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/11/obama_deficit_commission_criticized_for_proposals Obama Deficit Commission Criticized for Proposals to Slash Social Security, Medicare], ''DemocracyNow.org'', Nov. 11, 2010.</ref>
President Obama implicitly called for cutting Social Security by 3 percent and phasing in an increase in the normal retirement age to 69 when he again endorsed the deficit reduction plan put forward by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, the co-chairs of his deficit commission. According to economist Dean Baker "The reduction in benefits is the result of their proposal to reduce the size of the annual cost of living adjustment by 0.3 percentage points by using a different price index. After 10 years this would imply a reduction in benefits of 3 percent, after 20 years the reduction would be 6 percent, and after 30 years the reduction would be 9 percent. If the average beneficiary lives long enough to collect benefits for 20 years, the average reduction in benefits would be approximately 3 percent." <ref>[http://www.cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/president-obama-calls-for-cutting-sociail-security-by-3-percent-raising-normal-retirement-age-in-acceptance-speech President Obama Calls for Cutting Social Security by 3 Percent, Raising Normal Retirement Age in Acceptance Speech], ''Center for Economic and Policy Research'', September 7, 2012.</ref>
In a Nov. 11, 2010 appearance on [[Democracy Now!]], Journalist [[Robert Kuttner]] had this to say about the Commission: "We’re in a prolonged recession that bears more resemblance really to a depression. And you cannot get out of a depression by austerity. The idea that you should have an arbitrary set of cuts in the deficit at a time when you need more public spending is totally perverse. It’s the economics of Herbert Hoover. It’s the politics of the Republican right. And it’s one more indication of the capture of the Obama administration by Wall Street. I mean, [[Erskine B. Bowles]] gets over $300,000 a year <ref>[http://www.morganstanley.com/about/ir/SECFilings/archive/proxy08/noticeandproxy.htm#tx82193_27 Director Compensation], ''MorganStanley.com'', Accessed January 8, 2013.</ref> for attending a few meetings of [[Morgan Stanley]], the investment bank, on whose board he sits, so he gets more money in board fees than 99 percent of Americans earn. And you’ve got three privately funded commissions by the Peterson Foundation, Pete Peterson, proposing the same stuff. It’s intended to create a drumbeat to carry out a wish list that has long been the goal of fiscal conservatives, that has nothing to do with this crisis."
===Support for the Simpson-Bowles Plan - "Enact the Plan"===
