Facing the Future

This week on Facing the Future we begin with Social Security’s annual cost of living increase, announced by the Social Security Administration (SSA) on October 10. Then we looked at seven key findings from the 1994 bipartisan Kerrey-Danforth commission that are sadly still valid and still in need of solutions. Concord Coalition chief economist Steve Robinson, a former senior advisor at the SSA, jo...

This week on Facing the Future former U.S Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA) discussed key differences between state and federal budgeting and whether there are lessons for federal policymakers. We also got some timely insights from University of Maryland professor of public policy Phil Joyce on whether the 50-year old federal budget process is up to dealing with the nation’s fiscal challenge...

This week on Facing the Future Rachel Snyderman of the Bipartisan Policy Center and Concord Coalition National Field Director Phil Smith describe the unprecedented size of our projected deficits and debt which add to the challenges that await the new president and Congress in 2025.

This week on Facing the Future we’ll focus on the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to lower interest rates for the first time since March 2020. To discuss the implications, we'll talk with Robert Carroll, Co-leader of the EY’s Quantitative Economics and Statistics (QUEST) group.          

This week on Facing the Future, we'll talk with Ben Ritz, Vice President of Policy Development at the Progressive Policy Institute, about a comprehensive plan his organization released in July to greatly improve the nation's fiscal outlook by cutting costs, raising revenues and growing the economy.

This week on Facing the Future we focused on the economy and previewed the 2025 tax debate when key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. We also discussed some new tax proposals that have been floated on the campaign trail.    Our guest was Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former Director of the Congressi...

This week on Facing the Future, Dr. Kent Smetters of the Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania will give us his nonpartisan analysis of the budgetary, economic and distributional effects of the Harris and Trump campaign policy proposals. Also, Steve Robinson discusses new long-term projections for Social Security.

This week on Facing the Future, Josh Gordon, Director of Health Policy at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), joined the show to discuss healthcare spending, prescription drug prices, and more. At CRFB, Gordon heads the Health Savers Initiative .Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson joined the healthcare conversation, and later discussed his new issue brief entitled M...

This week on Facing the Future, Bob is joined by Bill Gale, Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution. A well respected expert in the subject of debt and taxes, Gale recently wrote a piece for Brookings called Back to the Future: Can the Government Reduce Its Debt Again? which discussed the future of federal debt management in the United States. Later in the show, David Lerman, writer of CQ Rollc...

This week on Facing the Future we celebrated Social Security’s birthday. Wednesday, August 14th marked 89 years since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. Bob and Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson assessed Social Security’s accomplishments, future challenges, and some myths about reform. Later in the show, former U.S. Senator from Indiana Dan...

This week on Facing the Future, Bob Bixby switched from the host chair to the guest seat to talk about  his 25-year career as Executive Director of The Concord Coalition. National Field Director Phil Smith asked Bob questions about the importance of the federal budget, the fiscal outlook, and The Concord Coalition over the years. Later in the show, Phil interviewed two of our Fiscal Lookout volunt...

This week on Facing the Future we’ll talk with Jeff Holland of the Peterson Foundation about a series of papers released last week called Solutions Initiative 2024. It features seven plans from prominent think tanks, including one from our second guest, Andrew Lautz of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

This week on Facing the Future, we'll take a preliminary look at the tax policy proposals of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. In addition, we'll consider the tax policy implications of a case recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Our guest is Steven Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.