An honor for Alice Rivlin roils Social Security faithful

Belong to any retiree or veteran's group? Get them to complain about this.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-rivlin-20130326,0,7060656.story

The critics complain that Rivlin's grasp of social insurance principles is spotty at best. They argue that her tendency to treat Social Security and Medicare as mere expenditure line items to be kneaded into place in a broader deficit policy doesn't meet the award's goals; it's supposed to recognize people who have demonstrated "innovation" or "effectiveness" in furthering public understanding of the programs.

They have a point. It doesn't help that Rivlin, 82, has affiliated herself with groups funded by hedge fund billionaire Peter G. Peterson, whose hostility to Social Security and Medicare is legendary and who isn't above using ginned-up panic over government deficits as a weapon.

The main target of the critics' wrath is the National Academy of Social Insurance, which bestows the award and, as it happens, was founded by Ball. The organization created the Ball award in 2004 to honor Ball on his 90th birthday. (He died in 2008.) Some NASI members are talking about resigning in protest.

"This is not a battle of ideas," says economist Dean Baker, who fights ceaseless battles to correct public misimpressions fostered by groups of which Rivlin is a member, such as the Peterson-funded "Fix the Debt" campaign. "This is a battle in which the other side routinely lies, cheats and steals to push its agenda."