Fix the Debt Echoes Calls for a Grand Bargain

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Campaign to Fix the Debt urges leaders in both parties to act swiftly and use this moment to enact a "Grand Bargain" to put the country on a truly sustainable fiscal path instead of lurching from crisis to crisis. This should be the focus of lawmakers' efforts, not political non-starters, blanket refusals to negotiate, or dangerous ultimatum tactics that we have been stuck in for the past weeks.

Members of the Campaign to Fix the Debt agree that getting past our immediate fiscal crises and returning to talk of a Grand Bargain is the correct course of action for Congress.

"The American people can't afford short term solutions and government shutdowns," said UPS Chairman and CEO Scott Davis. "Businesses of all sizes need certainty and without political and economic stability, it's a challenge to plan for the future. We need the Administration and Members of Congress to compromise and advance legislation that includes real solutions to our long-term fiscal challenges."

As Members of Congress from both parties try to devise a way to reopen the government that would be politically-palatable to both sides, talk in Washington has again turned to a Grand Bargain. Such an agreement would stabilize and begin bringing down our debt relative to the economy, leading to policy certainty and economic stability for the generations to come.

"We stand ready to support any Members of Congress who are ready to put down the talking points and come together around a practical approach that provides real solutions to our long term fiscal challenges," said Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo.

Members from all parts of the Campaign to Fix the Debt's broad coalition, including small business owners and community leaders from all across the country, agree that our elected leaders must turn their attention towards pursuing a comprehensive deficit-reduction agreement.

"It is time for our elected leaders to put everything on the table and negotiate a way out of our current political gridlock," said Cookie Driscoll, owner of C. Cookie Driscoll, Inc., which produces decorative art in Fairfield, PA. "This is why we need a grand bargain."

"This most recent example of governmental dysfunction is but the result of ideological extremism, which has had Washington paralyzed for years," said John Newman, Senior Pastor at the Sanctuary at Mt. Calvary in Jacksonville, FL. "It is time that we reclaim the middle ground of governance, which employs utilitarian common-sense reasoning and jettisons the idea that the only game in town is zero sum. For the sake of our economy, our children, and our leadership position in the world, now is the time that we fix our economy by all sides coming together to take a bold step to secure our collective future."

"Our elected leaders need to move past the current political impasse, reopen the government, and raise the debt ceiling while also having a serious discussion about how to deal with our long-term debt problems," said Kathy Buggy, owner of Kate & Company, an event-planning company in Minneapolis. "What we need is a grand bargain, where all sides compromise and make shared sacrifices for the good of the country."

The Campaign to Fix the Debt is a non-partisan movement asking lawmakers to work together on legislation large enough to stabilize and reduce the national debt as a share of the economy. Members come from a broad range of social, economic and political perspectives with the belief that America's growing debt burden threatens our future, and that we must address it now. The Campaign will mobilize key communities – including leaders from business, government, civic life, and policy – and people all across America who want to see elected officials step up to solve our nation's fiscal challenges.

For more information about the Campaign to Fix the Debt please visit FixtheDebt.org

SOURCE Campaign to Fix the Debt