Lynn Stuart Parramore: Greedy CEO's to Shred the Safety Net

A gang of brazen CEOs has joined forces to promote economically disastrous and socially irresponsible austerity policies. Many of those same CEOs were bailed out by the American taxpayer after a Wall Street driven financial crash. Instead of a thank you, they are showing their appreciation in the form of a coordinated effort to rob Americans of hard earned retirements, decent medical care, and relief for the poorest. Using the excuse of a phony, manufactured crisis known as the "fiscal cliff" which isn't a crisis at all, as economist James K Galbraith has succinctly explained, they are gearing up to pull the wool over the public's eyes by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The CEOs are part of the Fix the Debt campaign run by the Peter Peterson backed Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, which plans to unleash tens of millions pushing for a deficit reduction deal that favors the rich in the lame duck session and beyond. You can be sure that many more CEOs in addition to the names on the list below sympathize with plans to shred the social safety net and enjoy windfall tax breaks, but these Scrooges are so bold as to publicly announce their desire to pick the pockets of fellow Americans, while simultaneously pigging out at the corporate welfare trough. Multitasking! A generation ago, an American CEO would think twice about announcing utter disregard not only for his neighbors and employees, but also for the economy, which can't prosper when income is consistently redistributed upward. But in the present culture, even after the Occupy Wall Street movement, these business barons feel perfectly comfortable trumpeting their desire to get richer at your expense. Here's a sample of the Fix the Debt CEO Council Hall of Shame. 1. Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO, Goldman, Sachs & Co. 2. Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO, General Electric Company. 3. Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co.