WASHINGTON —
In a
full-page statement in this Sunday’s New York Times
(January 7, 2007), bipartisan leaders of The Concord Coalition urge the
President and Congress to negotiate a bipartisan balanced budget plan using
realistic cost estimates and to begin a process for addressing long-term fiscal
challenges. They also urge budget process reforms to improve fiscal discipline
WASHINGTON —
In a
full-page statement in this Sunday’s New York Times
(January 7, 2007), bipartisan leaders of The Concord Coalition urge the
President and Congress to negotiate a bipartisan balanced budget plan using
realistic cost estimates and to begin a process for addressing long-term fiscal
challenges. They also urge budget process reforms to improve fiscal discipline
and focus more attention on the impact that current budgetary decisions will
have on the future.
The statement is signed by Concord Coalition Co-Chairs,
Warren B. Rudman and Bob Kerrey; Concord President, Peter G.
Peterson; and Members of The Concord Coalition Board of Directors, Paul
Volcker, Robert Rubin, Sam Nunn and Charles A. Bowsher.
Excerpts from the statement follow:
"The most important message the American people sent to
their elected leaders last November was the desire for change. Americans want a
new direction and bipartisan cooperation on a number of fronts, including fiscal
policy. The Concord Coalition strongly urges you to heed this call
— not for political advantage, but as
your stewardship responsibility to future generations.
"We believe the direction of current fiscal policy is
dangerous. Chronic heavy borrowing is gradually weakening our long-term economic
strength. Moreover, failure to address the vast unfunded obligations of Social
Security and Medicare — $39 trillion at last count — risks a generational
conflict in which the children of today’s baby boomers will face the terrible
choices of much higher taxes, dramatic cuts in their parents entitlement
programs, greatly diminished ability to set their own spending priorities, or
unsustainable debt.
"Generational fairness requires a major course correction. We recommend that the
following four steps be taken immediately:
- Restore budget caps and pay-as-you-go rules for
new spending and tax cuts. These simple rules played a crucial role
in bringing the deficit under control in the 1990’s. Renewing them is the most
important thing you can do in the short-term to prevent the long-term outlook
from getting worse. - Negotiate a bipartisan plan to balance the budget.
We are encouraged that the President and the Democratic chairmen of the
House and Senate budget committees have indicated their support for a balanced
budget by 2012. To be meaningful, however, the plan must use realistic cost
estimates for military operations, reform of the Alternative Minimum Tax
(AMT), non-defense discretionary spending and all other matters. - Include long-term projections in the budget
resolution. The impact that your decisions have on our children and
grandchildren must be better understood. Yet, the current budget process
encourages short-term thinking by focusing on a five or 10-year window.
Spending and tax policies that may seem "affordable" over 10 years will seem
far less so if viewed in the long-term context. - Begin a bipartisan process to address long-term
fiscal challenges. The structural imbalance between future benefit
promises and the revenues projected to pay for them must be addressed head-on.
A realistic strategy will require reductions in promised benefits, higher
revenues, or a combination of both. Everything must be on the table.
The full text of
the statement is available in PDF format on The Concord Coalition’s website,
http://www.concordcoalition.org/doc/nytimesad/2007-ad.pdf
(Requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader)
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CONTACT:
Tristan Cohen
[email protected]
(703) 894-6222
