This week I had the privilege of traveling to Carrollton, Georgia, to visit the University of West Georgia and facilitate Principles and Priorities, The Concord Coalition’s interactive federal budget exercise, with students from Professor Mary Kassis’s public finance class.
Over two sessions—an in-person workshop on Tuesday followed by a virtual follow-up on Thursday—students took on the role of lawmakers, grappling with the same tough decisions Congress faces in balancing fiscal responsibility with other national priorities. I was especially impressed by how seriously these students approached the challenge. Most teams were able to reduce projected federal deficits by trillions of dollars over the next decade, carefully weighing tradeoffs on everything from tax reform to entitlement programs and defense spending.
What made this experience especially powerful was the intergenerational dialogue it sparked. We were joined by two outstanding local leaders: John Blanchard, one of Concord’s volunteer Fiscal Lookouts, and Robin Collins, a civic leader with the League of Women Voters of Georgia. Their perspectives and active participation added depth and generational diversity to the conversation—highlighting the reality that while today’s decisions will affect us all, their impact will differ greatly across generations.
These kinds of civil, informed conversations are exactly what we need more of, especially in today’s political climate. I’m grateful to Professor Kassis for inviting us into her classroom and to the students of West Georgia for their thoughtful engagement and open-minded approach to one of the most complex issues facing our nation.
Events like this remind me why our work at The Concord Coalition is so important: the future of the federal budget truly belongs to the next generation—and they deserve a seat at the table.
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