Business group says Bowles-Simpson wants too much revenue

A business group is cautioning that any broad deficit package should not lean too heavily on revenues.

The Tax Relief Coalition, a group of more than 1,000 companies and business groups, said that President Obama’s fiscal commission, led by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, was right to push for both spending restraint and tax reform.

But the group, which includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, also said the current Bowles-Simpson framework concentrates too much on the tax side.

“TRC acknowledges the efforts of Bowles-Simpson to establish a framework for substantive entitlement and tax reform, but because of the significant imbalance in entitlement programs, we also believe that any serious reform must include significantly more in spending reductions than in revenue,” the coalition said in a release.

The coalition was responding to a group of 80 chief executives, who last week called on Washington to come together on a grand bargain on the deficit. The executives making that push are aligned with the Campaign to Fix the Debt — which was started by Bowles and Simpson.

Top officials on both sides of the aisle have expressed support for the basic framework of Bowles-Simpson. But with the results of next week’s election still in doubt, it remains to be seen whether policymakers can come together on a grand bargain after the election. 

The pushback from the Tax Relief Coalition comes after liberal groups have also criticized the Fix the Debt group, further underscoring the challenges Washington has in reining in deficits.

Liberals have said that the fiscal commission’s recommendations do not ask enough from the wealthy, and too much from the lower and middle classes.