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Podcast: How the budget mess in Congress hurts all of us

Podcast: How the budget mess in Congress hurts all of us

This year the federal government is expected to collect more than $3.5 trillion in taxes— a vast amount of money by any measure. One of the key functions of Congress is to pass a budget. But often that seems close to impossible.


Lack of agreement over federal spending regularly threatens to bring about government shutdowns that have a negative impact on millions of Americans. Yet few of us can even begin to understand the byzantine budget process.
Both of our guests in this episode have worked with other policy experts to make the budget process function better, with greater efficiency and transparency.



Alison Acosta Winters is a fiscal conservative and was most recently a senior policy fellow at Americans for Prosperity. Emily Holubowich is vice president for federal advocacy at the American Heart Association, and often supports more government spending.


Brought together by Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, Alison, Emily and other stakeholders from diverse backgrounds spent months working together to come up with several major proposals for overhauling the budget process.

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Kelly Sponsors Bipartisan Bill Addressing Social Media

Sen. Mark Kelly poses for a selfie before a Harris-Walz rally featuring former President Barack Obama on Oct. 18, 2024.

Photo by Michael McKisson.

Kelly Sponsors Bipartisan Bill Addressing Social Media

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers have struggled for years to regulate social media platforms in ways that tamp down misinformation and extremism.

Much of the criticism has been aimed at algorithms that feed users more and more of whatever they click on – the “rabbit hole” effect blamed for fueling conspiracy theories, depression, eating disorders, suicide and violence.

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The “Big Beautiful Bill” Becomes Law: From Promise to Fallout
a doctor showing a patient something on the tablet
Photo by Nappy on Unsplash

The “Big Beautiful Bill” Becomes Law: From Promise to Fallout

When I first wrote about the “One Big Beautiful Bill” in May, it was still a proposal advancing through Congress. At the time, the numbers were staggering: $880 billion in Medicaid cuts, millions projected to lose coverage, and a $6 trillion deficit increase. Seven months later, the bill is no longer hypothetical. It passed both chambers of Congress in July and was signed into law on Independence Day.

Now, the debate has shifted from projections to likely impact and the fallout is becoming more and more visible.

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Federal employees sound off
Government shutdown
wildpixel/Getty Images

Fulcrum Roundtable: Government Shutdown

Welcome to the Fulcrum Roundtable.

The program offers insights and discussions about some of the most talked-about topics from the previous month, featuring Fulcrum’s collaborators.

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ENDING THE VICIOUS CYCLE OF NON-GOVERNING
people holding a signage during daytime
Photo by Liam Edwards on Unsplash

ENDING THE VICIOUS CYCLE OF NON-GOVERNING

“We the People” know our government is not working. For decades, Americans have said they want leaders who work together, confront problems honestly, and make decisions that push the country forward. Yet the officials we send to Washington keep repeating the same self-defeating patterns—polarization, gridlock, shutdowns, and an almost complete inability to address the nation’s biggest challenges.

The result is a governing culture that cannot resolve problems, allowing them instead to grow, intensify, and metastasize. Issues don’t disappear when ignored—they become harder, more expensive, and more politically explosive to solve.

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