Fiscal Wake-Up Tour Brings Mission to Blackwell Auditorium

The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, a bipartisan effort to aid the public in discussion concerning budget controls, tax reform, and government spending, presented this year's Francis B. Simkins Lecture. The lecture was held in the Blackwell Auditorium via video conference with three members of the tour. It was a full house, as many business students were on hand to write papers for their respected classes.

The three panelists were Executive Director of the Concord Coalition Robert Bixby, Director of Brookings Institution's Budgeting for National Priorities Isabel Sawhill and Director of The Heritage Foundation's Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Alison Fraser. Attending in person were National Field Director of the Concord Coalition Harry Zeeve and Northeast Regional Director of Concord Coalition Jeff Thiebert to answer any additional questions.

The Fiscal Wake-Up tour, a project of the Concord Coalition, believes that fiscal policy is unsustainable in the current economic climate. It is designed to engage the public in a discussion about budget controls and deficit spending. "Public engagement is very important," said Bixby. He also said that there are simply "no easy solutions" in dealing with the national debt. "Finding solutions will require bipartisan cooperation."

This year's lecture organizers were Assistant Professor of Art and Chair of the University Lecture Committee Anna Cox, along with Assistant Professor of Mathematics Dr. David Shoenthal.

The discussion began with Bixby presenting a slideshow telling students "We need to sound an alarm in Washington." He talked about this fiscal year's budget situation, which was only $1.4 trillion, a drop from the expected $1.59 trillion projected. "There is something worse, and that is the future," said Bixby. If we continue to borrow from foreign countries, Bixby explained, then our interest will continue to balloon in the future. "We cannot finance our way out of this through big budget deficits," he continued. Bixby said that borrowing from other countries was not necessarily a bad thing, but it creates "leverage" for other countries over the United States.

Fraser correlated many of her ideas from Bixby's side. She explained to the audience that entitlement programs-Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid-may eventually "squeeze out priorities in the future for other funding." She called this a "political threat and a democratic threat." Her conclusion came down to raising taxes, which may become a problem since most tax rates would have to double for the 2055 generation to make up for the deficit. The consensus amongst the panelists was Congress needs to figure out a logical way to lower expenses without doubling revenue via tax hikes.

Sawhill took the explanatory approach versus the number approach. "This is especially important to younger people who are going to inherit this," she said. She also focused on healthcare reform, since that issue is a relatively heated one currently in the United States Senate. "Everybody aggrees we are not getting good value for our [healthcare] system right now." Sawhill said the U.S. has two choices-either place an explicit cap on spending, like in other countries, or create a new source of revenue through tax reforms. Energy taxes and cap and trade were two of her proposals. A tax on sugary drinks was even an idea to raise revenue and lower the obesity rate, since the majority of the repeat doctor visits come from obese Americans. "We must either pay higher taxes or forgo some of the benefits given to us," said Sawhill.

Ending with a question and answer session, the panel offered ideas on what student could do. Bixby called on the audience to "Think about the future.have a savings plan. That is something the federal government does not do." Fraser told Longwood students to get the entire campus involved. "Challenge the student body on this issue." She offered ways for student's voices to be heard, such as via the newspaper or radio outlet.

Sawhill urged students to raise their voices and express their concerns. "We need you, the public, to be educated on this issue and talk to your elected officials," said Sawhill.

"It's not really about the numbers. Fundamentally, it is a moral issue. It is about the legacy we are leaving, and frankly, that legacy right now, is not very good," said Bixby.