Hi John,
It’s always good to catch up with old friends. On this week’s episode of No Labels Talks, I had the chance to speak with Bill Galston, who helped launch No Labels almost 15 years ago. Bill is one of the most brilliant people I know. He’s a former advisor to President Bill Clinton, a Brookings scholar, and Wall Street Journal columnist who I worked closely with on countless No Labels policy projects over the years.
Click here to take a trip down memory lane to see a picture of Bill at No Labels’ 2010 launch event.
Bill has a unique talent for seeing and simplifying problems, which is precisely what he did in a recent column highlighting the growing danger of a national debt crisis in the U.S. I invited him to No Labels Talks to discuss it, where he said:
“At some point, we're cruising for a bruising because economic sentiment can change on a dime. If there comes a time when the rest of the world, which holds a great deal of our debt, decides that we’re no longer the most reliable debtor in the world and maybe we won’t be able to repay it as promised, they’ll turn their backs on us in a hurry.”
That’s classic Bill. You don’t see the phrase “cruising for a bruising” much in academic literature. But Bill is exactly right about where we are headed, absent some courageous leadership in DC.
It’s all the more important that we have these serious discussions about our debt and deficit, because it’s becoming increasingly clear that neither the Trump nor Harris campaigns want to do so. Neither party platform makes anything more than a passing mention of the need to stabilize our nation’s financial situation, yet failing to act could have catastrophic consequences before we realize it.
Just like you’d expect a responsible homeowner to fix a leaky roof before the whole thing collapses, we should expect our leaders to have a plan to proactively get us back on the right track to fiscal health. That’s why the last two episodes of No Labels Talks – this one featuring Bill and the last one featuring Steve Ballmer – have focused on the national debt. Unfortunately, America’s national debt wasn’t even discussed at the last presidential debate, which is why it’s so important that it is addressed in next week’s vice-presidential debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz.
After our call, I couldn’t help but reflect on how much things have changed since we first began No Labels in 2010 including America’s national debt, which was $13.5 trillion then and is $35 trillion today.
Ignoring it won't make it disappear. If America wants to avoid a collapse, we need leaders who recognize the cracks and are ready to fix them before it's too late. Let’s hope next week’s debate sheds light on the solutions we desperately need.
Ryan Clancy
No Labels
