Bipartisan Policy Center

Killing the cap is not the only option.

In two thousand and sixteen, a commission convened by the Bipartisan Policy Center proposed lifting the cap so that it again covered ninety percent of wages.

In twenty twenty-six, that would mean a ceiling of three hundred and eighty-four thousand dollars instead of one hundred and eighty-four thousand five hundred dollars, according to Social Security Administration actuaries.

Other proposals would create a, quote-unquote, donut hole, keeping the pack where it is and reinstating it above a certain threshold.

Well, in the meantime, we're hoping to provide some clarity.

Our guest today is Ren Ory, director of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Elections Project, where their work focuses on evidence-based reforms to help make elections secure, accessible, and trustworthy.

We talk about the role of mail ballots, the controversies surrounding them, what the new rules would actually do, and of course, what voters need to know before November.

[upbeat music] Welcome to the Newsworthy special edition Saturday, when we sit down with a different expert or celebrity every Saturday to talk about something in the news.

[upbeat music]

Thank you so much to our guest today, Ren Ory.

You can learn more about the Bipartisan Policy Center's election research by going to bipartisanpolicy.org. We'll link to it over in today's episode notes over on the newsworthy.com.

Thank you so much for listening.

Jane has deep breath, everyone.

worked at the Bipartisan Policy Center, been a program officer at the Spitzer Charitable Trust and the Hewlett Foundation, led work on industrial emissions in Biden's White House Climate Policy Office, led market development for Frontier's carbon removal initiative, and worked as the founding executive director of Blue Horizons, a charitable foundation focused on climate.

She is now a senior fellow at both the Searchlight Institute and the States Forum, a fellow at both the Energy for Growth Hub and the University of Chicago's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and the principal at Flagle Energy Advisors.

That is, if you were following along at home, an inside perspective on philanthropy, private sector climate finance, government, and nonprofit policy development.

Don't worry, it'll get to you eventually.

Vance mentioned the tariffs as being the source of the profound new wealth that would hit Americans soon, but according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, they've so far brought in just $210 billion.

That's just a couple of months' worth of national debt interest payments, and if it were to be turned into checks, it would amount to around $780 per person.

Uh, Dalia, the GOP's internal polling must be absolutely dreadful if this is what they're resorting to.

The punishment potentially being cut off from the US financial system.

And according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, about 90% of all global transactions involve the US dollar at some point.

Fox Business' Edward Lawrence.

It's part of the effort to economically isolate Iran, which warns again it will strike back.

And before that, I had a long career in Washington, D.C., starting as the transportation policy advisor to Hillary Clinton during the authorization of what became SafetyLoo.

And after that, at the Bipartisan Policy Center, running their transportation program before becoming the president and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation.

But now I'm based in Los Angeles and I teach at UCLA when I have some time to do that, which is really fun.

And I also write, which is, I guess, what we're here to talk about.

Yeah, I think that's a great point.

You often imitate the leaders that you wind up going and working for as far as your leadership style.

The first big leader I worked for, for example, when I was at the Bipartisan Policy Center was Emil Franco, who was the Assistant Secretary for Transportation under Bush, prior to that had been the Secretary of Transportation in Connecticut.

And his leadership style was exactly the one that I've imitated and the one that Phil has, which is being transparent with everybody, being completely accessible to everybody who works for you.

Okay, joining me now to discuss the debate over tech in the classroom and other hot topics, former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.

She now serves as CEO and president of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Secretary, good to have you with us.

Welcome.