Campaign to Fix the Debt Launches Local Chapter in Washington State to Urge Lawmakers to Address Fiscal Cliff and Long-Term Debt

SEATTLE, Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Campaign to Fix the Debt – a national nonpartisan coalition of business leaders, elected officials, community leaders, academics and individual citizens – officially launched a chapter in Washington state to bring concerned individuals together and call on lawmakers to address the ballooning national debt.

The Washington state co-chairs of the Campaign to Fix the Debt are State Senator Steve Hobbs and Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt.

The co-chairs of the state Campaign, who participated in the launch, pressed lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to put aside political differences to find practical solutions to the debt and encouraged Washington state citizens to ask their leaders for action.    

"If we are going to reduce the national debt, we have to decide to do so before anything else. Our leaders in Washington, D.C., need to make debt reduction their highest priority," said Campaign to Fix the Debt state co-chair Steve Hobbs. "The debt load our nation is carrying is the highest it has been since the end of World War II. We need bipartisan solutions that put every option on the table to stem the debt tide."

In addition to the long-term challenges associated with our debt, lawmakers will also need to confront the rapidly approaching "fiscal cliff" – over $600 billion of spending cuts and tax hikes next year alone that analysts unanimously agree would push the country back into a recession.

The Campaign to Fix the Debt is committed to advocating for our elected leaders to avert the cliff while gradually putting our debt on a sustainable course by generating more tax revenues and making smart spending cuts to programs that aren't working or aren't necessary.

"We are thrilled that the Campaign to Fix the Debt is involving so many at the grassroots level," said Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, who is spearheading the Campaign. "In order to put our debt on a sustainable path, elected officials are going to have to make tough choices. These choices will be easier if they know the people they represent do indeed value cooperation and demand a long-term, comprehensive agreement over our debt."

Through grassroots organizing, earned media activities and high-profile outreach, the Campaign to Fix the Debt is urging lawmakers to set aside political differences to formulate practical solutions to our nation's debt problems. 

For more information, and to sign the campaign's Citizen's Petition, please visit www.fixthedebt.org.

Contact: Paul Berendt
Office: 206-282-1990
Cell: 360-790-1195
[email protected]

SOURCE Campaign to Fix the Debt