Facing the Future

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.

This week on Facing the Future, we’ll look at the busy congressional agenda. between now and the end of the campaign-shortened legislative session. Among the agenda items we'll discuss are: Emergency supplemental aid for Ukraine, additional COVID funding, student loan cancellation, inflation concerns and immigration reform. Plus, we'll ask whether there will ever be a Gen X president. Our guest is Jon Lieber, a former top congressional strategist and now managing director of Eurasia Group's United States Practice. Concord Coalition Policy Director Tori Gorman joins the conversation.

This week on Facing the Future we’ll look at the state of the economy, including  the first quarter GDP report, inflation expectations, the prospects for a "soft landing" as the Fed begins to tighten monetary policy, and whether there are any glimmers of hope for immigration reform. Our guest is Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office. Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson joined the conversation.