WASHINGTON — Forty House Republicans joined 60 Democrats Wednesday in pressing Congress’ special debt reduction committee to consider all options, including higher revenues, and shoot for $4 trillion in savings.
Their letter puts about one- sixth of House GOP lawmakers on record as saying the supercommittee should consider collecting more taxes to help shrink the enormous national debt, now at $14.8 trillion. Most Republicans have strongly opposed raising revenues to address the problem.
“To succeed, all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table,” according to the letter.
With a deadline three weeks away, the evenly divided, 12-member committee has shown few signs of progress. Democrats have demanded higher taxes as their price for accepting significant savings from benefit programs such as Medicare but have been rebuffed by Republicans who oppose tax increases.
The letter urges the panel to aim well beyond its official goal of finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings over a decade.
“We know from other bipartisan frameworks that a target of some $4 trillion in deficit reduction is necessary to stabilize our debt as a share of the economy and assure America’s fiscal well-being,” the letter says.
Bipartisan budget experts who have produced plans for reducing the debt have urged the committee to produce at least $4 trillion in savings. They say doing less would not significantly alter the long- term financial nightmare the government faces, in which federal red ink continues growing at a faster rate than the U.S. economy.
The list of those who signed the letter shows many moderates from both parties. But it also ranges from conservatives such as presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, to liberals such as Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., who heads the Congressional Black Caucus.
Others who signed include Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democratic leader, and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., one of this year’s 87 House freshmen. Reps. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, organized the letter.
Colorado Democrats who signed the letter include Reps. Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis.
“We know that many in Washington and around the country do not believe we in the Congress and those within your committee can successfully meet this challenge. We believe that we can and we must,” the letter says.
Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R- Wyo., a signer who has had Tea Party support, said that she doesn’t want to raise taxes but that “this is not an ideal world.”
