A More Perfect Union: The National Budget

Hosted at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, in this inaugural discussion host George Stephanopoulos engaged Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Pastor Calvin Butts, Richard Danzig, Carly Fiorina, Michael Gerson, Peter Orszag, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and other leaders and thinkers in a dynamic conversation about our national budget - and the values that inform our fiscal decisions. This event was sponsored by a Ford Foundation/Georgetown University partnership on American values in public life.

"A More Perfect Union: A Dialogue on American Values" Event Series

Prosperity at home. Peace abroad. Security for the elderly. Opportunity for youth. Today, the pursuit of these and other goals feels out of reach for most Americans.

Instead, more immediate concerns about job creation and the overall state of the economy are on the top of the minds of voters and bound to dominate the 2012 election season. Yet, in an increasingly divided political climate, the high-decibel rhetoric that emerges every four years on the campaign trail mutes frank discussion of real solutions for the common good. Bold approaches informed by shared American values are needed, but leadership remains mired in unproductive gamesmanship.

This groundbreaking series will focus on our society's most pressing issues in light of our long-term national growth and well-being. Up first: the budget. With the Joint Select Committee on Debt Reduction beginning its work this fall, members face tough choices: How to secure America's financial future while addressing the needs of today. What's at stake? How do we ensure opportunity for all? Who will lead us forward?

Featuring

George Stephanopoulos

George Stephanopoulos is the chief political correspondent for ABC News and the co-anchor of Good Morning America, a morning television broadcast. He previously also hosted This Week, a Sunday morning political affairs program on ABC. Prior to his work in journalism, Stephanopoulos held a number of political staff positions, including serving as a Senior Political Advisor for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and in a number of assignments in the Clinton White House. His memoir of his time in the Clinton White House, All Too Human: A Political Education (1999), was a New York Times Best Seller. Stephanopoulos is an alumnus of Columbia University and obtained an MA from Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship.