Statement from the Campaign to Fix the Debt on the House's Passage of the Continuing Resolution

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt:

"The Campaign to Fix the Debt is dismayed that both sides are more engaged in partisan posturing – particularly on political issues unrelated to funding the necessary functions of government – than in passing a budget and dealing with the nation's significant fiscal challenges. Fights over the short-term continuing resolution and debt limit increase are diverting attention away from the critical issues of entitlement reform, tax reform, and the nation's unsustainable debt.

"At almost $12 trillion, or 73 percent of GDP, the debt is the highest it has been in the post-WWII era. We have done nothing to deal with our unsustainable health and retirement programs – leaving those who depend on these programs particularly vulnerable. We have done nothing to modernize our outdated tax system, which hinders our competitiveness and our ability to grow the economy. We are borrowing $2 billion a day, and interest on the debt is projected to be the fastest growing area of the budget. But instead of responsibly confronting these issues, Congress and the White House seem willing to once again enter into rounds of political gamesmanship, ultimatums, and gridlock, rather than focusing on the task of getting our debt on a sustainable path and strengthening a weak economic recovery.

"The Campaign to Fix the Debt encourages the Senate to quickly pass a short-term CR to fund the government through December 15. White House and Congressional leaders must then move to begin the important discussions on how to fund the government for the full year, replace some of the sequester with smarter deficit reduction, reform our outdated entitlement and tax laws to deal with our structural debt problems, and responsibly raise the debt limit. If leaders continue to sit on the sidelines as these fiscal deadlines grow closer, they will truly jeopardize the nation's economic well-being and we could all pay a terrible price. The time to act is now."

For more information about the Campaign to Fix the Debt, please visit www.fixthedebt.org.

SOURCE Campaign to Fix the Debt