Concord Coalition

Max Sawicky sawicky at epinet.org
Tue Aug 11 07:24:58 PDT 1998



>Anything you may have on the Concord Coalition (especially re beating up on
crips and infirm) please forward my way. I've been watching Boyden Gray, White House counsel for George Bush who signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.
>He befriended many naive Republican disabled people by supporting the ADA
and he is now behind Citizens for a Sound Economy which is basically out to destroy entitlements. I have felt for some time that George Bush signed the ADA because it he viewed it as a way to shrink entitlements.
>
>So what can be done about the Concord Coalition? Has anyone
>exposed them in an editorial or otherwise in the media?

I've been following them for years. They're pretty much an open book. I wrote about them in my EPI report, "Up From Deficit Reduction" years ago. They have a pretty extensive web site.

Concord is a little slicker and centrist than they are being made out to be here. Their basic obsession is national saving. They do not oppose tax increases to finance new spending, as long as deficits go down or surpluses go up. They're not particularly gung ho about SS privatization for the same reason: their precious budget surpluses might be used up to finance a transition. The Citizens for a Sound Economy, Heritage, or Cato are much more forthright about shrinking the size of government per se.

Concord is supported by elite financial interests. Unlike many letterhead organizations, they have an actual membership -- mostly upscale retired folks, typically involved for idealistic reasons (e.g., don't saddle our kids with debt).

Let me know if you need to know anything else.

Cheers,

Max



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list