Facing the Future

This week on Facing the Future, Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson will explain why the House and Senate budget committee resolutions might not result in their promised deficit reduction numbers. We'll also look at claims of massive Social Security fraud. Then, National Field Director Phil Smith gets some insights from volunteer leaders.

This week on Facing the Future, we talked about the nation’s budget challenges with Barry Anderson, former Deputy Director for Budget Review at the White House Office of Management and Budget. He also served as Deputy Director and then Acting Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Beyond his work on the U.S. budget, Anderson headed the Budgeting and Public Expenditures Division in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Anderson sees some similarities between the early days of the Clinton Administration in the 1990’s and the current situation.

This week on Facing the Future, we'll look at the debate in Washington over who has the Constitutional "power of the purse." We'll talk with Rachel Snyderman, Managing Director of Economic Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center and co-author of a new Q&A called "Budget Impoundment 101."

This week on Facing the Future, the guest is Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute. She recently testified before the House Budget Committee about the daunting long-term U.S. budget outlook. We'll discuss that testimony and what she thinks is necessary to rein-in the growing debt.

This week on Facing the Future, we'll look at the new 10-year budget projections from the Congressional Budget Office and why some of President Trump's early executive orders might portend litigation over the Constitutional power of the purse.

This week on Facing the Future, we heard from Eugene Steuerle of the Urban Institute on why Zombies are in control of the federal budget and what must be done to break their grip on the future. Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson joined the conversation.

In a new book, “Beyond Zombie Rule: Reclaiming Fiscal Sanity In A Broken Congress,” Steuerle updates an earlier book with a similarly chilling title, Dead Men Ruling. The main theme of both books is that too much of the federal budget has been predetermined by spending and tax decisions made long ago, leaving today’s policymakers and future generations with limited flexibility to make their own decisions.

This week on Facing the Future, we discuss the budgetary priorities and procedural hurdles facing the new Republican majority in Congress as they try to quickly enact an ambitious agenda. Our guest is Rohit Kumar, Co-Leader of the National Tax Office at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a former senior advisor to Senate Republican leaders.

This week on Facing the Future, we looked back at the fiscal developments of 2024 and looked ahead to 2025. Joining me for the discussion were Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson, National Field Director Phil Smith and Digital Media Intern Kyle Duffy. Our special guest star was Chase Hagaman, the original host of Facing the Future who now serves as Economic Development Director at the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs. 

This week on Facing the Future, the Concord Coalition staff looks back on fiscal year 2024 and what to expect in 2025. Our special guest is Chase Hagaman, director of economic development at the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) and the original host of Facing the Future.

This week on Facing the Future, Concord Coalition chief economist Steve Robinson explains why the "Social Security Fairness Act" would result in an unearned windfall for a small number of workers. We'll also discuss a new debt limit warning by the Government Accountability Office.