NY Times Editorial
Surely They Can Read a Spreadsheet
Published: August 20, 2011
When the federal government was on the brink of default and the economy hung in the balance, the nation’s business leaders had a chance to step forward and push for a long-term solution. They could have supported a grand bargain that cut spending and raised tax revenue. They could have warned House Republicans that it was far too risky to use the debt ceiling for political leverage.
Instead, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Financial Services Forum and other important players wrote a series of weak letters to the White House and Congress saying, in essence, “just don’t default.”
Business leaders had reason to worry. Unlike many Republican politicians who saw the standoff as political theater, or a chance to bring “big government” to its knees,
they knew what default would mean for their bottom lines. But just avoiding that cataclysm is not enough.
The economy is in profound trouble, and the political system is in desperate need of responsible voices promoting sound ideas for both growth and deficit reduction.
This is not the time for the usual demands by business for fewer regulations and lower taxes. The economy is too fragile and the deficit too high — in no small part because the George W. Bush administration spent eight years giving business and the wealthy exactly what they asked for.
Instead, business leaders should be pushing Washington for what is needed to avoid another recession: more near-term spending to stimulate the economy, more revenue to help pay for it, and a balanced approach to the long-term deficit by reducing health care costs and strengthening the tax base.
If Republicans continue to obstruct President Obama’s proposals to coax the economy back to life, it will not be just the unemployed who will suffer — it will be corporate bottom lines as well.
It will be difficult for business leaders to change the minds of the Tea Party lawmakers, even those who rode to office on ads paid for by the chamber and similar groups, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try.
A responsible argument by business for a balanced approach to reviving the economy and reducing the deficit could change the debate in Washington. President Obama is moving — although too slowly — in the right direction; the American public knows that jobs, not tax cuts, are the No. 1 priority; and the House leadership may even be willing to compromise if business leaders give them cover.
Business has already blown several chances. In mid-July, nearly 500 executives (including the chamber’s) wrote a letter to the White House and Congress saying the obvious: default would be ruinous and long-term deficits should be reduced. The Washington Post reported that the signers could not reach agreement on whether Republicans should accept the president’s proposed compromises on taxes, which offered to cut spending in exchange for much smaller revenue increases. As a result, the letter said nothing about revenue. A similar letter was sent two weeks later by the Financial Services Forum, which includes the big banks and investment firms.
Last week, the chamber wrote a letter to the Congressional “supercommittee” demanding that it “address entitlements” — meaning cut the benefits of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — and restructure the tax code. But it said nothing about raising revenues or asking for greater shared sacrifice through higher income and estate taxes for the wealthy.
The chamber, along with the Business Roundtable and others, has urged greater government spending on rebuilding roads, bridges and the power grid. The chamber joined with the A.F.L.-C.I.O. in supporting the creation of an infrastructure bank, one of the White House’s top priorities to help kick-start the economy. We hope they back it up with real lobbying in Republican offices.
The Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable want tax cuts too. But how exactly do these executives imagine this spending would be paid for, if not through higher taxes? Or do they really want the elderly and low-income families to give up some of their safety-net benefits to widen interstate highways, while high-income money managers sacrifice nothing?
Last week, Warren Buffett stepped forward to demand that his taxes, and all those on the wealthy, be raised to cut the deficit. Except for a few Democratic millionaires, that idea has received virtually no support from the nation’s business leaders. Until they ante up, they will remain part of the problem, not the solution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/opinion/sunday/surely-they-can-read-a-spreadsheet.html?ref=opinion
| 
