In the past few days, we’ve heard a lot about the highly touted bipartisan budget deal, which was engineered by Republican House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Democratic Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray. While it is refreshing to see a bill attract support from both sides of the aisle, it pains me to see Congressional leadership trade previously passed spending cuts for a promise to cut spending in the future. Overall, this deal looks and smells a lot like what we’ve had in years past: more rampant spending, and more debt.

Congressional bills like this are a major reason why I wanted to get involved with Up to Us. Washington’s refusal to tackle the debt issue has always bothered me. I believe that reducing the deficit should be one of the most pertinent issues for lawmakers, but year after year we witness Washington passing the burden of the debt to the next generation. This is a major problem – and is one that will have to be addressed soon.

Our generation has been largely left out of the conversation surrounding our country’s fiscal issues, but I believe this will change. The Up to Us movement is just one example of students organizing to educate their peers and get the public interested in the issue. After meeting the other team leaders this last October, I am ecstatic to see the impact that the Up to Us campaign will have. This competition features some of the brightest young minds that I’ve had the privilege to meet, and when we all focus on engaging our communities on the fiscal issues facing our country – our voice will be heard. I am optimistic about the future. I believe that change is coming. Young people all around the country are waking up and realizing that the pattern of fiscal irresponsibility must come to an end. This campaign is just the beginning. Restoring the path to fiscal sanity will be a long road, but it is one that we will gladly travel.