Facing the Future

This week on Facing the Future, we revisit the war in Ukraine - literally. We get an on-the-ground account from the front lines of Russia's deadly invasion of Ukraine and its devastating human impact from reporter Jason Beaubien, who has been covering the war for NPR. Later on in the program, a big picture strategic assessment of the choices and higher costs facing the US as the war grinds on from national security and foreign policy expert Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution.

This week on Facing the Future, we hear from Hawaii Democratic Congressman Ed Case about the sometimes lonely struggle in Congress to convince his colleagues to pay for the programs they support, and find ways to address the long-term national debt and solvency of Medicare and Social Security. We also get analysis of a new report that shows how Congress routinely gives the Defense Department billions of your money more than the Pentagon asks for. 

This week on Facing the Future, we take a look at legislation that seems to be making its way through Congress that may just salvage a bit of President Biden's domestic agenda. It even includes some deficit reduction elements, new taxes, and prescription drug price reductions for Medicare. Concord Coalition's policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson join the conversation, as we also look at the latest economic data and a new issue paper on how the national debt burdens future generations.

This week on Facing the Future, we are joined once again by Marc Goldwein, Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director with the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, as we look at various options to fix Social Security. A recent report from the trustees of the Social Security trust fund estimates that the trust fund will be insolvent by 2035 if Congress doesn't take major action. Insolvency could lead to major benefit cuts for retirees and the disabled. Concord's policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson also join the discussion.

This week on Facing the Future, it looks like the economic party is really over. After nearly 15 years of extremely low interest rates leading to economic stimulus, tax cuts, and spending and borrowing sprees, we now have the highest inflation in 40 years. But as the federal reserve tries to lower inflation by hiking interest rates, many economists and DC politicians are now openly acknowledging that we may be headed for a recession.  So what can Congress and the Biden administration do? Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson join me.     

This week on Facing the Future, we once again return to an all-star panel of Concord Coalition experts to examine the latest reports from the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds.  Those reports show that without major action by Congress, the Medicare Trust Fund will be out of money by 2028, and the Social Security Trust Fund will be depleted by 2035. Concord Communications Director Av Harris sits in as guest host.   

This week on Facing the Future, we hear from Harvard Kennedy School of Government professor of public service David Gergen, who served as a White House Advisor to four US presidents (Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton). Gergen has written a new book called "Hearts Touched with Fire: How Great Leaders are made." His main conclusion: It's time for the Baby Boomer generation to exit stage left and pass the baton of leadership onto Generation X, Millenials, and Gen-Z. 

This Week on Facing the Future, we take a deep dive into the latest 10-year federal budget and economic outlook newly released by the Congressional Budget Office.  Concord Coalition Executive Director Bob Bixby, chief economist Steve Robinson, policy director Tori Gorman and national field director Phil Smith all team up to crunch the numbers and translate what they mean for your future, in a program hosted by Concord's communications director Av Harris.

This week on Facing the Future we’ll get an update on COVID-19 as cases and hospitalizations are rising again. We’ll discuss the outlook with Dr. Jodie Guest, an epidemiologist and professor at Emory University. She also serves as an advisor to the Centers for Disease Control. As we face a third summer with COVID, what lessons have we learned and what needs to be done.? Plus, we'll find out whether Monkeypox is a new threat.

This week on Facing the Future, we look at the war in Ukraine with Dr. Adam Stulberg, Sam Nunn Professor and Chair in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech University. Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and national field director Phil Smith join the conversation. We'll get Dr Stulberg's perspectives on why Americans should care about this conflict; whether sanctions are an effective tool against Russian aggression; what constitutes "victory," and what long-term consequences may come from the war.