With an agreement reached on a $700 billion financial bailout package, the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) urges lawmakers to turn their attention to how to pay for it.

"Years of borrowing have already left the U.S. government in a weakened state," said Maya MacGuineas, CRFB president. "Lawmakers need to behave responsibly and figure out how to pay for this package rather than just sticking it on the nation's tab. One clear cut lesson to come out of all this is the dangers of excessive borrowing."

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget makes three recommendations to our nation's leaders:

1.) The presidential candidates need to rethink their tax and spending priorities.  The budget plans of both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama would increase the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars a year (see "Promises, Promises: A Fiscal Voter Guide" at www.USBudgetWatch.org, a joint project with CRFB and the Pew Charitable Trusts). Given the tremendous outlay to which the federal government has just committed, Senators McCain and Obama need to scale back their promises and focus instead on fixing the United States' broken budget.

2.) Congress and the new President need to work together to pass a budget plan that will reduce future budget deficits -- currently projected to continue as far as the eye can see -- and deal with the country's long-term imbalances, where over $50 trillion has been promised with no plan on where the funds would come to pay for these promises.

3.) Finally, Congress should commit that any monies that flow back to the federal government from repayments or equity stakes taken in financial companies from the bailout package should go directly to paying down the national debt. This bailout package will push the U.S. over the $10 trillion debt marker -- and inauspicious accomplishment.  If the government does recoup any of the payments, it would be scandalous for Congress to try to use those funds for other priorities such as tax cuts or new spending rather than making a dent in repaying all that it is borrowed.

"Seven hundred billion dollars is a gargantuan amount of money," concludes MacGuineas. "That many zeros should serve as a wake-up call for Congress to get its fiscal house in order."

CRFB does not support any candidate for office, advocate for any single specific fiscal goal, or take a position on any proposed policy.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is a bipartisan, non-profit organization committed to educating the public about issues that have significant fiscal policy impact.  The committee is made up of some of the most important budget experts in the country including many of the past chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees, directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, and members of the Federal Reserve Board.  For more information about the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, visit www.crfb.org.

About U.S. Budget Watch

U.S. Budget Watch is a project designed to increase awareness of the important fiscal issues facing the country through and beyond the election. The project draws attention to the presidential candidates' tax and spending policies to help voters become better informed about these issues and to track the new president's fiscal policies after the election. U.S. Budget Watch is a project of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget at the New America Foundation and is supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts. None of these organizations support or oppose any candidate for office.  www.usbudgetwatch.org.