the Peter G. Peterson Foundation

In 2008, Peter G. Peterson committed $1 billion to create the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, an organization dedicated to addressing economic and fiscal "sustainability challenges that threaten America's future."{{cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peter-g-peterson-commits-1-billion-toward-solving-americas-most-significant-economic-challenges-56949862.html |title=Peter G. Peterson Commits $1 Billion Toward Solving America's Most Significant Economic Challenges |author = The Peter G. Peterson Foundation | location = New York |date = 15 February 2008 |publisher=PR Newswire Association LLC |access-date=2012-11-19}} Peterson recruited David M. Walker, then-Comptroller General of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office, as the foundation's first president and chief executive officer.

In 2010, the foundation launched an annual Washington, D.C., event aimed to draw attention to America's long-term fiscal issues. In October 2010, David M. Walker stepped down as President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation to establish his own venture, the Comeback America Initiative with funding provided by the Foundation.

Source:{{cite web|url=http://pgpf.org/about |title=About Us |publisher=pgpf.org |access-date=2014-06-11}}

Board of Directors:

• Michael A. Peterson, Chairman and Chief Operating Officer
• Joan Ganz Cooney, Peter G. Peterson's widow, co-founder of Sesame Workshop

Advisory Board:

• Sen. Bill Bradley, Managing Director: Allen & Company LLC; former United States Senator
• Barry Diller, Chairman, IAC/InterActiveCorp
• Harvey V. Fineberg, President: Institute of Medicine
• Sec. Robert Rubin: Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; former United States Secretary of the Treasury
• Sheryl Sandberg, Former Chief Operating Officer: Facebook
• Sec. Donna Shalala, President: University of Miami; former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Sec. George Shultz, Thomas W & Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow: Hoover Institution – Stanford University; former United States Secretary of State

In January 2011, The Peter G. Peterson Foundation launched the $1.2 million Solutions Initiative grant program. As part of this program, the American Enterprise Institute, Bipartisan Policy Center, Center for American Progress, Economic Policy Institute, The Heritage Foundation, and Roosevelt Institute Campus Network each received grants of $200,000 to develop comprehensive plans for long-term fiscal sustainability. Grantees had complete discretion and independence to develop their own fiscal goals or targets and to propose recommended packages of solutions and timeframes for achieving them.{{cite news|last=Paletta |first=Damian |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/01/20/peterson-foundation-makes-12-million-in-grants-for-debt-reduction-proposals/ |title=Peterson Foundation Makes $1.2 Million in Grants for Debt-Reduction Proposals | newspaper = The Wall Street Journal |date=2011-01-20 |access-date=2012-11-19}}

The six Solutions Initiative plans contained specific policy recommendations, reflecting the groups' unique perspectives and priorities, and looked out 10 and 25 years into the future.{{cite news|last=Wessel |first=David |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303654804576345122085867608 |title=Plans to Cut Deficit Reveal Varying Visions | newspaper = The Wall Street Journal |date=2011-05-26 |access-date=2012-11-19}} To make the plans more easily comparable, the Solutions Initiative program required that they be developed from a common starting point based upon the Congressional Budget Office's long-term projections. The Peterson Foundation also asked the Tax Policy Center and Barry Anderson (former acting director at CBO) to serve as independent scorekeepers, reviewing the plans and applying consistent analytical techniques to all of the proposals.{{cite web|url=http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org/2011/05/25/six-think-tanks-tackle-the-budget-deficit/ |title=Six Think Tanks Tackle the Budget Deficit |first = Howard |last = Gleckman | date = May 25, 2011 | publisher=Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute and Brookings Institution |work=Blog |access-date=2012-11-19}}

The six Solutions Initiative plans were released at the 2011 Fiscal Summit.

On November 16, 2012, the Peterson Foundation hosted Post Election: The Fiscal Cliff and Beyond, which convened elected officials and policy experts to discuss implications of the impending fiscal cliff and potential paths forward within the context of the nation's political and economic challenges.{{cite news|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peterson-foundation-convenes-nations-lawmakers-and-policy-experts-to-discuss-solutions-to-the-fiscal-cliff-and-long-term-fiscal-challenges-178106531.html |title=Peterson Foundation Convenes Nation's Lawmakers and Policy Experts to Discuss Solutions to the Fiscal Cliff and Long-Term Fiscal Challenges |newspaper=PR Newswire |date=2012-11-09 |access-date=2014-06-11}}

Participants included former Chairmen of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling, Representatives Peter Roskam and Chris Van Hollen, former acting Director of the Congressional Budget Office Donald B. Marron Jr., and former Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orzag.{{cite news|url=http://pgpf.org/Issues/Fiscal-Outlook/2012/11/111612-Fiscal-Cliff-Forum-Today |title=Peterson Foundation Holds Fiscal Cliff Forum Today – Brings Together Lawmakers and Policy Experts to Discuss Solutions to Nation's Long-Term Fiscal Challenges |publisher=The Peter G. Peterson Foundation |date=2012-11-16 |access-date=2014-06-11}}

The Peterson Foundation was the official broadcast sponsor of the 2011 Bloomberg/Washington Post Presidential Debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.{{cite press release|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-04/bloomberg-the-washington-post-present-1st-gop-economic-debate.html |title=Bloomberg & The Washington Post Present 1st GOP Economic Debate | location = New York |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2011-10-04 |access-date=2012-11-19}} The debate, the first of the 2012 presidential election season to focus entirely on the economy and fiscal issues, was moderated in a roundtable format by PBS' Charlie Rose, Washington Post political correspondent Karen Tumulty and Bloomberg TV White House correspondent Julianna Goldman.{{cite news|first1=Philip |last1=Rucker |first2=Amy |last2=Gardner |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-republican-debate-consensus-is-government-is-to-blame/2011/10/11/gIQAaK0ndL_story.html |title=Mitt Romney solidifies his front-runner status in Republican debate |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2011-10-12 |access-date=2012-11-19}}

As part of its sponsorship, the Foundation aired a series of informational advertisements during the debate.{{cite press release|url=http://www.pgpf.org/Issues/Fiscal-Outlook/2011/10/10062011_Presidential_Primary_Debate.aspx |title=Peter G. Peterson Foundation to be Broadcast Sponsor of Bloomberg/Washington Post Republican Presidential Debate on the Economy, October 11 in New Hampshire |location = New York | publisher=Peter G. Peterson Foundation |date=2011-10-06 |access-date=2012-11-19}} The ads featured children speaking to specific long-term fiscal challenges and the future effects of failing to address the U.S. debt.{{cite web|last=Rothstein |first=Betsy |url=http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/foundation-uses-kids-to-make-pols-feel-dumb_b52949 |title=Foundation Uses Kids to Make Pols Feel Dumb – FishbowlDC |publisher=Mediabistro.com |date=2011-10-10 |access-date=2012-11-19}} The final ad concluded with a message from former Sens. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) encouraging congressional leaders to work together and develop a bipartisan plan that addresses the national debt.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsmtaY_pLMw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/NsmtaY_pLMw |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Conclusion |author = Peter G. Peterson Foundation | publisher=YouTube |date=October 8, 2011 |access-date=2012-11-19}}{{cbignore}}

In November 2010, the Peterson Foundation launched a $6 million national campaign to raise awareness about the U.S. debt titled "OweNo."{{cite news|last=Wessel |first=David |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/11/05/peterson-foundation-to-launch-oweno-anti-deficit-ad-campaign/ |title=Peterson Foundation to Launch 'OweNo' Anti-Deficit Ad Campaign | work = Real Time Economics | publisher=The Wall Street Journal |date=2010-11-05 |access-date=2012-11-19}} The campaign featured nationally broadcast television ads starring satirical presidential candidate named Hugh Jidette, (a play on "Huge Debt").{{cite news|last=Smith |first=Donna |url=http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/2010/11/09/peterson-foundation-launches-oweno-campaign-on-u-s-debt/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725172948/http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/2010/11/09/peterson-foundation-launches-oweno-campaign-on-u-s-debt/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-25 |title=Peterson Foundation launches OweNo campaign on U.S. debt | work = Tales from the Trail |publisher=Reuters |date=2010-11-09 |access-date=2012-11-19}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/HughJidette |title=Hugh Jidette for President |publisher=YouTube |date=2011-01-06 |access-date=2012-11-19}}

In August 2008, The Peter G. Peterson Foundation purchased the rights to I.O.U.S.A., a documentary that examined the history and events behind America's rapidly growing national debt.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

William Greider, writing in The Nation, accused Peterson of using "fiscal responsibility" as a cover for an ulterior motive, namely cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. Greider argued that Peterson wanted "to loot Social Security" and that he employed the Peter G. Peterson Foundation towards that end.{{Cite news |last=Greider |first=William |date=March 2, 2009 |title=The Man Who Wants to Loot Social Security |url=https://www.thenation.com/issue/march-2-2009/ |url-status=deviated |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The Nation |pages=12–16}} Economist Dean Baker similarly described Peterson as having "been on a long quest to gut social security and Medicare, the core social insurance programmes on which American workers depend," and using the Peter G. Peterson Foundation for that purpose.{{Cite news |last=Baker |first=Dean |date=October 20, 2008 |title=The quest to cut social security |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/20/social-security-peter-peterson |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The Guardian}} Baker is quoted as saying that Peterson is "not focused on the debt so much as on cutting Social Security and Medicare", and added: "Even in the late '90s, when we had a surplus, [Peterson] was saying the same thing and the debt wasn't in any obvious way a problem then."{{Cite news |last=Feuer |first=Alan |date=April 8, 2011 |title=Peter G. Peterson's Last Anti-Debt Crusade |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/nyregion/10peterson.html?smid=url-share |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}

The think tank Citizens for Tax Justice criticized the Peter G. Peterson Foundation for its support of lenient tax policy towards corporations. The group is quoted as saying that "The Peter G. Peterson Institute, which is ostensibly concerned about the U.S. fiscal imbalance, has come out against provisions in [a Senate bill] that would prevent multinational corporations from abusing foreign tax credits ... . [T]he credit is really being used by corporations to reduce their U.S. taxes on their U.S. income."{{Cite news |last=Leonhardt |first=David |date=June 17, 2010 |title=Pete Peterson and the Deficit |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/pete-peterson-and-the-deficit/ |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}

Jeffrey Faux, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, criticized Peterson for making his fortune at Blackstone while paying the relatively low 15 percent private equity tax. Faux is quoted as saying that "Pete Peterson has been writing books and funding think tanks, calling on people to make sacrifices ... for him to have any credibility at all he should be the first one to say we ought to be paying more taxes on these tremendously profitable arrangements."{{Cite news |last=Thomas Jr. |first=Landon |date=February 15, 2008 |title=Tax Break Helps a Crusader for Deficit Discipline |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/business/15pete.html?smid=url-share |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The New York Times}} Lisa Graves, in The Nation, compared Peterson's alleged business strategy of buying firms, gutting them for profit, therein resulting in employees losing their jobs and retirement security to his strategy with the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. He is said to want to "loot Social Security", leaving Americans without retirement benefits.{{Cite news |last=Graves |first=Lisa |date=February 20, 2013 |title=Pete Peterson's Long History of Deficit Scaremongering |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/pete-petersons-long-history-deficit-scaremongering/ |access-date=July 21, 2024 |work=The Nation}}

{{portal|Economics|United States|New York City|Politics|conservatism}}

• United States public debt
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{{clear}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite journal|author-link=John Harwood (journalist)|last=Harwood|first=John|date=July 14, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/us/politics/14caucus.html/|journal=The New York Times|title=Spending $1 Billion to Restore Fiscal Sanity|access-date=October 15, 2011}}
• {{Cite news | author-link = Stephanie Strom | last = Strom | first = Stephanie | date = November 6, 2008 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/us/07charity.html?scp=3&sq=peterson%20foundation&st=cse/ |title = Some Philanthropists Are No Longer Content to Work Quietly | newspaper = The New York Times | access-date = October 15, 2011 }}
• {{Cite news | author-link = Peter G. Peterson| last = Peterson | first = Peter G. | date = March 29, 2009 |url = http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/03/29/you-can-t-take-it-with-you.html |title = You Can't Take it with You | magazine = Newsweek }}

• {{official website|http://www.pgpf.org/}}

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Category:2008 establishments in New York City

Category:Political and economic research foundations in the United States

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Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States

Category:Think tanks established in 2008