Concord Action

10/14/2026

Congress has a $40 trillion problem and no plan to solve it.

Two bipartisan bills aim to change that. Both would create a commission to draft a deficit reduction plan and guarantee a vote on it in both chambers.

What separates them, and what can we learn from the last commission that fell short? Our new breakdown covers it.

Read the full analysis: https://www.concordaction.org/news/blogs/understanding-the-two-major-fiscal-commission-proposals/

10/09/2026

Washington likes to talk about the debt as a someday problem.

According to Ben Ritz of the Progressive Policy Institute, "someday" may be closer than most people think.

On The Concord Coalition's Facing the Future, Ritz tells host Bob Bixby that the math behind a debt spiral is simple and unforgiving: a bigger stock of debt means paying more in interest, which means a bigger deficit, which adds even more debt the following year.

As markets grow more worried about that trajectory, they demand higher interest rates too, speeding the cycle up. Ritz doesn't think we're far from it.

A problem that feeds itself doesn't wait for a convenient time to be addressed.

Full conversation: https://youtu.be/_q-fToJ69dw

10/08/2026

Concord Action Statement on New CBO Deficit Numbers: "Another Fiscal Year, Another $2 Trillion Hole"

“Washington just closed the books on another year of staggering borrowing...If Congress thinks the American people don’t know or care about these mind-blowing annual deficits, rising interest rates, Social Security’s looming insolvency or the $40 trillion national debt, they’re sorely mistaken."

Following the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) release of its September Monthly Budget Review, with a preliminary fiscal year 2026 estimated deficit of $2 trillion, Concord Action Executive Director Carolyn Bourdeaux issued the following statement: “Washington just closed the books on ano...

10/06/2026

Concord Action News: With Four Weeks to Election Day, Voters "Care Deeply" About Fiscal Issues

"Growing grassroots group generates more than 500,000 advocate letters since last year, underscoring public concern about America’s fiscal future."

Four weeks out from Election Day, Concord Action Executive Director Carolyn Bourdeaux noted that Americans are increasingly anxious about a national debt soaring above $40 trillion, higher borrowing costs and the future of Social Security, which is expected to be insolvent by 2032. Since launching l...

10/03/2026

Half a million voices. Congress, are you listening?

Concord Action's citizen activists just crossed 500,000 letters sent to Congress demanding fiscal responsibility.

From educators to young people to grandparents, Americans across the country are refusing to stay silent about our unsustainable debt. This is what happens when people decide to act.

But Congress won't move until they feel the pressure. If you haven't sent your letter yet, now's the time.

Swipe to see how we're making an impact and then click the link below to add your voice today.

📝: https://secure.everyaction.com/b5tWkkjg9U25s-jvVN8kZw2?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=500k_social&utm_campaign=urge_congress_fiscal_commission_act

10/02/2026

Not every American gets the same number of years to collect Social Security, and that gap is bigger than most people realize.

On The Concord Coalition's Facing the Future, Wendell Primus of The Brookings Institution tells host Bob Bixby that men born in 1960 in the bottom 20% of earners live about 15 years past age 62 on average, while men in the top quintile live 25 years past 62, a full decade longer.

His proposal doesn't raise the retirement age the same way for everyone. It targets higher earners first, phasing the change in starting with the top two income groups.

Any serious fix has to reckon with that gap, not ignore it.

Full conversation: https://youtu.be/5a_GlpWPyrk?si=kuaa_8vuEJKbf2lQ

09/30/2026

Tonight at 7 p.m. EDT, the Fiscal New Year's Eve ball drops.

The Center for American Progress's Bobby Kogan and Brookings' Jessica Riedl will go head to head on how we reached $40 trillion in debt and what it will take to turn things around. There's still time to grab your spot in our Virtual Advocate Briefing.

You don't want to miss this: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pDycu7w0QB-sMwkJ-VBXrA #/registration

09/29/2026

09/24/2026

The Fiscal New Year's Eve ball drops this Wednesday, and there's still time to register!

The U.S. national debt just surpassed $40 trillion, which comes out to more than $117,000 for every American. With $2 trillion annual deficits, interest costs that now exceed defense spending, and fast-approaching deadlines for programs like Social Security, the stakes for our fiscal future have never been higher.

Join us for our latest Virtual Advocate Briefing, "$40 Trillion in Debt: Who Dropped the Ball?", as the Center for American Progress's Bobby Kogan and Brookings' Jessica Riedl debate which policies are to blame and how we get out of this mess.

📅: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026
⌚: 7PM EST

Register today: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pDycu7w0QB-sMwkJ-VBXrA #/registration

09/20/2026

Our Executive Director Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux has a message for progressives: stop treating the national debt as someone else's issue.

In a new op-ed for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she argues that fiscal responsibility isn't in tension with a progressive agenda, it's the precondition for one.

Inflation and rising interest rates hit low-income families hardest, and a Social Security benefit cut in 2032 would be one of the most regressive policies imaginable if Congress lets it happen by default.

Read her full op-ed:

Republicans talk about the national debt. It’s up to progressives to fix it. By Carolyn Bourdeaux In 2017, when I began my first campaign for Congress in Georgia, I sat down with a room full of passionate young people to draft a policy platform. I ran through the issues: affordable healthcare, pub...