Learn the Facts

Participant reading a discussion guide at an AmericaSpeaks 21st Century Town Meeting

As a nation, we need to come together to put our country on a sustainable path by setting national priorities and making decisions about how we are going to pay for them.

Unless we take necessary steps to plan for the future, our national deficit and mounting debt will grow out of control. Planning ahead so that our nation can support its highest priorities will help to ensure that our country is able to create new jobs and maintain confidence in our financial markets. If we don’t start making tough choices, the interest we will need to pay on our debt will begin to crowd out other priorities, like education, national defense, investment in roads, public transit, and other infrastructure.



In the coming weeks, we’ll be providing you with information to better understand the issues. Here are a few links to get you started.

Reports on the budget and economy:

Changing Expectations: Americans deliberate our nation’s finances and future
An initiative of the Facing Up to Our Nation’s Finances Project. Project partners: The Brookings Institution, The Concord Coalition, The Heritage Foundation, Public Agenda and Viewpoint Learning. Project Sponsors: The Ford Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Submitted by Viewpoint Learning, Inc.

Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future
National Research Council and National Academy of Public Administration

Fiscal Stewardship Project: Americans Confront the Fiscal Crisis
The Final Report from Concord Coalition Fiscal Advisory Councils, which have been established across the country.

Red Ink Rising: A Call to Action to Stem the Mounting Federal Debt
Report from The Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform.
Video on the budget and economy:

I.O.U.S.A.: Byte-sized — the 30-Minute Version
The award-winning documentary I.O.U.S.A. opened America’s eyes to the consequences of our nation’s debt and the need for our government to show more fiscal responsibility. Director Patrick Creadon uses candid interviews and featured subjects include Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Paul O’Neill, Robert Rubin, and Paul Volcker, along with the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s David Walker and Bob Bixby of the Concord Coalition, a Foundation grantee.

Fiscal Wake Up Tour Online Video
The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour’s mission is to cut through the usual partisan rhetoric and stimulate a more realistic public dialogue on what we want our nation’s future to look like, along with the required trade-offs. Produced by Concord Coalition.

National Briefing on our Budget and Economy
Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, moderated a panel discussion on April 23, 2010 with four experts, recorded via webcast.
Organizations working on economic, budget, and tax issues:

American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

Bipartisan Policy Center

The Brookings Institution

CATO Institute

Center for American Progress

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Center for Economic and Policy Research

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

The Concord Coalition

Economic Policy Institute

The Heritage Foundation

National Academy of Public Administration

Public Agenda

Tax Policy Center

Urban Institute
Government offices focusing on the budget:

Congressional Budget Office

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

White House Office of Management and Budget