U.S. business leaders have expressed extreme concern about the fiscal cliff and their efforts to prompt action from lawmakers continue.

Thursday, 15 members of The Financial Services Forum, a non-partisan financial and economic policy organization comprising the CEOs of 20 of the largest and most diversified financial services institutions doing business in the United States, sent a letter to President Barack Obama and Congress warning that interest rates could spike significantly if policymakers do not agree to stop the series of automatic tax cuts and spending hikes and replace them with a long-term plan to tame federal debt.

“The consequences of inaction — for stability in global financial markets, for economic growth, for millions of Americans still without work and for the financial circumstances of American businesses and households — would be very grave,” the letter stated.

Editor's Note: You Owe It to Yourself to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans

“But merely avoiding the fiscal cliff is not enough. We further urge you and your colleagues to enact legislation that truly restores the nation’s long-term fiscal soundness.”

Independent policymakers, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, have warned that failure to avert the fiscal cliff would cause economic growth to contract sharply and hamper an already fragile economy, Reuters reported.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, one of the CEOs who signed the letter, told the Washington Post that the fiscal cliff needs to be taken off the table.

“Some of the potential outcomes are very bad and we shouldn't take that chance,” he said.

But, progress is being hindered by politics. Partisan cooperation, which is required to solve the problem, is something that is hard to come by these days, especially given the upcoming presidential election. There are widespread beliefs that it is unrealistic to expect action until after Americans go to the polls.

Even the White House seems to be of the opinion that the election will be the catalyst for action.

The White House said that the deadlock over the key sticking point of whether to increase taxes for high-income individuals would be on broken after the election and that there will be time to prevent falling off the cliff, according to Reuters.

Still, despite the odds, some are too nervous to stand idly by as the clock continues ticking and they are determined to keep pressuring their representatives in Washington.

Dimon said he would use all of the power he has as the head of the country's largest bank to press lawmakers for a solution, the Post reported.

“I will do whatever it takes,” he declared.

Editor's Note: You Owe It to Yourself to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans