Sanders: CEOs contributed to the deficit problems

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Thursday that corporate leaders should look in the mirror before lecturing the American people on ways to tackle the deficit.

His comment came after the heads of more than 80 big companies issued a statement pressuring lawmakers to set aside their differences and strike a deficit-reduction deal.

"There really is no shame," Sanders said in a statement Thursday. "The Wall Street leaders whose recklessness and illegal behavior caused this terrible recession are now lecturing the American people on the need for courage to deal with the nation's finances and deficit crisis.  

“Before telling us why we should cut Social Security, Medicare and other vitally important programs, these CEOs might want to take a hard look at their responsibility for causing the deficit and this terrible recession.”

Sanders suggested that the CEOs pay more in taxes to address the deficit issue.

"Our Wall Street friends might also want to show some courage of their own by suggesting that the wealthiest people in this country, like them, start paying their fair share of taxes,” Sanders said. “They might work to end the outrageous corporate loopholes, tax havens and outsourcing provisions that their lobbyists have littered throughout the tax code — contributing greatly to our deficit."

Sanders released a report detailing how many of the companies headed by the same CEOs have avoided taxes, sent American jobs overseas and took taxpayer bailouts. His report said many of the CEOs who signed the deficit-reduction letter run corporations that evaded at least $34.5 billion in taxes by setting up more than 600 subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens since 2008.

Sanders also said several of the companies received a total taxpayer bailout of more than $2.5 trillion from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, which contributed to the federal debt.

"In other words, these are some of the same people who have significantly caused the deficit to explode over the last four years," Sanders, who serves on the Senate Budget Committee, said.

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