Influence Alley

The Fix the Debt coalition says Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer mischaracterized its position while talking to reporters on Thursday.

During a Capitol Hill press conference, a confident Schumer ticked off a number of reasons why Republicans would end up accepting the Democrats' position to raise tax rates on the wealthy, including the fact that top CEOs from the Fix the Debt coalition were on board with that approach.

“The CEOs said they would support higher rates as long as it’s part of comprehensive reform," Schumer said.

But FTD spokesman Jon Romano told the Alley that Schumer's statement was a "mischaracterization of our core principles."

And he sent along a statement from FTD head Maya MacGuineas that read in part, "The Campaign to Fix the Debt does not have a position on raising tax rates.”

Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon said “we stand by the comments from yesterday.”

“Schumer has spoken to numerous individual CEOs, including many in the Fix the Debt coalition, who are personally fine with a higher top tax rate as long as it is part of a comprehensive agreement that fixes the problem,” Fallon said.

So what's going on here? The most likely explanation is that, in conversations with Schumer, several CEOs may have been speaking for themselves and not representing the views of the coalition.

But it's hard to know for sure because neither Fallon nor Romano would discuss what happened during the private conversations.

Read FTD's entire statement after the jump.