Dr. Laura Blessing discusses the history of budgeting and taxes in the United States and how it still affects us today. About Dr. Blessing: Dr. Blessing earned her PhD from the University of Virginia, she was also a Miller Center National Fellow and a Fellow for the Bankard Fund for Political Economy. Her studies focus on Congress, political parties and policy regarding tax and budget. Dr. Blessing currently teaches at Georgetown University, her teachings centralize around Congress, the presidency, media and politics as well as the public policy process. She is also a Government Affairs Institute Fellow, she teaches two research seminars on the Politics of tax and budget policy and the second research seminar explores Committees and Parties in Congress. Chapters: 0:08 - Background 3:19 - Themes for research, PhD and afterwards 5:20 - Tax and Budget 6:24 - How has the budget and tax-and-spend process changed overtime? 16:51 - Talk a little about the top-down process of the budget 22:20 - Alternatives to top-down budget process? 26:37 - Transparency related to budget process 27:59 - Proposed budget process reforms you support or don't support 33:58 - Tax Policy: Did it evolve similarly to the budget process or independently? 38:41 - Taxes: Individuals vs. Corporations and Income vs. Assets 41:49 - Borrowing and Low Interest Rates 45:24 - Earmarks 51:05 - What do you think congressional representation should mean? 56:00 - Congressional Time - How would you allocate it? 59:02 - Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue in Congress 1:01:59 - What fundamental improvement do you think Congress should make within a 50-year time frame? Fix the budget process 1:04:00 - Good books on congressional reform About the Sunwater Institute: The Sunwater Institute is a nonprofit, non-partisan think tank with a mission to strengthen the foundations of democracy through interdisciplinary science, technology, and open dialogue. For more information, visit https://www.sunwater.org​​.