Insight Over 350 Experts Call for Entitlement Reform Now
APRIL 2, 2011
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April 4, 2011
The Honorable John Boehner The Honorable Harry Reid
Speaker of the House Senate Majority Leader
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Mitch McConnell
House Minority Leader Senate Minority Leader
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Boehner, Minority Leader Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, and Minority Leader McConnell:
The President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform concluded that we are at a national “moment of truth,” saying: “We cannot play games or put off hard choices any longer. Without regard to party, we have a patriotic duty to keep the promise of America to give our children and grandchildren a better life.”
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To this end, the undersigned implore the Congress to include fundamental entitlement reform in its Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2012. There can be no greater national priority than reducing the prospective explosion of federal debt. It threatens the economic prosperity of this great country and represents a betrayal of our national obligation to deliver a better future to the next generations. Military leaders have identified future federal red ink as a national security threat. The unabated sea of federal spending lies at the intersection of these budgetary, economic, and national security threats. Reforming entitlements must be at the top of the agenda for the 112th Congress.
Such an act of Congressional leadership will promote job growth, support more rapid economic growth, and rekindle the American dream of upward mobility. We respectfully ask that the Congress include in its budgetary plans over the next 10 years reforms of the greatest budgetary threats: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
Respectfully,
[Affiliations listed for identification purposes only, does not constitute institutional endorsement]
Wayne Angell, Angell Economics, former Governor of the Federal Reserve Board
Michael Boskin, Stanford University, former Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers
James Buchanan, Virginia Tech, Nobel Laureate
Ernest Christian, Center for Strategic Tax Reform
Tom Duesterberg, Manufacturer’s Alliance/MAPI
Bill Frenzel, Brookings Institution, former Member of Congress
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Hudson Institute
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American Action Forum, former Director, Congressional Budget Office
R. Glenn Hubbard, Columbia University, former Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG Art Laffer, Laffer Associates
Bob McTeer, National Center for Policy Analysis, former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Pam Olson, Skadden Arps, former Assistant. Secretary for Tax Policy, Treasury Department
June O’Neill, Baruch College, CUNY, former Director, Congressional Budget Office
Rudy Penner, Urban Institute, former Director, Congressional Budget Office
Murray Weidenbaum, Washington University in St. Louis, former Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers
Burton Abrams, University of Delaware
Douglas K. Adie, Ohio University
Lee C. Adkins, Oklahoma State University
William P. Albrecht, University of Iowa
Donald L. Alexander, Western Michigan University
Leslie Alperstein, Washington Analysis Corp.
Ryan C. Amacher, University of Texas, Arlington
Geoffrey Andron, Austin Community College
Joseph Antos, American Enterprise Institute
David Aschauer, Bates College
George R. Averitt, Purdue North Central
Costas Azariadis, Washington University in St. Louis
Charles Baird, California State University, East Bay
Ray Ball, University of Chicago
Spencer Banzhaf, Georgia State University
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG W. Steven Barnett, Rutgers University
James R Barth, Auburn University
Atin Basuchoudhary, Virginia Military Institute
Mark Bayless, Wayne State University
Charles M. Becker, Duke University
Bruce Bender, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Bruce L. Benson, Florida State University
C. Gregory Bereskin, St. Ambrose University
Sanjai Bhagat, University of Colorado
Joydeep Bhattacharya, Iowa State University
Roger C. Bird, Avian Associates LLC
Robert G. Bise, Orange Coast College
David Blond, Quantitative Economic Research Group
Bruce A. Blonigen, University of Oregon
Richard Boden, University of Toledo
Elizabeth C. Bogan, Princeton University
Cecil E. Bohanon, Ball State University
Samuel Bostaph, University of Dallas
Donald J. Boudreaux, George Mason University
William Boyes, Arizona State University
Scott Bradford, Brigham Young University
Ike Brannon, American Action Forum
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG David A. Brat, Randolph Macon College
Jeffrey R. Brown, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Jan K. Brueckner, University of California, Irvine
Lawrence Brunner, Central Michigan University
Jay H. Bryson, Wells Fargo Securities
Todd G. Buchholz, Two Oceans Management
Richard Burkhauser, Cornell University
Edwin T. Burton, University of Virginia
Andrew Busch, BMO Capital Markets
James L. Butkiewicz, University of Delaware
William N. Butos, Trinity College
Noel D Campbell, University of Central Arkansas
Richard J. Cebula, Jacksonville University
Dustin Chambers, Salisbury University
Don M. Chance, Louisiana State University
Chun-Hao Chang, Florida International University
Robert Chatfield, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Kenneth Chilton, Lindenwood Univeristy
Gregory C. Chow, Princeton University
Carl F. Christ, Johns Hopkins University
Lawrence R. Cima, John Carroll University
James E. Clark, Wichita State University
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG David L. Cleeton, Oberlin College
Warren Coats, International Monetary Fund, retired
John P. Cochran, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Ben Collier, Northwest Missouri State University
Robert Collinge, University of Texas, San Antonio
Roger Congleton, Roger Congleton
Lee Coppock, University of Virginia
Mike Cosgrove, University of Dallas
Erik Craft, University of Richmond
Eleanor D. Craig, University of Delaware
Steven Craig, University of Houston
Robert Crawford, Brigham Young University
Robert Crouch, University of California, Santa Barbara
Mario J. Crucini, Vanderbilt University
Julie Berry Cullen, University of California, San Diego
Coldwell Daniel III, University of Memphis
Minh Dao, Eastern Illinois University
Lawrence S. Davidson, Indiana University
Antony Davies, Duquesne University
Arthur De Vany, University of California, Irvine
Stephen J. DeCanio, University of California, Santa Barbara
Clarence R. Deitsch, Ball State University
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG Robert Dekle, University of Southern California
Greg Delemeester, Marietta College
Allan DeSerpa, Arizona State University
James DeVault, Lafayette College
William G. Dewald, Ohio State University
P.J. Dhrymes, Columbia University
Arthur M. Diamond, Jr., University of Nebraska, Omaha
James A. Dorn, Towson University
Joanne M. Doyle, James Madison University
Joseph W. Duncan, Micro Mite Economic Consulting
Floyd Duncan, Virginia Military Institute
James Rolph Edwards, Montana State University-Northern
John B. Egger, Towson University
Michael A. Ellis, Kent State University
Alain C. Enthoven, Stanford University
Richard Ericson, East Carolina University
Bill Even, Miami University
Dino Falaschetti, Florida State University
Mira Farka, California State University, Fullerton
Allen Featherstone, Kansas State University
Susan Feigenbaum, University of Missouri, St. Louis
J. Peter Ferderer, Macalester College
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Christopher J. Flinn, New York University
James Forcier, University of San Francisco
Murray Frank, University of Minnesota
Micah Frankel, California State University, East Bay
Ralph R. Frasca, University of Dayton
Douglas Frechtling, George Washington University
Gary French, Economic Consultant
Luke Froeb, Vanderbilt University
Roth Gabriel, Independent Institute
Douglas Gale, New York University
Stephen W. Gallagher, Societe Generale
Alejandro Gallegos, Winona State University
B. Delworth Gardner, Brigham Young University
Dave Garthoff, The University of Akron
Robert Genetski, classicalprinciples.com
Mark Gertler, New York University
David Gillette, Truman State University
Micha Gisser, University of New Mexico
Charles J. Goetz, University of Virginia
William L. Goffe, SUNY Oswego
Stephan F. Gohmann, University of Louisville
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG Rodolfo Gonzalez, San Jose State University
Lawrence Goodman, Center for Financial Stability, Inc.
John Goodman, National Center for Policy Analysis
Kenneth V. Greene, Binghamton University
Steven A. Greenlaw, University of Mary Washington
Earl Grinols, Baylor University
Darrin Gulla, University of Kentucky
Thomas Guthrie, FM Fincorp
R. W. Hafer, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Dennis Halcoussis, California State University, Northridge
Reza Hamzaee, Missouri Western State University
Gary Hansen, University of California, Los Angeles
Eric Hanushek, Stanford University
Stephen Happel, Arizona State University
Arnold C. Harberger, University of California, Los Angeles
Govind Hariharan, Kennesaw State University
David E. Harrington, Kenyon College
Scott E. Harrington, University of Pennsylvania
William R. Hart, Miami University
Joseph Haslag, University of Missouri
Joel W. Hay, University of Southern California
Will C. Heath, University of Louisiana, Lafayette
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG D. W. Hedrick, Central Washington University
Bradley K. Hobbs, Florida Gulf Coast University
Randall G. Holcombe, Florida State University
Andrew Holmes, Brigham Young Unversity
Charles L. Hooper, Hoover Institution
Yilin Hou, University of Georgia
C. Thomas Howard, University of Denver
E. Philip Howrey, University of Michigan
James Huffman, Lewis & Clark Law School
Forrest E. Huffman, Temple University
J. Christopher Hughen, University of Denver
Constance L. Hunter, Aladdin Capital Holdings LLC
E. Bruce Hutchinson, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
Christopher R. Inama, Golden Gate University
Thomas R. Ireland, University of Missouri, St. Louis
F. Owen Irvine, Michigan State University
Joseph Jadlow, Oklahoma State University
Dennis Jansen, Texas A&M University
Boyan Jovanovic, New York University
Steven Kaplan, University of Chicago
Michael Kaylen, University of Missouri
Adrienne Kearney, University of Maine
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG Melissa Kearney, University of Maryland
Barry Keating, University of Notre Dame
Peter Kilby, Wesleyan University
Miles Kimball, University of Michigan
Daniel Klein, George Mason University
Thomas J. Kniesner, Syracuse University
James V. Koch, Old Dominion University
Paul Koch, Olivet Nazarene University
Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Boston University
Ilan Kremer, Stanford University
Robert Krol, California State University, Northridge
Cory Krupp, Duke University
Kishore Kulkarni, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Richard E. La Near, Missouri Southern State University
Dale W. Larson, American University of Afghanistan
Lori Leachman, Duke University
M. Cary Leahey, Decision Economics, Inc.
Norman B. Lefton, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Tom Lehman, Indiana Wesleyan University
Carol A. Leisenring, The Wharton Financial Institutions Center, retired
Robert Lerman, American University
Irving Leveson, Leveson Consulting
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG Philip I. Levy, Columbia University
Michael T. Lewis, Free Market Inc.
Robert Ley, Bemidji State University
Stan Liebowitz, University of Texas, Dallas
Jane Lillydahl, University of Colorado, Boulder
Tony Lima, California State University, East Bay
Bruce R. Lippke, University of Washington
Anthony T. Lo Sasso, University of Illinois, Chicago
Francis Longstaff, University of California, Los Angeles
Edward J. Lopez, San Jose State University
Richard A. Lord, Montclair State University
Donald Losman, Economic Consultant
James R. Lothian, Fordham Univ ersity John Lunn, Hope College
Glenn MacDonald, Washington University in St. Louis
Michael L. Marlow, California Polytechnic State University
Richard Marston, University of Pennsylvania
Craig S. Marxsen, University of Nebraska, Kearney
Keith E. Maskus, University of Colorado, Boulder
John Matsusaka, University of Southern California
Merrill Matthews, Institute for Policy Innovation
Timothy Matthews, Kennesaw State University
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG Timothy R. Mayes, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Kenneth T. Mayland, ClearView Economics, LLC
Thomas H. Mayor, University of Houston
John McArthur, Wofford College
Martin C. McGuire, University of California, Irvine
Charles E. McLure, Stanford University
W. Douglas McMillin, Louisiana State University
Lawrence McQuillan, Pacific Research Institute
Stephen Meardon, Bowdoin College
Roger Meiners, University of Texas, Arlington
Allan Meltzer, Carnegie Mellon University
John L. Mikesell, Indiana University
James C. Miller, Husch Blackwell LLP
David E. Mills, University of Virginia
Wilson Mixon, Berry College
Sunil Mohanty, University of Saint Thomas
James Moncur, University of Hawaii, Manoa
Carlisle E. Moody, College of William and Mary
Ron Moomaw, Oklahoma State University
Michael Moore, George Washington University
Michael Moran, Daiwa Capital Markets America
Michael Munger, Duke University
John Murray, University of Toledo
AMERICANACTIONFORUM.ORG Steven C. Myers, The University of Akron
Forrest Nelson, University of Iowa
Thomas Nesslein, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
George Neumann, University of Iowa
Robert D. Niehaus, Robert D. Niehaus, Inc.
Seth W. Norton, Wheaton College
Lee Ohanian, University of California, Los Angeles
Ed Olsen, University of Virginia
Peter Orazem, Iowa State University
Donald Oswald, California State University, Bakersfield
Tomi Ovaska, Youngstown State University
Stephen Parente, University of Minnesota
Judd Patton, Bellevue University
George Pennacchi, University of Illinois
Mark J Perry, University of Michigan, Flint
Tomas Philipson, University of Chicago
G. Michael Phillips, California State University, Northridge
Brian Poi
Joe Pomykala, Towson University
Ivan Pongracic, Hillsdale College
Gregory N. Price, Morehouse College
Ronald L. Promboin, University of Maryland University College
Stephen W. Pruitt, University of Missouri, Kansas City
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Richard W. Rahn, Cato Institute
Valerie Ramey, University of California, San Diego
James B. Ramsey, New York University
James F. Refalo, California State University, Los Angeles
Mark Rider, Georgia State University
Christine Ries, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jay R. Ritter, University of Florida
Mario Rizzo, New York University
Nancy Roberts, Arizona State University
David C. Rose, University of Missouri, St. Louis
Steven Rosefielde, University of North Carolina
Larry Ross, University of Alaska Anchorage
Paul Rubin, Emory University
Carrington Samantha, California State University, Los Angeles
Andrew A. Samwick, Dartmouth College
Anthony Sanders, George Mason University
David Sappington, University of Florida
Raymond Sauer, Clemson University
Thomas R. Saving, Texas A&M University
D. Eric Schansberg, Indiana University Southeast
Francis H. Schott, Consultant
Larry Schweikart, University of Dayton
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Alan Shapiro, University of Southern California
Dennis P. Sheehan, Penn State University
Steven Sheffrin, Tulane University
Judy Shelton, Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Stephen Shmanske, California State University, East Bay
William F. Shughart, II, University of Mississippi
Andrei Simonov, Michigan State University
Evangelos Otto Simos, The Journal of Business Forecasting
Vijay Singal, Virginia Tech
Neil Skaggs, Illinois State University
Mark Skidmore, Michigan State University
Frank Sloan, Duke University
James F Smith, EconForecaster.com
Jeff Smith, University of Michigan
Donald L. Snyder, Utah State University
John Soper, John Carroll University
David E. Spencer, Brigham Young University
Dennis Starleaf, Iowa State University
Robert Stauffer, Roanoke College
E. Frank Stephenson, Berry College
Robert Strauss, Carnegie Mellon University
Gerald J. Swanson, University of Arizona
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James Sweeney, Stanford University
Thomas W. Synnott, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Robert Tamura, Clemson University
T. Craig Tapley, University of Florida
John A. Tatom, Indiana State University
Jason Taylor, Central Michigan University
John Taylor, Stanford University
Rebecca Thacker, Ohio University
Teresa Tharp, Valencia Community College
Petra Todd, University of Pennsylvania
Edward Tower, Duke University
Frederick Treyz, Regional Economic Models, Inc.
Philip Trostel, University of Maine
David G. Tuerck, Suffolk University
Grace-Marie Turner, Galen Institute
Roger Tutterow, Mercer University
Stan Ullerich, Buena Vista University
Donald Vandegrift, The College of New Jersey
David VanHoose, Baylor University
Richard Vedder, Ohio University
Robert L. Vigil, Analysis Group
George J. Viksnins, Georgetown University
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Ivo Welch, Brown University
J. Gregg Whittaker, William Jewell College
Michael E. Williams, University of Denver
Peter Williams, University of North Alabama
Jonathan Williams, American Legislative Exchange Council
Bradley Kemp Wilson, University of Saint Thomas
Charles Wolf, Jr., Hoover Institution
Gary Wolfram, Hillsdale College
Stephen A. Woodbury, Michigan State University
Ted Woodruff, St. Ambrose University
Gene Wunder, Washburn University
Steve B. Wyatt, Miami University
Tom Wyrick, Missouri State University
Pavel Yakovlev, Duquesne University
Bruce Yandle, Clemson University
Jerold Zimmerman, University of Rochester
Joseph Zoric, Franciscan University of Steubenville
Benjamin Zycher, Pacific Research Institute
Zenon Zygmont, Western Oregon University
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