Special interest groups slam proposals to cut the deficit
TEXT OF STORY
JEREMY HOBSON: The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility votes today on its proposal to slash the federal deficit. This is the White House commission that is recommending cuts in just about everything, as well as tax increases. Lobbyists and special interest groups have been slamming the proposal ever since it was released.
Marketplace’s David Gura spoke to a few of them.
DAVID GURA: It’ll come as no surprise AARP doesn’t want the government to mess with retirement benefits. The group represents millions of Americans over fifty.
CRISTINA MARTIN-FIRVIDA: Social Security offers a modest benefit already. A 20 percent reduction, or a greater reduction, would significantly erode the retirement income.
Cristina Martin-Firvida directs the AARP’s Economic Security program.
MARTIN-FIRVIDA: We’re a brand to be reckoned with.
Joe Stanton, a lobbyist for the National Association of Homebuilders, doesn’t want Congress to change the home mortgage deduction.
JOE STANTON: To do this to an industry that’s already battered, it’s just catastrophic.
And he says he’s ready to fight.
STANTON: We’ll have access to Congress. We have our grassroots members already mobilized.
And with so many recommendations on the table, good luck finding someone happy with the whole thing. Justin Reuben is the president of MoveOn.
JUSTIN REUBEN: I think Congress should drop this document in the trash, and then begin a real conversation about how to get our economy moving again.
In Washington, I’m David Gura, for Marketplace.
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