Fiscal Wake-Up Tour Visits Iowa: A True Reality Based Discussion

Drake Law School on February 1, 2007, hosted an important event. It was not a town hall meeting with Senator
Hillary Clinton or with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, but a discussion with a group of
distinguished panelists who are bringing attention to the nation’s growing fiscal crisis. The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour is
a joint effort of The Concord Coalition, the Budgeting for National Priorities Project at the Brookings Institution,
The Heritage Foundation, and David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States.

The growing fiscal crisis represents a serious challenge for policy makers to face, as tough decisions will have to be
made in regard to entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security. In his 2008 budget, President George W. Bush
has begun to address this problem in a moderate fashion. The President has proposed a $2.9 trillion budget
including $1.14 trillion in discretionary spending and $1.527 trillion in mandatory spending.