I have joined the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

I have joined the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.  Right now there is no actual deficit crisis, in fact we would be better off having the government borrow trillions more at the current near zero rates and put everyone to work rebuilding America's infrastructure, particularly for using renewable energy.  But Republicans and plutocracy driven media (including NPR) are following the Shock Doctrine and beating the class war drums to cut all social programs, which would be disasterous for all.  Unfortunately, Obama is not fighting back, so we must take action.  Like Paul Krugman and Dean Baker, the NCPSSM are good and knowledgeable, not tools or fools.
http://www.ncpssm.org/


Here's a great Krugman OpEd about the phony deficit mania (really just cover for more trickle down economics):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/opinion/11krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


The Angry Bear blog gets down into the nuts and bolts of things and has accountants who have analyzed Social Security very thoroughly. All it needs to meet all currently projected benefits and COLA's is pocket change fraction of a percent increases in the dedicated payroll tax which funds it, starting maybe 10 years from now, depending on how things go.  There is no "crisis" now in either Social Security or the government deficit, just a terrible recession and unemployment caused by accumulated trickle down economics and the bubblenomics rather than real reform to change that.  Social Security cannot, by law, draw on any funds except the payroll tax and bonds and interest from them.  IMO, Social Security is just about the only decent thing about the US government (which is maybe why all the crooks want to trash it).
http://www.angrybearblog.com/


The main (and almost only) long term problem with the federal budget involves projected increases in healthcare costs (because the US government already pays 60% of all healthcare costs in the USA).  Former NBER analyst and now economics professor Brad Delong continues to emphasize this theme.
http://delong.typepad.com/


Dean Baker monitors the media and dissects all the lies and distortions even in supposedly liberal outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and NPR.  Contrary to the "liberal media" myth, all these sources are really fools or tools of the plutocracy.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/beat-the-press/


Here's a great piece by Dean Baker on how NPR misrepresents the budget and Social Security.  Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens daily even on "the liberal media."


The actual progressive media consists of good bloggers like the above, Democracy Now!, Link TV (on both satellite networks), Free Speech TV (on Dish satellite network), Pacifica, Grit TV, and the always reliable The Nation magazine.