Today, the Federal debt is a record-breaking $12 trillion. Unless we take action, the fiscal gap will grow even worse, and the longer we wait, the more drastic the actions will have to be. Foremost among the challenges we face are the projected shortfalls in dedicated revenue for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Below are some additional resources to learn more about this growing problem, and what you can do to help address it.
Events:
- Video of Press Conference for Launch of Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future, January 13, 2010
- Video Highlights of “The Buck Stops Where?” Briefing, June 30, 2010
Additional Reading:
- ”What’s a Billion Really Worth?”
Adapted from Where Does the Money Go? Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis
by Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, of Public Agenda - ”Here’s What We’re Up Against”
Students Face Up to the Nation’s Finances, Public Agenda - Fixing Social Security
National Academy of Social Insurance - The Social Security Fix It Book
Center for Retirement Research - Reducing U.S. debt: Ideas from the Hall of Lame
CNNMoney.com, January 4, 2010 - U.S. Debt Scolds Can’t Be Ignored Much Longer: Alice M. Rivlin
Businessweek.com, January 07, 2010 - A Citizen’s Guide to the Financial Condition of the United States Government
Government:
- Office of Management and Budget
- Office of Management and Budget – Government Performance
- Office of Management and Budget – FY 2010 Budget and More
- Congressional Budget Office
- Congressional Budget Office: The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2010 to 2020
- House Budget Committee
- Senate Budget Committee
- U.S. Treasury Direct
- U.S. Treasury FAQ: The National Debt
- U.S. Bureau of the Public Debt
Non- Profit Groups:
- American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
- The Brookings Institution
- Budgetball: Get Fiscal
- Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
- Concord Coalition
- Facing Up to the Nation’s Finances
- The Heritage Foundation
- State of the USA
- Public Agenda
- Peter G. Peterson Foundation
- The Urban Institute
From the Government Accountability Office:
- GAO Report on U.S. Treasury Debt Management Challenges
- The Federal Government’s Long-Term Fiscal Outlook (GAO)
- Fiscal Year 2008 U.S. Government Financial Statements
- GAO: 21st Century Challenges – Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government
From the Social Security Advisory Board:
- Working for Retirement Security
- Social Security: Why Action Should be Taken Soon
- Social Security Advisory Board Annual Report 2008
- Challenges Facing the Social Security Administration: Present and Future–Report to the President-Elect Transition Team
- The Unsustainable Cost of Health Care
Books. Papers, and Presentations:
- The Financial and Economic Consequences of an Exploding Debt, Leonard E. Burman, The Urban Institute, 2009
- Fiscal Days of Reckoning, C. Eugene Steuerle, The Urban Institute, November 2009
- Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2007: The Health Spending Challenge, Alice Rivlin and Joseph Antos, The Brookings Institution, 2007
- Sustained Budget Deficits: Longer-Run U.S. Economic Performance and the Risk of Financial and Fiscal Disarray, Peter Orszag, Robert E. Rubin, Allen Sinai, The Urban Institute, 2004
- How U.S. Debt Endgame Might Occur, Desmond Lachman, AEI Online, November 2009
- Inflation Scare: Crazy but Real, John H. Makin, AEI Online, July 2009
Videos and Voices
Note: These videos were not created by the Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future report’s sponsoring organizations, and we cannot be responsible for any omissions or errors.
- Solutions For Bringing Down The National Debt
- What If China Collected on U.S. Debt?
- Hearing on Foreign Holdings of U.S. Debt: Orszag’s Testimony
- The U.S. Debt – Check out What You Owe the Gov’t
- USA: A Nation In Debt- A Ticking Time Bomb
- Adorable Puppy Explains Health Care Bill
- Streettalk: Medicare / Social Security’s Future
- Wake Up Young People
- The future of social security
- Medicare, Social Security and the dignity of The American People
- BDJ Cash Question: Medicare Funding
- Can Cutting Off Wealthy Seniors Save Medicare?
- U.S. National Debt Grows To Large For National Debt Clock
- How much is a billion dollars?
- How much is 1 trillion dollars?
- What does a million, a billion, and a trillion look like?
Other Resources: