Statement on the Fiscal Responsibility Summit
Rory Cooper /
Yesterday, Heritage Vice President Stuart Butler and Roe Institute Director Alison Fraser, along with a dozen other leading budgetary experts from think tanks across the political spectrum, urged President Barack Obama to follow up his recently announced “Financial Responsibility Summit” with (1) leading a sustained “national conversation” on entitlement and budgetary reform and (2) working to establish an independent, bi-partisan commission to develop a comprehensive fiscal reform package that would receive an up-or-down vote in Congress. The full statement is below. Do you agree with the statement? If so, leave a comment.
Statement on the Fiscal Responsibility Summit
February 19, 2009
President Obama’s intention to convene a fiscal responsibility summit is a very welcome development. It offers a valuable opportunity to focus public attention on our nation’s unsustainable budget outlook and to highlight various approaches to meaningful action.
As a group of budget analysts and former senior budget officials, we view this summit as the first step to addressing the enormous long-term fiscal problem facing the United States. Without decisive action this problem will lead to serious harm to our economy and a huge financial burden on our children and grandchildren.
Tackling these problems will require a degree of sacrifice impossible under the existing policy process, which discourages bipartisan compromise and encourages procrastination and obstructionism. Unless those procedures are modified, and the American people are engaged in the process, future legislative attempts to address the looming fiscal crisis will almost certainly fail.
In our view, the American people are ready to confront the challenge. For the last three years several of us have traveled around the country as a group, discussing these issues with thousands of Americans in dozens of cities, in a bipartisan effort known as the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour. We have found that when Americans are given the facts and options in a neutral and bipartisan way, they want action and are willing to make difficult trade-offs.
We therefore urge the President to lead a major public engagement effort – beyond a oneday summit – to inform Americans of the scale and nature of the long-term fiscal crisis, explain the consequences of inaction and discuss the options for solving the problem. This should be bipartisan, and involve a serious conversation with Americans to help guide action in Washington. As a group with some experience in this domain, we stand ready to assist if needed.