Business Leaders Announce Six Standards for Super Committee Deficit Reduction Plan

Committee for Economic Development Demands Aggressive Response to Deficit Reduction Crisis

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Committee for Economic Development (CED), the business-led public policy group that fought many of the most critical economic battles in Washington over the past seven decades, today announced the set of six standards it will apply to all proposals considered and approved by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. The standards were developed by CED's Subcommittee on Fiscal Health and have the strong endorsement of the two CED Co-Chairmen, Donald K. Peterson, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avaya Inc., and Roger W. Ferguson Jr., former Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman.

By announcing the Six Standards for the Joint Select Committee, CED is making it clear that the American business community will hold the Joint Select Committee – commonly referred to as the Super Committee – responsible for doing more than the minimum required of it by the Budget Control Act. CED is also making it clear that the business community wants real deficit reductions rather than budget gimmicks; that all parts of the budget, including spending and tax provisions that benefit business, must be on the table; and that the business community will actively support those members of Congress who help make these things happen.

CED's Six Standards for the Joint Select Committee includes the following key points:

1. The Committee must reduce the deficit by far more than $1.2 trillion minimum required by the Budget Control Act.

2. Medicare and Social Security must be on the table and be made sustainable for the long term.

3. The agreement must include additional tax revenues and fundamental tax reform.

4. The Committee must achieve substantial savings from non-Medicare, non-Social Security spending, including military and domestic programs.

5. The Committee must provide a boost to the U.S. economy but the effort must be simple and clean.

6. The Committee must put together a deficit reduction program with genuine bi-partisan commitment that will withstand political challenge not just this year, but for years to come.

"The Committee for Economic Development knows that these standards are asking a great deal of the members of the Super Committee," said Charles Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development. "We want to make it clear that we will help the Super Committee develop a deficit reduction plan that meets these six standards and will strongly support those members of Congress who help enact it."

Over the coming weeks, CED will provide the Super Committee with specific recommendations on how these standards can and should be met and will strongly encourage bold action. CED members will also actively engage with Members of the Committee and talk with the voting public about why the work of the Super Committee must be enthusiastically supported.

"CED completely understands that this is not a theoretical exercise. Many interest groups, industries, businesses, and individuals will not like some of what the Super Committee must recommend to live up to the standards we are announcing today," said Joe Kasputys, co-chair of CED's Committee on Fiscal Health; Chairman, China Monitor, Inc.; and Founder of IHS Global Insight. "That's why in addition to announcing our standards, we are also pledging to protect and defend those members of Congress who act as boldly as we are recommending," he added.

According to W. Bowman Cutter, former deputy director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, co-chair of the CED Fiscal Health Subcommittee, and current Managing Director of The Cedars Capital Partners, "The business community understands that it cannot exempt itself from the political and financial pain that deficit reduction may cause," he said. "We cannot ask others to bear the necessary burden of reducing the deficit unless the spending programs and tax provisions important to business are put under the same microscope."

For more details about CED's Six Standards for the Joint Select Committee and the campaign, go to www.ced.org.

About The Committee for Economic Development
CED is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of more than 200 business leaders and university presidents. Since 1942, its research and policy programs have addressed many of the nation's most pressing economic and social issues, including education reform, workforce competitiveness, campaign finance, health care, and global trade and finance. CED promotes policies to produce increased productivity and living standards, greater and more equal opportunity for every citizen, and an improved quality of life for all. www.ced.org  

CONTACT:
Morgan Broman
Committee for Economic Development
(202) 469-7814
[email protected]  

SOURCE Committee for Economic Development