Fix the Debt Reacts to the House’s Passage of the Continuing Resolution
Washington, DC (PRWEB) September 20, 2013 -- With deadlines for funding the federal government and raising the debt limit looming, the country’s elected leaders are hurtling toward an apparent impasse over how to solve these fiscal challenges. According to the Washington Post on Tuesday, political leaders have yet to begin talks to resolve the impasse despite the risk of widespread economic turmoil.
The Campaign to Fix the Debt, a nonpartisan movement asking lawmakers to work together on legislation large enough to stabilize and reduce the national debt as a share of the economy, urged Washington to take immediate action on funding the government and raising the debt ceiling in a responsible way.
“The Campaign to Fix the Debt is dismayed that both sides are more engaged in partisan posturing – particularly on political issues unrelated to funding the necessary functions of government – than in passing a budget and dealing with the nation’s significant fiscal challenges,” said Maya MacGuineas, who, in addition to leading the Campaign to Fix the Debt, is the President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan organization focused on educating the public on issues related to fiscal policy. “Fights over the short-term continuing resolution and debt limit increase are diverting attention away from the critical issues of entitlement reform, tax reform, and the nation’s unsustainable debt.
“At almost $12 trillion, or 73 percent of GDP, the debt is the highest it has been in the post-WWII era. We have done nothing to deal with our unsustainable health and retirement programs – leaving those who depend on these programs particularly vulnerable. We have done nothing to modernize our outdated tax system, which hinders our competitiveness and our ability to grow the economy. We are borrowing $2 billion a day, and interest on the debt is projected to be the fastest growing area of the budget. But instead of responsibly confronting these issues, Congress and the White House seem willing to once again enter into rounds of political gamesmanship, ultimatums, and gridlock, rather than focusing on the task of getting our debt on a sustainable path and strengthening a weak economic recovery.
“The Campaign to Fix the Debt encourages the Senate to quickly pass a short-term CR to fund the government through December 15. White House and Congressional leaders must then move to begin the important discussions on how to fund the government for the full year, replace some of the sequester with smarter deficit reduction, reform our outdated entitlement and tax laws to deal with our structural debt problems, and responsibly raise the debt limit. If leaders continue to sit on the sidelines as these fiscal deadlines grow closer, they will truly jeopardize the nation’s economic well-being and we could all pay a terrible price. The time to act is now,” continued MacGuineas.
Members of the Campaign to Fix the Debt come from a broad range of social, economic, and political perspectives with the belief that America's growing debt burden threatens our future, and that we must address it now. The Campaign mobilizes key communities – including leaders from business, government, and policy – and people all across America who want to see elected officials step up to solve our nation's fiscal challenges.
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For more information about the Campaign to Fix the Debt, please visit http://www.fixthedebt.org
Jon Romano, Fix the Debt, (617) 435-6613, [email protected]
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