About the Campaign

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Fix the Debt is a nonpartisan organization that is educating Americans about rising national debt and how it will affect all of us. It is a project of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. 

We are mobilizing Americans from all backgrounds to urge policymakers to work together on a comprehensive solution that includes bipartisan government spending and tax reform.

U.S. debt is at its highest level since just after World War II. Perpetual $1 trillion dollar annual federal budget deficits on the horizon mean the debt could rise higher than it has ever been as a share of the economy in about a decade.

Debt at such levels will slow the growth of the economy and wages, make it more difficult to responds to challenges like a recession, and increase the likelihood of a fiscal crisis.

It is time to Fix the Debt: We Owe it to the Future.

November 7, 2018

The following is a statement by the Co-Chairs of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, Governor Ed Rendell and Senator Judd Gregg:

With a new Congress comes a new opportunity to solve our nation’s  biggest problems. Our leaders now face a choice – partisanship or  progress.

We are entering this next year with surging and unsustainable levels of  debt ($21.7 trillion and climbing), and the new Congress just elected  will preside over the return of trillion-dollar deficits. 

The outgoing Congress passed legislation adding $2.4 trillion to the  debt over the next decade through unpaid-for tax cuts and spending  increases, and no progress was made on fixing our health and retirement programs. It is a problem the next Congress will not be able to ignore.

Our leaders need to acknowledge the tough choices ahead and level with the American people on our increasingly dangerous and out-of-control fiscal situation and what it will take to fix it.

Although we come from different parties, we are both Americans who want to continue the essential tradition of leaving the country better off  for the next generation. We cannot afford more partisanship and short-sightedness.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

June 26, 2018

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released its Long-Term (30-year) Budget Outlook, which warns that our already historically high debt will rise from 77 percent of the economy today to 152 percent by 2048 under current law, and much more if various expiring policies are  continued.

The following is a statement from the Campaign to Fix the Debt Co-Chairs Judd Gregg and Edward Rendell:

Congress continues to focus more on the next election than the next generation. CBO has shown us today the dangers of continuing to ignore the long term.

Debt is on track to exceed the size of the economy by 2031 and reach a new record of 107 percent of the economy by 2034. In three decades, CBO projects debt will double to 152 percent of the economy.

This level of debt would be unprecedented. It would reduce incomes, increase interest rates, raise federal debt service payments, and it would surely be unsustainable.

Meanwhile, Social Security and Medicare are both on course toward insolvency in the next 14 years. It’s all a recipe for fiscal disaster.

There is still time to avoid the crisis scenario CBO projects, but waiting  until the last minute won’t work. Congress should come up with a plan now to put the debt on a downward path and protect current and future generations.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

June 5, 2018

The Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports today detailing the financial state of the programs, and the picture is  increasingly grim.

The following is a statement by the Co-Chairs of the Campaign to Fix the Debt Governor Ed Rendell and Senator Judd Gregg:

Numbers  don’t lie, and demographics don’t either. The Trustees’ reports show in black and white what we all already know – Social Security and Medicare  are running out of reserves.

The latest projection shows that Medicare Hospital Insurance will be  insolvent in 2026, Social Security Disability Insurance in 2032, and the Social Security retirement program in 2034.
 

On a combined basis, the Trustees now show Social Security is already  running deficits, even including interest, and the Social Security trust fund will deplete its reserves by 2034. At that point, Social Security will not be able to make scheduled payments in full and all  beneficiaries will face an across-the-board benefit cut of 21 percent, no matter age or need.
 

Social Security and Medicare face significant funding challenges that  soon will become funding crises. The longer we wait to fix these programs, the more severe any adjustments will be and the less time will be available for policymakers to phase in solutions and for workers to prepare.
 

Policymakers must not wait until the 11th hour to fix Social Security, and instead they should work together – through the regular process or a  bipartisan commission – to develop a comprehensive plan to make Social  Security solvent for the next 75 years and beyond.
 

Meanwhile, they should aggressively and continuously pursue improvements to slow the growth of Medicare and overall health spending.
 

Nearly all Americans rely on these important programs – we cannot let them fall into a fiscal spiral.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

April 9, 2018

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Budget and Economic Outlook for the next decade on Monday, which warned that our fiscal  situation is worsening rapidly. Under current law, our already  historically high debt will rise from 77 percent of the economy today to 96 percent by 2028. Under CBO’s Alternative Fiscal Scenario, debt will rise to 105 percent of the economy.

The following is a statement from the Campaign to Fix the Debt Co-Chairs Judd Gregg and Edward Rendell:

Our nation’s debt is headed toward a tipping point. CBO projects indefinite  trillion-dollar deficits will return in just two years, and debt could exceed the economy in just over a decade or perhaps sooner. Today’s report also projects that all major trust funds – including Social  Security – will become insolvent within the next 13 years. Anyone who argues this course can continue is living with blinders. 

CBO’s annual report is a reminder that the situation is getting worse, not better, and the day of reckoning is fast approaching. Lawmakers need to stop the digging and come up with a plan now to put our debt on a downward path that can be phased in over time. Waiting until the 11th  hour means choices that are much more difficult if not unimaginable.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

 September 12, 2017

Our nation has experienced a historic fiscal milestone as gross national debt eclipsed the $20 trillion mark for the first time in  history. The following is a statement from the Campaign to Fix the Debt's Co-Chairs Judd Gregg and Edward Rendell:

President Trump spent much of the campaign warning about our $20  trillion debt; we have now officially hit that frightening milestone.

The United States now holds more gross debt than at any time in  history, and our debt held by the public is a larger share of the economy than at any time since World War II.

With deficits rising, interest costs growing, and major trust funds  headed toward insolvency, it’s time for our leaders to build a plan.

We should use this frightening $20 trillion milestone as a turning point when leaders put fixing the debt ahead of political priorities and  work together to put our debt on a sustainable path, so we can grow the economy and improve the economic well-being of the American people.

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For more information, contact Patrick Newton at newton@crfb.org.

August 30, 2017

The following is a statement from the Campaign to Fix the Debt on tax reform:

The Campaign to Fix the Debt supports tax reform that does not add to our historically high and unsustainable national debt.  

Tax reform can grow the economy. Individual and corporate income taxes are  overly complex, anti-competitive, inefficient, costly to comply with, and littered with nearly $1.6 trillion of deductions, credits, and other tax preferences. Comprehensive tax reform is desperately needed, and if  done right it can provide an important boost to economic growth.

But tax cuts do not pay for themselves. In fact, tax cuts added to the debt can have the opposite effect—hampering the economic growth that could come from sound reform, all while handing the bill to future generations. Real tax reform involves lowering rates, broadening the  base, and offsetting the loss of revenue.

There are a number of reasons deficit neutral tax reform is desirable:

High Debt Levels

Measured as a share of the economy, our debt is higher than at any other time  other than during World War II. But even then, the debt was projected to fall dramatically after the war. Now, it is projected to rise higher and faster than ever before without end. By 2022, our annual deficits  will once again top $1 trillion. Adding to the debt with large tax cuts moves in the wrong direction.

Responsible Tax Reform Can Be Better For Growth

Tax reform that adds to the debt can undermine the pro-growth aspects of reform, and in fact some deficit financed reforms would have a negative effect on growth. Tax cuts that increase the debt will create economic headwinds, while responsible tax reform will boost growth.

Eliminating Tax Breaks Can Make Taxes Simpler and More Fair

Currently, the tax code contains almost $1.6 trillion in special tax breaks or tax expenditures that complicate the code, distort decision making, pick winners and losers, and tend to be regressive. Tax reform can eliminate or reduce some of these tax breaks, which can pay for lower rates, simplify the tax code, and make the code more efficient at the same time.

Fiscal Space

As we saw with Hurricane Harvey, disasters come out of nowhere. Our nation spent trillions on the military response to 9/11 and in combating the  2007 recession, with the nation’s debt roughly double today what it was in 2007. Our financial position has significantly worsened during the past decade and limits our ability to respond to crises like we once did. Adding even more unpaid-for tax cuts to the debt will leave our nation weaker and less able to respond to the next crisis or economic downturn.

Tax Cuts Do NOT Pay for Themselves

Beware of anyone who says that cutting taxes alone will create enough economic growth to replace the lost revenue—tax cuts do not pay for themselves alone, and tax cuts added to the debt will suppress growth. Responsible tax reform can help grow the economy and is badly needed, but unpaid-for tax cuts are just a tax increase on future generations who won’t be able to carry the burden.

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