Fix The Debt

The House of Representatives is voting today on what they call “Plan B” – legislation to renew the tax cuts for incomes below $1 million. They will also vote on a bill to replace the sequester with other spending cuts similar to legislation passed earlier this year.

The focus on Plan B comes as talks between President Obama and House Speaker Boehner have apparently stalled on the first option, a bipartisan deal to replace the fiscal cliff with other savings.

In a statement this week Fix the Debt encouraged continued work to achieve a deal not only to avoid the fiscal cliff, but that will deal with the larger issue of the unsustainable long-term national debt.

Instead of merely averting the fiscal cliff, any deal should be big enough to stabilize and bring down our national debt as a share of the economy. A deal of this magnitude will have to include spending cuts, structural entitlement reforms, and fundamental tax reform that raises revenues. Proposals that fail to address our mounting debt in a meaningful way would be a tremendous missed opportunity to deal with the debt that we may not have again, and would leave in place policies that would pose risks to the economy and market confidence. That is why the focus of negotiations must continue to be on replacing the cliff with a truly comprehensive agreement. At this point, all options should be on the table.

There is still time to “Go Big” and get the comprehensive deal the country needs. Guidelines for how to get it done can be found here.

Policymakers must step up the effort. Make sure you step up and let them know my writing and calling them.

Congress fiscal cliff Fix the Debt