Reflections on Bringing Balance Back

This week I attended an event at the Clinton Presidential Center titled “ Bringing Balance Back” featuring former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, and moderator Maya MacGuiness.  It was a short program, but a pointed one that was honest and direct.

 

💬 The key topics they discussed included:

  • Current Fiscal Outlook
    • The U.S. federal debt has surpassed $37 trillion.
    • Budget deficits are projected to reach $2.5 trillion annually by 2035.
    • Both speakers emphasized that the debt trajectory is unsustainable without reform.
  • Lessons from the Clinton Era
    • Yellen and Holtz-Eakin reflected on bipartisan successes in the 1990s, including:
      • The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.
      • The Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
    • These efforts led to a budget surplus — a rare achievement in modern U.S. history.
  • Policy Solutions
    • Yellen advocated for a mix of targeted tax increases and spending discipline.
    • Holtz-Eakin stressed the importance of economic growth and entitlement reform.
    • MacGuineas pushed for a renewed bipartisan commitment to fiscal responsibility.
  • Political Realities
    • All three acknowledged that polarization makes compromise harder today.
    • However, they argued that the scale of the problem demands cross-party cooperation.

 

🧭 The bottom line conclusion? The panelists agreed that “the U.S. must urgently pursue bipartisan fiscal reform to stabilize the national debt and preserve economic opportunity for future generations.”

 

They emphasized that past success — particularly during the Clinton administration — proves that responsible budgeting is possible when political will aligns. The event served as both a warning and a call to action.  However, and as I usually find with public political events of any kind, the event fell short of specifically defining how to act or what the country’s leaders must actually do to avert the coming crisis.  I agree with the comment in bold above, but believe that will only occur once there is a larger groundswell of public empathy, knowledge, diligence and integrity, which coincidentally are the founding principles of Round Table Financial.

 

If ever you would like to discuss, come see us at the bottom of Kavanaugh Hill – 3625 Kavanaugh, Suite A and we can discuss these topics and how they might affect us more specifically.