The Moment of Truth Project

The Moment of Truth Project was created by former Sen. Alan Simpson and former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles. It was started in 2011 after the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (better known as the "Simpson-Bowles Commission") failed to garner enough votes to pass a final deficit reduction package. It is named for the chairmen's report released by Simpson and Bowles in December 2010 called "The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform." The Peter G. Peterson-funded project (see below) gave Simpson and Bowles staff support and a PR platform to continue their advocacy for cuts to the federal budget after the commission ended.

The project is, according to its own website, a "non-profit, non-partisan effort that seeks to foster honest discussion about the nation's fiscal challenges, the difficult choices that must be made to solve them, and the potential for bipartisan compromise that can move the debate forward and help set our country on a sustainable path." It is an effort launched by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), supposedly "to increase awareness of our country's fiscal challenges, educate people about the choices we face in dealing with them, and promote action on reducing the national debt and deficit."

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."

The Moment of Truth Project is a partner in the Fix the Debt Campaign. In 2011, It was funded by a $300,000 Peter G. Peterson Foundation grant in 2011 after the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (better known as the "Simpson-Bowles Commission") failed to garner enough votes to pass a final deficit reduction package. It is named for the chairmen's report released by Simpson and Bowles in December 2010 called "The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform." The Peterson funded project gave Erskine Bowles and Senator Alan Simpson staff support and a PR platform to continue their advocacy for cuts to the federal budget after the commission ended.

The Moment of Truth Project is an effort launched by CRFB, a nonprofit organization housed at the New America Foundation (NAF), a 501(c)(3) that receives considerable funding from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation ($2,050,000 from 2009 to 2011).

Separetely, in 2011, the Peterson Foundation donated $300,000 to support the Moment of Truth Project at CRFB.

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.

Personnel
Co-Chairmen

Advisory Board Executive Director
 * Erskine Bowles
 * Senator Alan Simpson
 * David M. Cote
 * Ann Fudge
 * Alice Rivlin
 * John Spratt
 * Ed Lorenzen

Contact
Ed Lorenzen Email: lorenzen AT newamerica.net Twitter: @bowlessimpson

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
 * Peter G. Peterson Foundation
 * America Speaks
 * Simpson-Bowles Commission
 * Erskine Bowles
 * Alan Simpson
 * Social Security
 * Medicare
 * Medicaid

External Resources

 * MomentofTruthProject.org

External Articles

 * Nancy Cook, Billionaire Peterson Sounds Alarm on Deficit, National Journal, November 26, 2012.
 * Paul Blumenthal and Christina Wilkie, Fix The Debt Campaign's Bipartisan Veneer Masks Conservative Backing, Huffington Post, December 3, 2012.