Sanders Says Simpson-Bowles Must Not Shape Deficit Debate

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=520443b7-b0ef-458c-9d34-6a41aa8b36cf

November 28, 2012

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 – With Congress and the White House in the midst of deficit negotiations, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today called on colleagues to reject proposals by former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and Erskine Bowles that would hurt working families and help the wealthiest Americans and profitable corporations.

The Simpson-Bowles plan “will cause major economic pain to virtually every American while lowering tax rates for millionaires, billionaires and large corporations,” said Sanders, a member of the Senate Budget Committee.

Sanders sent a letter to Senate colleagues on the same day when Bowles and other business leaders were meeting with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). One of the business leaders set to accompany Bowles was Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who recently called for cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. “Just think about the arrogance of these guys on Wall Street who were bailed out by the middle class of this country when their greed and recklessness nearly destroyed the international financial system and now they come to Capitol Hill to lecture Congress and the American people about the need to cut programs for working families who are struggling because of the recession they caused,” Sanders commented.

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