Business owners to Washington: Get the debt deal done
Business owners from around the country are putting the pressure on Washington to make a deal for raising the debt limit - and they're warning politicians that allowing the country to default on its loans is "a risk our country must not take."
In a Tuesday letter addressed jointly to President Obama and the entire Congress, a diverse coalition of hundreds of business leaders from corporations across the country (including conservative-leaning groups like the Chamber of Commerce) urge politicians to take immediate action on raising the debt ceiling.
"We believe it is vitally important for the US government to make good on its financial obligations and to put its fiscal house in order," the signees write in the letter. "To this end, we believe now is the time for our political leaders to act."
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"It is critical that the US government not default in any way on its fiscal obligations," the letter continues. "The debt ceiling trigger does offer a needed catalyst for serious negotiations on budget discipline but avoiding even a technical default is essential. This is a risk our country must not take."
The letter makes no mention of tax increases, a primary sticking point in the ongoing negotiations on the broader issue of deficit reduction that has been attached to the debate on the debt limit. And while Republican lawmakers are near-unanimous in their opposition to revenue increases as part of a deal, lobbyists who helped craft the letter told the Washington Post that the business leaders involved were not of a single mind on the issue.
"The debt default would be exponentially more painful than anything else," a senior executive at a major business lobbying group told the Post.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke echoed this message on Wednesday in an appearance on Capitol Hill, warning that letting the U.S. default on its loans would send "shock waves through the entire global financial system."
"There would have to be significant cuts to Social Security, Medicare, military pay, or some combination of those in order to avoid borrowing more money," he said.
Nevertheless, GOP reaction to the letter has been subdued.
In a statement, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner pegged the blame on Mr. Obama.
"We already voted for a long-term deficit reduction plan," said spokesman Michael Steel. "Since the president is asking for the debt-limit increase, we'd like to see such a plan from him -- but haven't."
