WASHINGTON – In
an op-ed to be published in the October 21, 2013 edition of The
International New York Times, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew discusses
the importance of putting an end to governing by crisis and focusing on
accelerating economic growth and job creation.
Read the piece online.
The text of the piece
follows:
Lessons From a Crisis
A few days ago, a bipartisan
majority in Congress voted to reopen the federal government and remove the
cloud of uncertainty hanging over our economy. This put an end to a messy, and
at times downright ugly, political process. But when you look through the noise
of the moment, it showed that America’s leaders are committed, on a bipartisan
basis, to doing the right thing for our economy and our standing around the
world. The dollar is the world’s reserve currency and, for over 200 years, we
have established ourselves as the backbone of the global financial system. The
world now knows we are and will remain the safest, most reliable place to
invest.
Make no mistake: What took place was
a political crisis, not an economic one. When faced with a true economic crisis
in 2008 — the worst since the Great Depression — our economy proved its
resilience. Since then, the American people have painstakingly fought their way
back from the brink. Now businesses are hiring, our economy is growing, and we
have cut our deficits in half. Throughout this period, the United States once
again became a source of strength for the global economy.
But we are not where we want to be.
Growth is not strong enough, and job creation needs to accelerate. And one of
the fundamental reasons our economy is not firing on all cylinders is
Washington. Our economy has been poised to make serious strides over the last
few years, but self-inflicted political wounds have gotten in the way time
after time.
Without question, the government
shutdown and the debt ceiling impasse have led to economic hardship in every
corner of the country. While we do not yet know the exact magnitude of the
damage, these events have generated unnecessary headwinds for the economy. We
should never again take this country to the point of near-default in order to
exact political gain.
It is time to put an end to
governing by crisis and focus on accelerating economic growth and job creation.
If we are open to what we can achieve together rather than simply setting our
sights on our divisions, there is a lot we can do to support America’s workers
and businesses. This is what the American people expect from their leaders in
Washington.
We can start by hammering out a
budget agreement that builds on the progress we have already made to lower our
budget deficits. This is an opportunity to improve our nation’s long-term
fiscal health, and it should be achieved through a comprehensive package that
shrinks our deficits, protects Medicare and Social Security for those who rely
on it, and expands our economy well into the future. That means closing
wasteful tax loopholes and making targeted investments to improve our education
system, increase domestic energy production, and expand our manufacturing base.
We must come together to fix the
blunt spending cuts known as sequestration, once and for all. These
indiscriminate, across-the-board cuts, which went into effect earlier this
year, were intended to be so mutually disagreeable that they would force
Congress to find agreement on a balanced package of deficit reduction measures.
But that agreement was not reached in time. As independent economists and
business leaders will tell you, these cuts have already slowed economic growth,
just as the economy was getting traction. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget
Office has estimated that by the third quarter of next year, sequestration will
have reduced real gross domestic product by as much as 1.2 percent, which means
as many as 1.6 million fewer American jobs.
In addition to tackling our budget
challenges, Washington can take several actions to support economic growth.
Congress should pass comprehensive
immigration reform. The bipartisan bill already passed by the Senate would
strengthen our borders, provide a pathway to earned citizenship, and boost
growth by more than a trillion dollars while reducing our deficits.
Another piece of bipartisan
legislation that has passed the Senate, but not the House of Representatives,
is the farm bill. Getting this bill signed into law is not only important for
America’s farmers and protecting America’s most vulnerable children, it is
important for our economy.
Finally, we need to come together
soon to complete the bipartisan work that has already begun to reform our
business tax code, modernize our housing finance system and renew trade
promotion authority while repairing our deteriorating roads, highways and
bridges.
As we move past the government
shutdown and debt ceiling crisis, it is important to remember that the
foundation of our democracy is the healthy competition of ideas. It is the
lifeblood of our country.
But we must work across party and
ideological lines for the good of the United States. I am once again hopeful
that Democrats and Republicans can come together to accomplish meaningful
things to help grow our economy. The truth is, the sensible center is not out of
reach. We demonstrated that in recent days. And I believe we can demonstrate
that again as we move forward.
Jacob J. Lew is the United
States secretary of the Treasury.
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