Updated 8/17 with "History of Debt" infographic below

The Concord Coalition is proud to be partnering with a new effort called "Face the Facts USA." This nonpartisan initiative is a project of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs and will be providing a new fact every day until the election (for 100 total).

The exciting part of the project is that along with their facts, they are producing great infographics and video content that make it easier to understand significant issues and trends that are (or should be) part of the national discussion as we approach election day.

They have also solicited involvement from some important organizations in the policy community to shed further light on the information in their facts -- and that is where The Concord Concord fits in. Many of the facts the project will be presenting falls into categories that Concord writes about and discusses, which allows us to add supplemental material to go along with the fact of the day.

Already, there have been two debt related facts. On...

Over the years that The Concord Coalition has been working to promote fiscal responsibility, we've gotten to know our network of grassroots members pretty well. By and large they are earnest, inquisitive, and have a thirst for the raw facts that allow them to draw their own conclusions. We always keep them in mind when we develop our educational tools.

Whether in our Chart Talk or in Principles and Priorities, we aim to give a complete picture based on numbers from non-partisan sources such as the Congressional Budget Office. When we release our Washington Budget Report each week, we often provide -- in addition to our own explanations and perspectives -- links to the original numbers and government documents that we have used in our analyses. 

To make the data even more readily accessible, we are pleased to announce the release of our new Fiscal Indicators. These are the numbers that we refer to every day, repackaged into interactive charts and graphs and woven into the fabric of our website's ...

I’m thrilled to announce that The Concord Coalition is laying the groundwork for the 2011 session of The Peter G. Peterson Foundation Fiscal Internship Program. Piloted last year, this program awards stipend-supported internships focused on fiscal issues at different public policy institutions around Washington, DC. While each intern works on their own project with a scholar at a hosting institution, all students in the program come together once a week over the 10-week session for a seminar with a participating organization. With the generous support of the Peterson Foundation, this program introduces students from around the country to the political and policy realities of the federal budget, and gives them hands-on experience in defining solutions to our nation’s fiscal challenge.

Last summer’s successful first run of the Fiscal Internship Program placed five students with internships where they worked on projects ranging from tax expenditures and pension programs, to the complex relationships between federal, state, and local budgets. While each internship experience was unique, the chance to come together each week helped the group develop a shared understanding of the federal budget, and the landscape of institutions that study it. 

For the summer of 2011, we have expanded the opportunities of the...

"It isn't fiscally irresponsible to raise the debt limit, I think it would be rather irresponsible not to raise the debt limit because we have already incurred the bill."

That quote, from Concord executive director Bob Bixby, is one of many from our new videos highlighting some of the key points driving fiscal discussions in Washington.

We recorded the videos because the Senate is set to begin debate on increasing the debt ceiling while all of Congress awaits the President's budget proposal, which will purportedly contain the Administration's ideas for how to reduce the country's budget deficits. 

The first shows a discussion about the basics behind increasing the debt limit and how there are a few key budget process reforms tied to fiscal responsibility that have become part of the debate as the Senate approaches a difficult vote. We talk about the possible Senate amendments...