The Fix the Debt campaign has announced the formation of its CEO Council, a group of more than 100 business leaders who are part of the campaign’s efforts “to raise public awareness about America’s out-of-control national debt and urge policymakers to forge a comprehensive, bipartisan deal to address it.”
Fix the Debt is a non-partisan effort founded by former U.S. Senator Al Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, who co-chaired the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. Fix the Debt, which claims nearly 300,000 grassroots supporters, seeks prompt enactment and gradual implementation of a budget plan that would stabilize and eventually reduce the federal debt as a share of the economy.
The campaign says the majority recommendations in late 2010 of the Simpson-Bowles commission – which would reduce projected deficits by $4 trillion over a decade — provide “an effective framework” for a comprehensive, bipartisan plan.
Some of the business leaders who have joined Fix the Debt spoke last week at the New York Stock Exchange.
“This is an American problem that requires an American solution comprised of higher revenue, reduced entitlement spending, reduced discretionary spending, and investment in infrastructure and math and science,” said Dave Cote, a campaign steering committee member and Honeywell chairman and CEO. “We need to fix the debt now, thoughtfully and proactively . . . It’s time to pull together and not pull apart.”
Former U.S. Senator Judd Gregg, a Fix the Debt co-chair who also serves on The Concord Coalition’s Board of Directors, said that business leaders could support lawmakers who will need to make “difficult political decisions” necessary to put the country on a more sustainable path.
In addition to its activities with the business community, Fix the Debt is intended to engage the public at the grassroots level, and Concord plans to assist in that effort. The campaign has recently launched efforts in various states around the country.
External links:
Fix the Debt Website
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