What is Needed to Cut the Deficit

No one wants higher taxes but in order to reduce the deficit there must be a combination of tax increases and substantial government spending cuts.  I have always thought that is just common sense.  Yesterday 80 Chief Executive Officers of major US  corporations put out a joint statement acknowledging that the budget deficit is a huge problem for the US and spending decreases alone is not enough.

 See Wall Street Journal:

http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203937004578076253372633058.html?mod=WSJPRO_hpp_LEFTTopStories

Chief executives of more than 80 big-name U.S. corporations, from Aetna Inc.  to Weyerhaeuser Co., are banding together to pressure Congress to reduce the federal deficit with tax-revenue increases as well as spending cuts.

The CEOs, in a statement to be released on Thursday, say any fiscal plan "that can succeed both financially and politically" has to limit the growth of health-care spending, make Social Security solvent and "include comprehensive and pro-growth tax reform, which broadens the base, lowers rates, raises revenues and reduces the deficit."

The CEOs who signed the manifesto deem tax increases inevitable no matter which party succeeds at the polls in November. "There is no possible way; you can do the arithmetic a million different ways" to avoid raising taxes, said Mark Bertolini, CEO of Aetna. "You can't tax your way to fix this problem, and you can't cut entitlements enough to fix this problem."

If you get a a chance, read the article.