Great Ideas

Over the course of 2020 the federal government spent a MASSIVE amount trying to deal with the economic fallout of the pandemic. Republicans and Democrats agreed that in the face of crisis, America needed to put the fire out first, worry about all the water they were using later. But in 2021, people are beginning to worry about how much that all adds up to on top of the existing federal debt. Republicans say it’s a looming problem, Democrats say that’s just an excuse to oppose their priorities. So who’s right?  Our expert Brian Riedl explains the situation we're in, and where we go from here.  Riedl is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, who previously worked for six years as chief economist to Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) and was the lead architect of the ten-year deficit-reduction plan for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

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Many experts argue that the modern filibuster has ruined Congress: it allows a small minority to run roughshod over the majority, and stops important things that the American people need and want. Others say that even with its flaws, getting rid of the filibuster could be dangerous and even destructive. Norman Ornstein is one of the nation's leading experts on American government.  He explains what's going on and more important, how we might make it better without causing a Congressional meltdown.

There may be no more complicated policy topic than global warming. Researchers say that global temperatures will continue to rise for centuries, no matter what we do today…and prospects for getting things done in Congress are not that bright. But climate policy expert Sam Ricketts says there is a lot of important action outside federal government that is making a big difference, and that should give us all reason to hope.

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Michael Garcia, a cybersecurity expert at Third Way, says that at least one in four Americans have been directly impacted by cybercrime, and law enforcement only acts on 0.3% of cases. Our top levels of government are under attack, as are our cities, schools, hospitals, and private citizens.  There are some big things that our country can do and needs to do in order to put a stop to it.

The Senate is about to use a trick called “reconciliation” to pass Joe Biden’s Covid relief bill. It's the way we've passed all kinds of policies from the Trump tax cuts to portions of Obamacare. And many want to keep using it to pass all kinds of policies that would never otherwise make it through the Senate's filibuster - things like a rise in the minimum wage, climate policies, and infrastructure investments.  But Tori Gorman, a budget expert at the Concord Coalition, says that might be a big mistake. She explains how reconciliation really works, and why it's in everyone's best interests for it to go away.

In this episode of the show Politics Pulse, Great Ideas host Matt Robison sits down with Sarah Jones, the Editor-in-Chief of PoliticusUSA.com, to talk about how the Great Ideas show came about, why they both feel it is so important to explore serious, positive ideas for change, how the show and website are planning to collaborate, and why it's so important to hear constructive ideas from across the ideological spectrum -- even the ones you don't agree with.

Over the course of the last decade, the US has undertaken a massive experiment in remaking the way we pay for people’s health care -- the Affordable Care Act. It’s had some real successes, as well as a number of shortcomings: we've cut the number of uninsured in half, but we're still struggling to cover 30 million Americans and to control spiraling costs in the system.  Everyone wants to expand coverage and control those costs, they just can’t agree on how to get there. Our guest says there is a way to make progress that Republicans and Democrats can agree on. Three ways actually. Health care expert Jim Capretta explains how the ACA works, and how to make these three relatively simple changes that could improve costs and coverage for millions. Written excerpts also available on PoliticusUSA.com.

America faces challenges. But we’ve also got smart people who spend every day coming up with great ideas for how to meet those challenges. That's what this show is all about. Washington's top policy experts from across the ideological spectrum – the people that our leaders listen to – explain how an issue or a policy works, and then share their newest, most innovative ideas for making it work better.  No shouting. No crossfire.  Just ideas.  Great ideas. Subscribe to the Great Ideas podcast wherever you get your podcasts