On Wednesday, Oct. 2, The Can Kicks Back (TCKB) hosted an event in the Anderson Academic Commons, including a screening of the documentary Overdraft and a panel discussion. TCKB describes itself as a non-partisan, Millennial-led organization dedicated to finding a solution for the national debt as well as revamping the American Dream for younger generations and future generations. The event was attended by approximately 80 people, including students and faculty. The event was sponsored by The Concord Coalition, DU College Republicans, DU College Democrats, University of Denver Institute for Public Policy Studies and the Generational Equity Tour.
TCKB visited DU as part of a country-wide “Generational Equity Tour” that began at the University of California. DU is one of 25 universities that TCKB will be visiting to try to reach out to the Millennial generation in order to educate them about the national debt and gain support to pressure lawmakers to sign the INFORM act, a bipartisan budget reform bill, according to a press release issued by TCKB. The INFORM act would disclose the true size of intergenerational consequences of the national debt.
TCKB hopes to motivate the younger generation to become involved with pressuring Washington for long term solutions for the national debt, according to Nick Troiano, co-founder and communications director of TCKB.
“Young Americans are already experiencing record high student loan debt and unemployment. We can’t pay the $200 trillion tab being left for us by older generations,” said Troiano. “Unless young people get engaged, the status quo will persist and we will become the first generation in American history to inherit a lower standard of living than our parents did.”
TCKB is concerned with how politicians put off dealing with these issues, much like kicking a can down the road, hence their name. TCKB encourages Millennials to realize that the longer it takes to deal with these problems the more painful the remedies will be, according to Toriano.
One of the discussion panel speakers, Isabel Sawhill, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, agreed that the national debt is a problem eating away at the American economy.
“It’s like termites in the woodwork of a house, not necessarily a wolf at the door,” said Sawhill when asked about how immediate of a problem the national debt was.
“There’s a lack of knowledge about how the government operates,” said Joan Woodward, another panelist and president of The Travelers Institute. “It’s important to educate and raise awareness of the actual facts. It’s hard to break down why [Millennials] should care before you go back to your dorm rooms. It trickles down to you won’t be able to get a job because businesses are afraid of what the economy will do.”
After the presentation of the documentary and the panel discussion, a survey of the audience was taken. In response to a question of assessing Washington’s actions on recent deficit reduction, 70 percent of the audience said, “Overall, they have done more harm than good and need to reset”. 86 percent agreed or strongly agreed that Washington should enact a “Grand Generational Bargain” that increases federal investments, slows the growth of entitlement spending and reforms the tax code to raise additional revenue. 77 percent agreed that addressing our long-term fiscal challenges should either be the top national priority or one of the top three.
TCKB encourages younger people to join the movement by getting involved with collective actions taking place around the country. TCKB hopes to educate thousands of young people with the “Generational Equity Tour”, according to Troiano, as well as build support for the INFORM act. More information about The Can Kicks Back can be found at www.TheCanKicksBack.org.
