Although the election is behind us, the Republicans and Corporate America have rolled out a front group that's promoting the proposals of failed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney as a way to resolve the fiscal showdown. Check out the comparison chart below.
Echoing ideas of Romney and "you're on your own" standard bearer Paul Ryan, big Wall Street corporations like Bank of America, Honeywell and Citigroup are chipping in $60 million for a campaign called "Fix the Debt" that will run ads and mount an "astroturf" offensive in 35 states. The goal: to pressure Congress to pass a debt-reduction package based on the most misguided proposals of the Bowles-Simpson plan, including lowering taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans such as the CEOs leading this effort. The CEOs would make deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, as well as reduce Social Security benefits and increase its eligibility age.
The new "Fix the Debt" campaign's agenda is strikingly similar to Romney's proposals and misses the key issue facing this country. The most urgent problem that needs to be solved isn't fixing the debt, it's creating jobs and growing the U.S. economy.
In the name of avoiding the wildly exaggerated "fiscal cliff" deadline, the self-interested corporate CEOs behind Fix the Debt are pushing a deficit reduction plan that would lower taxes for corporations and the super-rich while slashing programs central to the middle class and those working their way into it. Meanwhile, none of the deficit hawks is talking about putting America back to work and jump-starting our economy. Didn't we just reject this on Election Day?
Health Care for America Now has a new fact sheet (below) that shows how similar Fix the Debt's proposals are to Romney's. You can download a PDF here, as well as a previous background piece here.