Sometime next month the Senate will be forced to raise the federal debt limit beyond a record $12.1 trillion. While the current recession has exacerbated the problem, our rising national deficits are actually a structural problem a long time in the making. In the coming decades, the cost of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits will leap from 8.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 18.6% of GDP—an increase of 10.2% of GDP. To educate Americans about our nation’s large and growing fiscal imbalance The Heritage Foundation has, since 2005, …
Heritage Foundation vice president for domestic and economic policy studies Stuart Butler attended President Barack Obama’s “Fiscal Responsibility” Summit today. He reports: The President said he wanted the sessions to be the first step in a national conversation about how to deal with the long-term fiscal problem. If he truly intends that, this could be a good first step. Lawmakers from both parties shared their views in a respectful and courteous way, as did everyone else, and that’s progress. He can and should build on this by undertaking what I …
Concern about our nation’s fiscal health has long been a priority for The Heritage Foundation. Since 2005, Heritage has partnered with a diverse coalition of public policy institutions to educate Americans about our nation’s true long-term financial condition and large and growing fiscal imbalance. Working with the Concord Coalition and the Brookings Institution, the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, has conducted a series of town hall forums and editorial board briefings around the country to encourage Americans to demand action. At President Barack Obama’s “Fiscal Responsibility Summit” today, Heritage vice president for …
