This week on Facing the Future, host Bob Bixby joins Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and Jonathan Silver, CEO of Affinity Solutions, for a panel discussion at the University of Cincinnati’s Portman Center for Policy Solutions. The conversation centered on public attitudes toward the national debt, the challenges of mobilizing the public, the role of data, and what it would take to secure America’s fiscal future.
The panelists agreed that the American public was aware of the national debt problem, but awareness alone had not translated into meaningful action. Bixby noted, “Most Americans are aware that the debt is a problem and if people are aware that there’s a problem,that’s half the battle.” However, the difficult part was moving people from awareness to active concern and political pressure.
MacGuineas emphasized the need for a political moment when bipartisanship and public readiness would align to allow honest discussions about taxes and entitlement reforms. She described how premature truth-telling in this polarized environment often results in political attacks rather than progress. “If you’re a Republican and you tell the truth and say, ‘guess what? Taxes are going to have to be part of the problem’… those campaign ads have written themselves before they finish.”
Silver brought a data-driven perspective, highlighting the precarious financial situation of many American consumers. He explained, “People are living close to their means or even above their means. So any big risk could be a major problem to a big swath of people.” Despite this, consumer spending is still holding up, though lower-income consumers are increasingly trading down to cheaper alternatives. This subtle shift underscores the delicate balance in the economy.
When asked what messages worked in engaging the public, Bixby pointed to themes people can relate to, such as the soaring interest costs on the federal debt and generational responsibility. He noted, “Interest costs have exceeded defense spending, which is pretty remarkable. It’s about 18% of our revenue, going up to 25%.”
“Another thing that they relate to,” Bixby said, “is the effect on the economy. If you have higher interest rates because the government has to raise rates to attract the capital that it needs to borrow all this money, that means higher interest rates for everybody on mortgages, car loans, student loans, whatever. And that can affect the economy and their own pocketbooks.”
Bixby also stressed the importance of connecting the issue to younger generations: “People do care about generational responsibility… If you’re 20 or 30 or even 40 and you’re thinking about these ridiculous debt numbers in future years, it’s your future that’s at stake.”
MacGuineas added that educating the public was necessary but insufficient on its own. She highlighted the power of accountability measures like an individual debt audit for members of Congress to track how much they have voted to add to the debt, which could influence behavior behind the scenes.
Silver underscored the increasing importance of quality, real-time data in understanding the economy and consumer behavior. He pointed out that traditional government data often lagged and were revised multiple times, reducing their usefulness in fast-moving economic conditions. By contrast, private data sources that combined spending, income, and credit information offered richer insights.
Silver proposed the idea of a simple economic health index to help consumers better understand their financial status and how broader fiscal issues might affect them. “If you \have a measure that takes into account their spending, their income, their credit and come up with a measure of economic health… educating the consumer around those types of insights… it’s only a short hop to get exposed to what is going on in the government.”
MacGuineas and Bixby addressed common myths surrounding the debt and deficit. MacGuineas warned against the belief that raising taxes on the rich alone or cutting waste would solve the problem, noting, “Fixing this issue is hard. It is not just taxing millionaires and billionaires… It is not just waste, fraud and abuse, though we should definitely go after it. But that alone is not going to fix this problem. She also criticized modern monetary theory, calling it a recipe for massive inflation.
Bixby echoed these points and stressed that the public could handle the truth if it was presented clearly and related to their lives. “When you get people together and sit them around a table and you convince them that there’s a problem, they are quite capable of making those decisions… They enjoy engaging on issues of Medicare or Social Security reform or tax reform.” The biggest obstacle, he said, was a lack of trust in politicians to follow through on reforms.
Looking forward, the panelists expressed cautious optimism about the proposed Fiscal Commission Act, which addresses some of the shortcomings of Simpson-Bowles by requiring a simple majority to pass and including a public education component. Bixby said, “If a fiscal commission is the sort of mechanism that can light a fire and get things going, all the better… It must be bipartisan… All options must be on the table.”
The panelists acknowledged deep polarization as a major barrier. Bixby described the relationship between the public and politicians as needing “marriage counseling,” emphasizing mutual distrust. MacGuineas proposed a “ceasefire” on Social Security reform, where politicians would agree not to attack those proposing solutions but instead focus on constructive debate.
MacGuineas highlighted the generational aspect with a hopeful note on unity rather than conflict: “I hope before we have generational warfare, we’ll have generational unity. She also noted that seniors often expressed willingness to sacrifice for their grandchildren, suggesting a potential base for coalition-building. Silver added, “One group that needs a lobbyist is grandchildren.”
Bixby concluded with a clear call to connect fiscal responsibility to everyday lives and future opportunities: “If you think about the future of the country… That’s not an abstract.He emphasized that while the issue must be made relevant in the near term, the real challenge and urgency lies in securing the country’s fiscal future.
