Bourdeaux to Mike Rowe: Fixing the National Debt Is Our Patriotic Responsibility

ICYMI: Dr. Carolyn Bourdeaux, executive director of Concord Action and The Concord Coalition, recently joined Mike Rowe for an in-depth conversation on The Way I Heard It about America’s growing national debt and why the fiscal decisions made in Washington matter to every American.

In the episode, “Carolyn Bourdeaux—The Math Ain’t Mathin’,” Bourdeaux and Rowe unpack the growing cost of servicing more than $40 trillion in national debt, the consequences of continued borrowing and the looming challenges facing Social Security.

“I like the idea that patriotism somehow applies to fiscal responsibility,” Rowe mentioned at one point.

Bourdeaux responded: “We are the greatest nation on Earth. We are not going to leave this nation $40 trillion in debt. We’re not handing off this kind of mess to the next generation – we just cannot do that. I have a 14-year-old son. What is his future going to be if this continues? We’re projected to add $24 trillion (to the national debt) over the next 10 years – am I going to leave him a $64 trillion debt when he’s working age?! It is going to have enormous implications for the economic vibrancy of this country, for our ability to be the greatest nation on Earth. Yes, it is our patriotic responsibility to deal with this issue.”

Rowe replied: “What you just said and the way you just said it made me sit up because it is… a duty to the next generation. We do owe this country something.”

Listen to the full conversation on Spotify, Apple or YouTube.