Peter G. Peterson Foundation

Peter G. Peterson, born June 5, 1926, is a controversial Wall Street billionaire who uses his wealth to underwrite a diversity of organizations and PR campaigns to generate public support for slashing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, citing concerns over "unsustainable" federal budget deficits. In 2007, he made a fortune from the public offering of the private equity firm he co-founded, Blackstone Group, and pledged to spend $1 billion of this money to "fix America's key fiscal-sustainability problems." He endowed this money to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which he launched in 2008 (see below for more). His son, Michael A. Peterson, is the President and Chief Operating Officer of the foundation.

According to its website, the foundation's mission is to "increase public awareness of the nature and urgency of key fiscal challenges threatening America's future and to accelerate action on them."

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, has been highly critical of the Peterson Foundation, stating that Medicare and Social Security are "under assault at the hands of the Peterson Foundation." .

A more complete list of the many organizations, projects and PR stunts funded by Peterson advocating for cuts to Social Security and Medicare can be found on the Sourcewatch Pete Peterson page.

In fiscal year 2010 the Peterson Foundation gave $2,027,470 to the group America Speaks for a series of Town Hall meetings intended to inform the deliberations of the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction commission. America Speaks sponsored 19 town hall meetings linked by video on the same day, June 26, 2010 while the Simpson-Bowles commission was underway and six months before the chairmen released a report. These "Town Halls for the 21st Century" made headlines when the audience revolted against the message they were being spoon fed and instead backed a series of progressive policy solutions, such as a financial transaction tax. Learn more at America Speaks.

Ties to Pete Peterson's "Fix the Debt"
The Campaign to Fix the Debt is the latest incarnation of a decades-long effort by former Nixon man turned Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson to slash earned benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare under the guise of fixing the nation's "debt problem."

This article is part of the Center for Media and Democracy's investigation of Pete Peterson's Campaign to "Fix the Debt." Please visit our main SourceWatch page on Fix the Debt.

2012 Grantees
The IRS documents are not yet available, but according to the foundation's website, the following is a list of their 2012 grantees :


 * Altarum Institute - $35,000
 * American Enterprise Institute - $200,000
 * Center for Practical Bioethics (AKA Coalition to Transform Advanced Care) - $250,000
 * Clinton Global Initiative - $750,000
 * Committee for Economic Development - $250,000
 * Concord Coalition - Approx. $1.3 million
 * Corporation for the Advancement of Policy Evaluation/Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) - $35,000
 * Fund for Public Advocacy - $50,000

2011 Grantees
The foundation's fiscal year runs from April 1st to March 31st. According to its IRS filling for April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011, the following is a list of the foundation's major grantees for that time period:


 * American Enterprise Institute - $200,000
 * America Speaks - $1,660,603
 * Bipartisan Policy Center - $400,000
 * Center for American Progress - $555,919
 * Comeback America Initiative - $3,100,000
 * Committee for Economic Development - $303,616
 * Concord Coalition - Approx. $1.6 million spread over several grants for several different projects
 * Economic Policy Institute - $200,000
 * Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute - $200,000
 * The Heritage Foundation - $200,000
 * New America Foundation (AKA Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget) - $800,000
 * Nuclear Threat Initiative - $1,000,000
 * Henry L. Stimson Center - $500,000

2010 Grantees
The foundation's fiscal year runs from April 1st to March 31st. According to its IRS filling for April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, the following is a list of the foundation's major grantees for that time period:


 * America Speaks - $676,868
 * Center for the Study of the Presidency - $350,000
 * Committee for Economic Development - $300,000
 * Concord Coalition - $2,046,560
 * Mobilizing America's Youth - $240,000
 * NAF/Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget - $656,000
 * National Academy of Public Administration - $226,621
 * Nuclear Threat Initiative - $1,000,000
 * Peterson Institute for International Economics - $250,000
 * Public Agenda - $250,000
 * Teachers College, Columbia University - $806,090
 * wnet.org - $1,000,000

Fiscal Summits
The foundation sponsored conferences in 2010, 2011, and 2012 called the "Fiscal Summit". In 2012, speakers included President Bill Clinton, Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, Senator Alan K. Simpson, and other politicians, journalists, and organization leaders.

Contact
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation 888-C Eighth Avenue Box #144 New York, NY 10019 Web: http://pgpf.org

Featured SourceWatch Articles on Fix the Debt

 * Fix the Debt Portal Page
 * Fix the Debt's Leadership
 * Fix the Debt's Partner Groups
 * Fix the Debt's State Chapters
 * Fix the Debt's Lobbyists
 * Fix the Debt's Parent Group
 * Fix the Debt's Corporations
 * Pete Peterson
 * America Speaks
 * Simpson-Bowles Commission
 * Erskine Bowles
 * Alan Simpson
 * Social Security
 * Medicare
 * Medicaid