Chief executive officers at more than 80 major U.S. corporations are calling for company presidents throughout Wisconsin to join them in pressuring Congress to reduce the federal debt by cutting spending, shoring up entitlement programs to be sustainable and expanding tax revenue streams.
The new “Fix the Debt” mission differs sharply from those of many other business groups that are urging Congress to cut spending, but are avoiding the issue of raising taxes to balance the budget.
The executives signing the “Fix the Debt” statement include the CEOs of several of the nation’s largest companies, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Boeing.
If Congress fails to reach a deficit reduction deal by the end of the year, it will automatically trigger large spending cuts and tax increases in 2013. The so-called “fiscal cliff” could derail the nation’s economic recovery, the CEOs said.
The U.S. deficit in 2012 will top $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, pushing the national debt past $16 trillion.
The CEOs are urging Washington to set aside partisan differences to put the United States on a sustainable fiscal path.
“In order to develop a fiscal plan that can succeed both financially and politically, it must be bipartisan and reforms to all areas of the budget should be included,” the CEOs wrote.
The CEOs who signed the manifesto say tax increases are inevitable, no matter which party won the White House on Nov. 6.
“There is no possible way; you can do the arithmetic a million different ways” to avoid raising taxes, said Mark Bertolini, CEO of Aetna Inc. “You can’t tax your way to fix this problem, and you can’t cut entitlements enough to fix this problem.”
The CEOs said the fiscal plan must include “comprehensive and pro-growth tax reform, which broadens the base, lowers rates, raises revenues and reduces the deficit.”
“Fix the Debt” is a bipartisan effort largely inspired by Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles, who chaired a 2010 deficit panel appointed by President Barack Obama and have been crisscrossing the country sounding fiscal alarms.
Several of the CEOs who signed the letter oversee companies with a strong Wisconsin presence, including: Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T Inc.; Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America Corp.; Douglas Oberhelman, CEO of Caterpillar Inc.; Kirk Hachigian, CEO of Cooper Industries plc; Alexander “Sandy” Cutler, CEO of Eaton Corp.; Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric Co.; Michael McCallister, CEO of Humana Inc.; and Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
“It is imperative that Congress and the Administration take action now to bend the deficit curve. Without bold leadership on all fronts the budget deficit of the United States will become unsustainable and our children and grandchildren will face an unbearable burden,” Cutler said. “We can no longer wait until the last moment to do the least amount possible. We must act now to control spending, reform our tax code, and restructure our entitlement programs. Only by addressing all these issues at the same time and with real urgency will we be able to demonstrate to the global community that we are serious about getting our fiscal house in order. Only when those issues are dealt with, will the business community have the confidence to take the positive steps necessary to get growth back on a sustained upward trend line. I stand with the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in demanding that our leaders act now to get our economy on track.”
To join the campaign, visit www.fixthedebt.org.
