The Association of Young Americans provides non-partisan public policy information through this website, along with public forums, to foster debate among young Americans.

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The Latest

4-14-10: Fed Chair calls for Deficit Reduction
Testifying before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on Congress to address the federal government's budget deficit. In his testimony he stated, "Although sizable deficits are unavoidable in the near term, maintaining the confidence of the public and financial markets requires that policymakers move decisively to set the federal budget on a trajectory toward sustainable fiscal balance. A credible plan for fiscal sustainability could yield substantial near-term benefits in terms of lower long-term interest rates and increased consumer and business confidence. Timely attention to these issues is important, not only for maintaining credibility, but because budgetary changes are less likely to create hardship or dislocations when the individuals affected are given adequate time to plan and adjust. In other words, addressing the country's fiscal problems will require difficult choices, but postponing them will only make them more difficult."

Learn more about Deficits and the National Debt in our Issue Paper. Share your views in our Forums.

3-15-10: Social Security Trust Funds
After decades of the Social Security system running budgetary surpluses, which were loaned to other federal government programs, this year Social Security will run a deficit. As reported by Yahoo News,"This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes nearly $29 billion more. Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs [...]. Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn't be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come."

As noted in the AYA Social Security Issue Paper, "There are only three ways for the government to make up for the 'declining Social Security surpluses and emerging Social Security deficits: reduce spending, raise taxes, or borrow more.'"

2-10-10: Bi-partisanship...well, maybe
Yesterday a group of elected officials from both parties met at the White House with President Obama to discuss some areas of common ground. The Wall Street Journal reports that "One of Mr. Obama's top priorities is a bill aimed at boosting jobs. In the meeting with top congressional Democrats and Republicans, the president pitched ideas for boosting small-business hiring, including tax breaks. [...]
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said the package currently being negotiated might win a rare bipartisan Senate vote." Soon after the meeting, however, leaders from both parties were setting out their partisan positions. As reported by the New York Times, "A mere 20 minutes after Mr. Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, recounted how Republicans had been forced to the sidelines while Democrats hashed out their sweeping health care bill, Mr. Obama trumped them with a surprise appearance before the reporters assembled in the White House briefing room.

View more prior blog entries

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