Yesterday, the UN “independent panel” released their long awaited report (PDF) on the origin of cholera in Haiti. Although the ultimate conclusion of the panel was that “the Haiti cholera outbreak was caused by the confluence of circumstances…and was not

May 2011, Jake Johnston and Juan Antonio Montecino

Today in the Washington Post, Steven Pearlstein rather authoritatively sets out his preferred plan for a budget agreement, claiming:

If you locked 100 Americans in a room with a team of technical budget experts and told them they couldn’t leave until 60 of them could agree on a budget plan, this is what would emerge.

Hmm... that rings a bell.  Has anyone brought a cross-section of Americans to meet with experts and wrangled a plan out of them?

Why yes! AmericaSpeaks brought together 3,500 Americans at sites around the country to discuss the nation’s budget last June. Participants heard from sitting members of Congress and experts via webcast "to create a true National Town Meeting."  They looked at spending and tax options to reduce the deficit and worked in small facilitated groups "to learn about the issues, weigh trade offs, and express their preferences."

Despite plenty of misgivings from CEPR and others about these meetings being funded by the infamous deficit hawk Pete Peterson -- and therefore these budget exercises being played with a stacked deck -- the AmericaSpeaks participants chose items that come pretty close to what opinion polls have shown are popular with the public.

And their preferred options mostly differ from those highlighted in the Pearlstein plan. Here are some comparisons:

Pearlstein:

Social Security will be returned to long-term actuarial balance through a combination of progressive reductions to the cost-of-living formula, increases in the cap on income subject to the payroll tax and very gradual increases in the retirement age.

AmericaSpeaks participants:

No option to reduce Social Security benefits received support from a majority of participants. Raising the full retirement age received support from 39%, and lowering the cost-of-living formula (a.k.a. the measurement of inflation) was supported by only 24%.

Mark WeisbrotThe Guardian Unlimited, 27 de abril, 2011En Inglés

The AP’s Trenton Daniel put a spotlight on rising food prices in Haiti over the weekend. Daniel writes: Soaring food prices aren't new in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and heavily dependent on imports. Now those prices are rising ag

Mark WeisbrotThe Guardian Unlimited, 3 de mayo, 2011Publico.es, 6 de mayo, 2011 En Inglés