George Will, columnist and TV commentator, gave a public talk about serious issues the country faces, followed by a question-and-answer session with former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux on April 16th, 2014.
Among the topics Will took on was the national debt in his presentation, 鈥淭he State of our Federal Government and the Prospects for Thoughtful Policy Solutions to Domestic and Foreign Challenges and Opportunities鈥�. 鈥淭he problem, ladies and gentlemen, is that the political class has a permanent incentive for deficit spending,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think the political class in Washington is more united by class interest than it is divided by ideology.鈥� Moving to the topic of 鈥渆ntitlements,鈥� Will asked the audience if any of them are driving a 1935 car or use a personal computer or cell phone for 1965. Then he said, 鈥淭he two programs that are driving our budget are Social Security (established in 1935) and Medicare (established in 1965). The world has changed. The programs haven鈥檛.鈥� He also sounded a note of optimism regarding Washington gridlock, saying that 鈥渢he government is supposed to be difficult鈥� it鈥檚 supposed to be hard.鈥� Americans have the power to choose better policymakers, he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in our hands.鈥�