Conservative Action Project

September 6, 2017
Washington, DC

Congress faces numerous deadlines when they return to session in September. In addition to funding the government, providing relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey, and reauthorizing several major programs, they face a debt limit expiration.

Conservatives oppose any debt ceiling increase unless it includes major fiscal reforms that immediately put the country on a path to balance.

That these reforms are necessary is self-evident. The debt now stands at 77 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the highest level since shortly after World War II. Last year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the U.S. debt would balloon to 150 percent of economic output by 2047 unless tax and spending laws are changed. As Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff have concluded, a debt to GDP ratio of above 90 percent all but grinds economic growth to a halt.

The timing of this debt limit increase is particularly compelling given the previous progress conservatives have made on fiscal issues under a Democratic administration and Democratic Senate. The Budget Control Act – the most significant progress conservatives have made in decades – was passed as part of a debt limit negotiation with a Democrat president and a Democrat majority in the Senate.

With Republicans in unified control of the government this time around, settling for minor reforms – or, worse, for a debt ceiling increase with no reforms – would be a squandered opportunity.

Now is the time for Congress to cut the credit card. The debt ceiling should not be raised absent significant fiscal reforms that put the country on a path to balance. Any less would be a wasted opportunity to reform a fiscal system that is hurtling toward disaster.


 

The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Former Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Former White House Advisor, President Ronald Reagan
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman
Constitutional Congress, Inc.
The Honorable Colin Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring, Inc.
Adam Brandon
President
FreedomWorks
David Bozell
President
ForAmerica
Diana Banister
President and Partner
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs
The Honorable Jim DeMint
U.S. Senate
Former Member, South Carolina
Ed Corrigan
Former Executive Director
Senate Steering Committee
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Alfred S. Regnery
Chairman
Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund
The Honorable Tony Perkins MPA
President, Family Research Council
President, Council for National Policy
William L. Walton
Chairman
CNP Action, Inc.
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Chief Assistant to President Reagan
for Domestic Affairs
Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin (Ret.)
Executive Vice President
Family Research Council
Tom Fitton
President
Judicial Watch, Inc.
Rebecca Hagelin
Board of Directors, FamilyTalk
Secretary, Council for National Policy
The Honorable David McIntosh
President
Club for Growth
Lee A. Beaman
CEO
Beaman Automotive Group
The Honorable James C. Miller III
Budget Director
President Ronald Reagan
Floyd Brown
Chairman
Western Center for Journalism
The Honorable Belden Bell
Co-Chair
Heritage Legacy Society
James L. Martin
Founders & Chairman
60 Plus Association
Ali Akbar
Senior Advisor
Black Conservatives Fund
Martha Boneta
Executive Vice President
Citizens for the Republic
Jim Backlin
Vice President of Legislative Affairs
Christian Coalition of America
William Pascoe
Managing Partner
Antietam Communications
Richard Wright
Owner
R & S LLC
J. Christian Adams
President
Public Interest Legal Foundation
Chuck Stetson
CEO
Stetson Family Office
Matt Mackowiak
Executive Director
Fight for Tomorrow
Samuel B. Casey
Managing Director & General Counsel
Jubilee Campaign
Willes K. Lee
President
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
The Honorable Diana Denman
President
Reagan Legacy Forum
Tim LeFever
Chairman
Capitol Resource Institute
Don Woodsmall
President
Love Thru Truth, Inc.
Dan Weber
Founder and CEO
Association of Mature American Citizens
Bob Carlstrom
President
The Carlstrom Group, LLC
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Christopher Malagisi
Editor in Chief
Conservative Book Club
Nancy Schulze
Founder/Co-Chairman
Republican Congressional Wives Speakers/Congressional Prayer Caucus Wives Council
Ron Robinson
President
Young America’s Foundation
Anne Schlafly Cori
Chairman
Eagle Forum
Brandon Wheeler
Executive Director
Freedom Research Foundation
Michael R. Long
State Chairman
NYS Conservative Party
Kevin Freeman
Founder
NSIC Institute
The Honorable Mica Mosbacher
President
Mosbacher Interests
E.W. Jackson
President
STAND Foundation, Inc.
Bob Adams
President
Revive America PAC
Judson Phillips
Founder
Tea Party Nation
The Honorable Tim G. Echols
Public Service Commissioner
State of Georgia
Sal Russo
Founder and Chief Strategist
Tea Party Express
Melvin Adams
Former President
Renewanation
The Honorable Ken Cuccinelli II
President
Senate Conservatives Fund
Tom Schatz
President
Citizens Against Government Waste
Peter J. Thomas
Chairman
The Conservative Caucus
Tim Wildmon
President
American Family Association
J. Keet Lewis
Co-Founder
Lewis Group Intl
Roxanne Phillips
Executive Committee
CNP
David A. Martin
Health Care Entrepreneur
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D.
Washington Bureau Chief
Infowars.com
The Honorable Terrence M. Scanlon
Retired CEO/President
Capital Research Center
Ralph A Rebandt II
Senior Pastor
Oakland Hills Community Church
Jenny Beth Martin
Co-Founder & President
Tea Party Patriots
Robert K. Fischer
Meeting Coordinator
Conservatives of Faith
Neil Siefring
Vice President
Hilltop Advocacy, LLC
Allen Hebert
Chairman
American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston
Mario H. Lopez
President
Hispanic Leadership Fund
Tricia Erickson
President
Angel Pictures amp&; Publicity, Inc.
David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Jeff Hunt
Director
Centennial Institute
Joseph A. Morris
Partner
Morris & De La Rosa
Nick Logan
Founder
Cornerstone Payment Systems
Anthony Saliba
Principle
Saliba Venture Management LLC
The Honorable Charles J. Cooper
Former Assistant Attorney General, Ronald Reagan Administration
Cooper & Kirk
Susan A. Carleson
Chairman/ CEO
American Civil Rights Union
Theodore Baehr
Publisher
MOVIEGUIDE ®
Dean Nelson
Chairman
Frederick Douglass Foundation
Penna Dexter
Co-host
Point of View Radio
Andresen Blom
Executive Director
Grassroot Hawaii Action
Lew Uhler
President
National Tax Limitation Committee
Donna Hearne
Chief Executive Officer
The Constitutional Coalition
Tim Macy
Chairman
Gun Owners of America
James O’Hickey
CNP
John F. Tate
President
America’s Liberty PAC
John McCardell
President
America’s Liberty Committee
The Honorable Mike Spence
Founding President
Conservative Republicans of California
Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
Haley E. Martin
President
The Martin Foundation
Rod D. Martin
Founder & CEO
The Martin Organization, Inc.
Sherri R. Martin
Executive Vice President
The Martin Organization, Inc.
Evelio Silvera
Campaign for the American Future
Nicholas Stehle
Campaign for the American Future
Shawn A. Mitchell
National Chaplain
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
Jerry Melvin
President
Florida Republican Assembly
James C. Dobson Ph.D.
Founder & President
Family Talk
Gerrye Johnston
Founder/CEO
Women for Democracy in America, Inc.
Lou Cordia
President, Cordia & Associates
Executive Director, President Reagan’s Alumni Association
Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman
Conservative HQ
David N. Bossie
President
Citizens United
Barry Meguiar
President
Revival Outside the Walls
Stephen Elliott
President
Grassfire
Ginni Thomas
President
Liberty Consulting
James N. Clymer
Former National Chairman
Constitution Party National Committee
Penny Young Nance
CEO and President
Concerned Women for America
Eunie Smith
President
Eagle Forum

Signatures updated: September 7
(All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only)