Hoping to protect their children and grandchildren from a dismal economic future, concerned citizens across the country are prepared to make the difficult choices necessary to put government finances on a more responsible path.
This becomes clear in a report released today by The Concord Coalition on the first year of its Fiscal Stewardship Project. Supported by a grant from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the project established six advisory councils around the country to study the long-term fiscal and economic challenges facing the United States and to recommend possible solutions.
The fiscal advisory councils were formed in Atlanta, Iowa, Milwaukee, Northern California, Northern Virginia and Philadelphia. In addition, a special student engagement project was conducted in Denver.
"Politicians may be surprised at how emphatic ordinary citizens are about fiscal responsibility and what solutions they are prepared to consider once they have studied the issues," said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition. "The work of the fiscal advisory councils should demonstrate to elected officials that their constituents are ready and willing to help make the hard choices that good fiscal stewardship requires now and for future generations."
Concord's report includes an overview followed by individual reports from each of the advisory councils that present their findings and recommendations on everything from new taxes to reductions in entitlement benefits.
While each fiscal advisory council approached its work differently, eight central themes emerged:
- Disappointment and frustration with Washington
- A preference for broad, sweeping reforms rather than piecemeal efforts
- A sense of urgency
- The essential need for improvements in the health care system
- A willingness to consider significant changes in Social Security
- Deep concern for future generations
- The need to better educate the public
- Commitments to future action
"Advisory council members across the country are disappointed that Washington has failed to exercise greater responsibility in handling the nation's finances," the project overview says. "They decried a long and continuing pattern of elected and appointed federal officials failing to set meaningful budget priorities, borrowing more than was necessary, and refusing to pursue obviously needed reforms in both the public and private sectors."
The advisory councils generally believe that the fiscal and economic threats facing the country now call for big, systemic changes. And while the deep recession may have required extraordinary short-term spending, council members do not think this should preclude work on reforms to address long-term structural problems. Further procrastination, they say, will only deepen the problems and make the necessary changes more painful and controversial.
Even before this year's debate over health care legislation began making headlines, some of the advisory councils had identified health care reform as critical to reining in federal deficits and strengthening the American economy. The overview says council members "noted that spiraling costs combined with an aging population and growing demand for services have put the United States economy at a competitive disadvantage."