The Exercise in Hard Choices SM

In order to educate the public about the choices involved in achieving and maintaining a responsible budget, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget created the Exercise in Hard Choices SM. The Exercise allows participants to grapple with the same hard choices faced by the President and Congress in the annual budgeting process. The Exercise is regularly updated to reflect actual choices Congress and the President are considering in the current fiscal year or may consider in the near-term future. Many members of Congress choose to run the Exercise in their home districts both as a tool to educate their constituents and as a way to receive feedback about how national priorities should be reflected in the federal budget.

The Committee has embarked on an exciting project with the University of Akron to transform the Exercise from a paper-based simulation to an electronic version capable of interactively connecting participants from around the country in real time. This multi-year project will design, develop, and evaluate online versions of the Exercise so that it can be offered across the United States using the latest e-learning technologies.

Hard Choices in High Schools

The Committee has run a number of Exercises in high schools around the country. These have been highly successful events, allowing students to try their hand at responsible budgeting, while teaching valuable civics lessons. To learn more about the Exercise for high schools, contact the Committee.

Contact

crfb@newamerica.net
202-986-6599

 

Movie icon

Watch a video of the Exercise in Hard Choices

Watch the Exercise.

 

Watch Rep. Regula address the Student Congres-sional Council.

 

Co-Chairmen

William Frenzel
Leon Panetta

President

Maya MacGuineas

Directors

Barry Anderson
Roy Ash
Charles Bowsher
Dan L. Crippen

Richard Darman
Cal Dooley
Willis D. Gradison, Jr.
William H. Gray, III
Ted Halstead
James R. Jones
Lou Kerr
James T. Lynn
James T. Mclntyre Jr.
David Minge
Marne Obernauer, Jr.
June O'Neill
Rudolph G. Penner
Timothy Penny
Peter G. Peterson
Robert Reischauer
Alice Rivlin
James C. Slattery
Charlie Stenholm
David Stockman
Paul A. Volcker
Carol Cox Wait
Joseph R. Wright, Jr.

Senior Advisors

Henry Bellmon
Elmer Staats
Robert S. Strauss