On the recordDecember 18, 2012
As both parties continue to negotiate over the looming fiscal cliff, Congress is presented with a real opportunity to pass long-term, comprehensive deficit reduction plans. We cannot let this opportunity pass us by. Of course, this is not the first time that Congress has tried to solve this challenge, but it is vital that we learn from our past failures. We have to check our partisan talking points at the door and put everything on the negotiating table. This time, let's work from the middle out to build a bipartisan consensus, instead of searching for solutions at the ideological extremes. This time, let's listen to the vast majority of Americans who occupy the middle ground and who want Congress to enact a bipartisan solution, a bipartisan solution that would help restore the public's confidence in Congress while reassuring the nervous financial markets. And most importantly, it would secure a lasting economic future for our country. The American people deserve nothing less. ____________________
