Alan Simpson unloads on seniors group after Oakland visit

Acerbic former U. S. Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyoming) apparently didn’t like the flyers handed out by a seniors group during his and former Clinton administration advisor Erskine Bowles’ West Coast swing in March, including an appearance at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre. They’re co-chairs of President Obama’s blue ribbon commission looking into fiscal reform, including Social Security. Here’s an excerpt from the missive he sent to the California Alliance for Retired Americans, as posted at Politico:

Your little flyer entitled “Bowles! Simpson! Stop using the deficit as a phony excuse to gut our Social Security!” is one of the phoniest excuses for a “flyer” I have ever seen. You use the faces of young people, who are the ones who are going to get gutted while you continue to push out your blather and drivel. My suggestion to you — an honest one — read the damn report. The Moment of Truth — 67 pages, and then tell me if we’re not doing the right thing with Social Security. What a wretched group of seniors you must be to use the faces of the very people that we are trying to save, while the “greedy geezers” like you use them as a tool and a front for your nefarious bunch of crap. You must feel some sense of shame for shoveling out this bulls**t . . .

Add: He signs off, “Best regards, Alan Simpson.”