Lessons in Entitlement Reform

On October 28th, 1997, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and President Bill Clinton held a secret meeting where they reached a groundbreaking deal to create a centrist political coalition to reform Social Security and Medicare. Although the Lewinsky scandal ultimately undermined their agreement, the efforts of these men, and others in Congress, might serve as a model for members of both parties interested in addressing the long-term shortfalls in the nation's entitlement programs.

Steven Gillon will discuss the details of how this secret agreement came to be, as first revealed in his new book, The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry That Defined a Generation. Gillon will be joined by Charles Blahous and Ed Lorenzen, who were involved in bipartisan reform efforts during Clinton's presidency, working on opposite sides of the aisle. The panelists will discuss what can be learned from the reform efforts of the 1990s, and address the question of whether, and in what political environment, entitlement reform is possible.

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Participants

Featured Speakers

• Steven Gillon
  Resident Historian, The History Channel
  Professor of History, University of Oklahoma
  Author, The Pact

• Charles Blahous
  Deputy Director, White House National Economic Council
  Author, Reforming Social Security: For Ourselves and Our Posterity

• Ed Lorenzen
  Senior Policy Advisor
  Office of Congressman Steny Hoyer

Moderator

• Marc Goldwein
  Policy Analyst
  New America Foundation