Campaign to Fix the Debt – Michigan: Hold the Applause

 Press Release                                                                                                   January 3, 2013

Contact: Sarah Hubbard – 517.881.7898                                                                                

For Immediate Release

Campaign to Fix the Debt—Michigan: ‘Hold the Applause’ 

(LANSING, MI) – Late Tuesday night Congress approved, and the President signed the following day, a deal to avert the fiscal cliff. But it is too soon to begin the back-slapping and congratulations. In fact, the agreement did little to tackle the biggest drivers of the country’s fiscal problems or tackle the growing national debt. Without meaningful entitlement, tax and spending reforms the debt will continue to grow, continue to endanger jobs and economic growth, and continue to put an even greater burden on future generations.

“The recent debt deal appears to be an exercise in doing the very least possible,” said Ken Sikemma, former State Senate Majority Leader and Co-Chair of the Michigan chapter of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. “Instead of seizing the fiscal cliff as an opportunity to make serious reforms to protect the U.S. economy, lawmakers let partisanship stand in the way. But the New Year brings with it new opportunity. Washington needs to return to the table and make the tough decisions needed to truly fix our country’s debt problems.”

Lawmakers have a responsibility to future generations to get our fiscal house in order. Instead of a finish line, lawmakers should capitalize on the goodwill of the moment to return to the table to discuss the tough decisions necessary to stabilize the national debt and gradually put it on a downward trajectory.

Michigan members of the Campaign to Fix the Debt are now urging policymakers to make the reforms to further control spending, ensure the sustainability and solvency of entitlement programs, and reform the U.S. tax code to promote growth and greater revenue. The President and Members of Congress have publicly stated that more work needs to be done. The deal that the country needs will require lawmakers to put aside partisan holdouts to reach a principled agreement large enough to stabilize the debt and put it on a downward long-term trajectory.

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