Working Across Party Lines: Tackling National Debt, Education Reform, and the Future of Capitalism

On this Monday, July 10, 2023 broadcast, Kim Monson examines the challenges of working across party lines in today’s divided political landscape. Former Ambassador Francis Rooney discusses the dysfunction in Congress and the growing threats from national debt and liberal education policies, while finance professor Kurt Gerwitz explores capitalism, property rights, and the concerning trend of indigenous land acknowledgments in universities.

Capitalism, Incentives, and the Foundations of Prosperity

Start listening at 60:05 – Hour 2

Kurt Gerwitz, finance professor at Regis University, provides a masterclass on understanding capitalism and national debt. He explains that a dollar is fundamentally a storage of value, representing the exchange of goods and services in a free market. The difference between capitalism and cronyism is crucial: cronyism occurs when business and government collude, using force rather than voluntary exchange.

Gerwitz puts the national debt in perspective using vivid examples. One million seconds equals 12 days. One billion seconds equals 31 years. One trillion seconds equals 31,000 years. With national debt exceeding GDP, the math is terrifying. Since 1960, debt as a percentage of GDP has grown from 53% to over 120% today. The most likely outcome, Gerwitz warns, is inflation that will steal years from Americans’ retirements.

“Tell me how the incentives are, and I’ll tell you what the outcomes are going to be.”

Kurt Gerwitz, Finance Professor, Regis University

Bipartisanship in a Divided Congress

Start listening at 30:11 – Hour 1

Francis Rooney, former Ambassador to the Holy See and Florida Congressman, breaks down why slim majorities in both the House and Senate make tackling serious problems nearly impossible. The incessant quest for votes and money, he explains, makes Congress timid on hard problems like China, immigration reform, and education reform. Real legislative progress requires building coalitions, but the current environment rewards messaging bills over substantive policy.

Rooney points to Secretary Yellen bowing to Chinese officials as emblematic of a broader weakness in American foreign policy. The Biden administration’s relaxation of supply chain restrictions on China to satisfy domestic manufacturers echoes Lenin’s warning about capitalists selling the rope that will hang them. Meanwhile, education has been captured by liberal ideology from college down to grade school.

“I think a couple of generations of liberal educators, particularly at the college level, but now down into the grade school level, and in partnership with the teachers’ unions, have gotten us here.”

Francis Rooney, Former Ambassador to the Holy See