note: Senator Webb’s most important statement ….
Our nation, as we all know, faces a looming crisis.
The markets have already warned us. Businesses are already postponing investments. We know the consequences of inaction; they are predictable: Borrowing costs for businesses and individuals will escalate. Interest payments on the debt will grow, and already anemic job growth will decline. Our nation will run the risk of another financial catastrophe and possibly a return to recession. As Chairman Bernanke recently stated, the outcome would be “calamitous.”
Many Americans are struggling. Far too many remain out of work. They cannot be asked to absorb the shockwaves of yet another failure to act. It is time for both sides and both chambers to find common ground.