PolicyBlog

In a letter delivered July 12 to President Obama and Members of Congress, 470 U.S. business leaders, including Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg and nearly 400 CEOs of leading American companies, said:

• “We believe it is vitally important for the U.S. government to make good on its financial obligations and to put its fiscal house in order.”

• “. . . it is critical that the U.S. government not default in any way on its fiscal obligations.”

• “This is a Main Street not Wall Street issue. Treasury securities influence the cost of financing not just for companies but more importantly for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and student debt.”

• “A default would risk both disarray in those markets and a host of unintended consequences.”

• “. . . our political leaders must agree to a plan to substantially reduce our long-term budget deficits with a goal of at least stabilizing our nation's debt as a percentage of GDP….”

• “The resulting plan must be long-term, predictable and binding.”

Verizon’s leaders and others in the business community are focused on engaging our employees and stakeholders in a discussion about the debt challenge facing our nation.  As part of that effort, Tom Tauke -- Verizon’s executive vice president for Public Affairs, Policy and Communications and a former Member of the U.S. Congress -- will be offering observations about America’s fiscal challenges in a series of blogs. 

“To me, the looming debt crisis is a severe threat to our nation,” Tauke said. “Therefore,   it is an issue vital to every citizen and every enterprise.  It’s about saving our Republic.  So we all need to understand the issue and engage in the process of resolving it.”