...In particular, people should have cause for concern about his track record as a director of Morgan Stanley, the huge Wall Street investment bank. Morgan Stanley is one of the major investment banks that played a central role in propelling the housing bubble. In the years 2002-2006, as house prices were soaring into the stratosphere and mortgage standards were falling through the floor, Morgan Stanley was buying up tens of billions of dollars of junk loans and packaging them into mortgage-backed securities to be sold across the globe.

Bowles joined the party in December of 2005, when the frenzy was approaching a peak. Mr. Bowles was well-compensated for his work. In 2008 he pocketed $335,000 for his duties. This sum is more than 270 times the average monthly Social Security check of $1,200. In other words, Mr. Bowles was paid more money from Morgan Stanley in 2008 than most Social Security beneficiaries will collect throughout their entire retirement...

In a helpful bit of elite validation for the Obama message, former Clinton chief of staff and debt commission co-chairman Erskine Bowles takes Mitt Romney to task in the pages of The Washington Post for his tax proposals:

"This month, Romney said that his tax reform proposal is “very similar to the Simpson-Bowles plan.” How I wish it were. I will be the first to cheer if Romney decides to embrace our plan. Unfortunately, the numbers say otherwise: His reform plan leaves too many tax breaks in place and, as a result, does nothing to reduce the debt..."