Archive: The Fiscal Wake-up Tour


 March 2008 – Tour Stops: Berkeley, Fresno, and Pittsburgh

Alice Rivlin embraced the mantle of the Brookings representative for three tour venues in March. Along with David Walker (in his last FWUT events as Comptroller General), Bob Bixby (Concord Coalition), and Alison Fraser (Heritage Foundation), Alice met with the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle on March 5, then moved across the Bay to engage students of the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley in a discussion about the federal budget and the long-run challenges the U.S. can expect to meet in the coming decades. The following day in Fresno, the tour presented its message to a luncheon audience of about 150 business and community leaders and later to about 250 students, faculty, and others at a forum hosted by the Maddy Institute at California State University-Fresno.

The Pittsburgh stop on March 25 was a busy one, filled with two editorial board meetings, a luncheon and a dinner with business and community leaders, and a forum at the University of Pittsburgh. The forum, hosted by the university’s Distinguished Lecture Series and moderated by former Treasury secretary Paul O’Neill, saw one of the tour’s largest turnouts with roughly 400 students, faculty, and interested participants listen to a lively exchange of views concerning the nation’s fiscal situation.

February 2008 – Tour Stop: Madison

The dead of winter found the FWUT traveling to Madison, Wisconsin on February 27. The Rotary Club of Madison, one of the largest in the country, provided a luncheon venue for the tour’s message. The evening event at the University of Wisconsin was part of the University’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Tour members--Paul Cullinan, David Walker (U.S. Comptroller General), Bob Bixby (Concord Coalition), and Brian Riedl (Heritage Foundation and a UW alum)—addressed a crowd of about 175 concerned citizens and highlighted the coming fiscal challenges facing the nation and the urgency for enacting corrective action.

January 2008 – Tour Stop: Tallahassee

The FWUT swept through Tallahassee, Florida on January 14. Paul Cullinan along with David Walker (U.S. Comptroller General), Bob Bixby (Concord Coalition), and Brian Riedl (Heritage Foundation) began the day with a luncheon presentation to the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, an advisory group that looks at upcoming fiscal issues affecting the state of Florida. Congressman Alan Boyd accompanied the Tour to its meeting with the editorial board of the Tallahassee Democrat. The Congressman also moderated the FWUT forum convened at the Tallahassee Community College, which about 150 local citizens attended.

December 2007 - Tour Stops: Iowa City and East Lansing

On December 3, Jason Furman and other members of the tour spent a day in Iowa City, Iowa addressing deans, faculty, and students at the University of Iowa. The day was capped off with a forum that attracted about 350 attendees. The following week Paul Cullinan and other FWUT members gathered in East Lansing, Michigan where they met with students for a breakfast discussion, faculty for a luncheon, and the editorial boards of the two Lansing papers for briefings. The major event was a full FWUT presentation before an audience of about 175 people at the student union on the Michigan State University campus.

November 2007 – Tour Stop: Portland

In late November, Paul Cullinan joined Harry Zeeve (Concord Coalition) and Alison Fraser (Heritage Foundation) for an all-day workshop organized by Public Agenda and Viewpoint Learning. This Stakeholders Dialogue brought together a diverse group of students, concerned citizens, business leaders, and public officials to discuss the long-term fiscal outlook and to debate and formulate policy approaches to address the problem.

October 2007 – Tour Stops: Atlanta, Hartford, and Baltimore

Paul Cullinan, Research Director for the Budgeting for National Priorities Project at Brookings, recently joined the Fiscal Wake Up Tour in Atlanta for a forum at Georgia State University and a luncheon with local business and community leaders as a part of our ongoing effort to educate the public on the dangerous and unsustainable course of the federal budget. Tour members were also interviewed for the PBS television program “Think Tank” with Ben Wattenberg.

Following the Atlanta trip, Cullinan traveled to Hartford, Connecticut with other tour members to address an evening gathering of financial planning professionals and a breakfast meeting with local business leaders.

Closing out the month, Doug Elmendorf joined David Walker (U.S. Comptroller General, Robert Bixby (Concord Coalition), and Stuart Butler (Heritage Foundation) for a forum on the nation’s looming fiscal problems at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.


Radio Interview:

September 2007 - Tour Stops: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco

The Fiscal Wake Up Tour took California and Nevada by storm in September, in a whirlwind tour filled with meetings with business and community leaders, media interviews, and public forums. Brookings Senior Fellow Isabel Sawhill, along with David Walker (U.S. Comptroller General), Bob Bixby (The Concord Coalition) and Alison Fraser (The Heritage Foundation) participated in public forums to discuss "the coming fiscal tsunami" at the School of Business of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as well as in San Francisco at a discussion moderated by former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. The tour also met with Las Vegas and Silicon Valley business and community leaders.

Radio Interviews:
July 2007 - Tour Stop: Nashville

On July 16, Isabel Sawhill and the Fiscal Wake Up Tour team traveled to Nashville, TN to discuss the looming fiscal crisis in public forums held at the Nashville Public Library and the Rotary Club of Nashville. Topics discussed include the need to rein in the overwhelming costs of the current healthcare system, as well as the necessity of tax reform. U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper joined the panelists for both events and helped spread our message to the local Nashville media. Following a productive round of discussions, the group met with the editorial boards of the Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville City Paper.

June 2007 - Update

The tour has visited cities in 20 states across the country. In a Washington Post article, Lori Montgomery addresses how the tour highlights why improving our fiscal responsibility is crucial. Also, Facing Up to the Nation's Finances has released its first newsletter to update on its efforts for a nonpartisan movement to call for meaningful action in confronting the various challenges to long-term fiscal stability.

May 2007 - Tour Stop: Tampa

On May 30 Jason Furman and other participants on the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour visited Tampa, Florida. After a conversation with the editorial board of the Tampa Tribune, the tour held a public forum at the University of South Florida, hosted by USF and Senator Mel Martinez. USF President Judy Genshaft and Senator Mel Martinez welcomed attendees to the event, which was moderated by USF Distinguished Professor Susan MacManus. The group also met with members of the editorial board at the St. Petersburg Times.

April 2007 - Tour Stop: Syracuse

The tour's trip to Syracuse included a public forum at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University as well as smaller meetings with business and community leaders. Joining the tour at this stop was John L. Palmer, former dean of the Maxwell School and a trustee of Social Security and Medicare.

March 2007 - Tour Stops: Charleston and Cincinnati
"The Fiscal Wake-up Tour. . .is performing a necessary service by alerting Americans to a looming budgetary catastrophe of nightmarish proportions." - Charleston Post and Courier

In March, the fiscal wake-up tour visited Charleston, where participants had lunch with the Charleston Rotary Club and spoke at a forum at the Citadel. Just three days later the tour traveled to Cincinnati for a town hall meeting at the Bankers Club, where the event was introduced by a video message from Senator George Voinovich. Senator Voinovich's message and a video of the panel are available from Cincinnati Public Media. Cincinnati TV station Local 12 also interviewed members of the tour for its "Newsmakers" program



February 2007 - Tour Stops: Des Moines, Manchester, and Florida's Treasure Coast
"The group sounded an alarm that should rouse anyone from fiscal slumber." - Concord Monitor

The wake-up tour traveled to the heartland and up and down the East Coast in February, heading to Des Moines for a forum at Drake University and a radio interview with Mickelson in the Morning on 1040 WHO. Former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Steve Duprey and former Democratic Representative Dick Swett hosted the tour in Manchester, where the Valentine's Day snowstorm didn't prevent a large turnout for a forum at St. Anselm College. In Florida the group was hosted by Laurence Reisman, editorial page editor of the Palm Beach Post, and spoke to an audience of more than 400 at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches. Alice Rivlin and Isabel Sawhill wrote an op-ed on why deficits matter that appeared in Scripps newspapers on the Treasure Coast.

January 2007 - Tour Stop: Columbus
"The quartet of nationally recognized budget experts sang a dirge from the same hymnal: unless the president and Congress soon begin making tough decisions, we boomers will steal the future from our children and grandchildren." - Joe Hallett, Columbus Dispatch

Joined by former Senator John Glenn, and Rob Portman, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and a former Congressman for Ohio's second district, Isabel Sawhill and the rest of the fiscal wake-up tour held a discussion with faculty and students at Ohio State University and gave a public presentation at OSU's Glenn Institute. Tour participants also held a luncheon with Columbus business and community leaders and met with the editorial board of the Columbus Post-Dispatch.






November 2006 - Tour Stops: Chicago, Denver, and Seattle

In November, participants on the fiscal wake-up tour visited three cities to highlight why improving our fiscal responsibility is crucial to the legacy we leave future generations. In Chicago, Isabel Sawhill spoke to a large group of students and community members at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, followed by a luncheon at the Federal Reserve Bank. Former Colorado Governor Richard Lamm moderated a fiscal wake-up tour breakfast with the Denver Rotary Club, where he was joined by Governor Bill Owens. A luncheon hosted by the Denver City Club and Denver Forum was taped by Colorado's NewsChannel 8 for later rebroadcast. In Seattle, former Governor Gary Locke joined the tour at a breakfast at the University of Washington's Evans School and former Seattle Mayor Norman Rice moderated a luncheon at the Seattle City Club.