AUTHOR: Fiscal Future, Site Administrator
May 26, 2011

The National Academy of Public Administration recently hosted an event to hear how perceptions regarding the national debt have changed over the last year among policy influencers in the Washington area. This was the third in a series of events held in partnership with Public Agenda to explore this topic, and discuss how these attitudes affect policy makers.

Before our roundtable discussion, Public Agenda presented a recent update to its “The Buck Stops Where?” survey, which over the past year has tracked the attitudes of Washington policymakers and “Beltway influencers” on the issue of the national debt. There’s been a number of changes in perceptions among this audience, both in the urgency of the problem and the prospects for solutions.

With the negotiations over the 2012 budget underway and the prospect of a debt ceiling showdown looming over Congress, became a lively roundtable discussion. Our distinguished panelists included:

• Scott Bittle – Director of Public Issues Analysis, Public Agenda
• Joe Minarik – Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Committee for Economic Development
• Rudy Penner – Institute Fellow, Urban Institute; Former Director of the Congressional Budget Office
• Steve Redburn – Director, Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform

You can watch video from the event below: