New Democrats Call On President For Economic Summit

WASHINGTON, DC-- As Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels testified before the House Budget Committee to release poor mid-session budget figures, members of the New Democrat Coalition (NDC) called on the President and his economic team for a budget summit to discuss America’s economic health and to chart a course towards a fiscally responsible, wartime budget. A copy of the letter to President Bush is attached.

“America’s economy is sinking fast, and our government seems ready to jump ship,” said NDC co-chair Rep. Jim Davis (D-Fla.). “The Office of Management and Budget’s deficit projections are another signal that Congress has abandoned fiscal restraint at the expense of our economy. Now more than ever, the New Democrats look forward to working with the President to bail out our floundering economy and chart a fiscal course for friendlier waters.”

"New Democrats believe that sincere and deliberate fiscal responsibility must be the cornerstone of our government’s economic policy. Right now, we have serious concerns about the government's lack of a responsible overall economic plan and balanced budget," said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition. "We've asked for a meeting with the President where everything is 'on the table,' and we're ready to go to work on getting our economy back in shape."

New Democrats recommend the following actions be taken immediately to improve the nation's economic situation:

New Democrats want to meet with the President and his economic team to discuss a plan to balance the budget. We need a fiscally responsible wartime budget that ensures we can do the job of fighting terrorism and grow our economy. New Democrats believe everything must be on the table, including all tax and spending policy. A fiscally responsible plan to fight terrorism and get our economy moving again must be in place by the end of this fiscal year.

It is critically important that confidence in the SEC be restored. While New Democrats are not unanimous in the view that new leadership is needed, they believe the SEC corporate governance and accounting reform proposal issued on June 26 will not sufficiently remedy the ills plaguing our capital markets. Moreover, the SEC's top priority must continue to be effective enforcement of current laws and regulations to stabilize our stock market and reassure the investing public.

Corporate America must come clean about any outstanding problems or discrepancies in their respective books. Corporate officers should be immediately required to stand by the veracity of their company's financial statements, regardless of the impact on our capital markets. Prolonging the problem will continue to sap investor confidence and deprive American businesses and entrepreneurs of badly needed capital.

Congress must work together to pass a common sense accounting standards reform so that investors are protected, bad actors are punished, and our economy can grow.

"As pro-growth, centrists, we are firmly committed to being part of the solution," said Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.), NDC Communications Coordinator. “Investors have been waiting for Washington to move from outrage to action. If fire walls need to be implemented, if new accounting rules must be promulgated, if executives need to be held liable for their business decisions, we need to stop talking and get moving," said Rep. Hooley, a member of the House Financial Services Committee.

“Once again, the New Democrat Coalition has reached out in an attempt to move the Administration past election-year rhetoric - and asked that they help us to craft a true bipartisan plan that will get our nation’s economy back on track to a balanced budget,” said Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.).

The New Democrat Coalition is a group of 74 pro-growth, centrist Democrats in the House of Representatives founded in 1997. Since then, two-thirds of Democrats elected to the House have joined the NDC, making it the largest and one of the most influential caucuses in the House. For more information on the New Democrat Coalition's five-point plan for better corporate governance and the NDC's history on this issue, please contact Joan Mooney with Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.) at (202) 226-8018.

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