Wednesday August 3, 12 - 1 pm: Fallout from the near-default -- federal spending, social services and national politics

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Midday-Debt Ceiling-8-3-11.MP3

We look at the rancorous debate and final deal on the national debt approved by Congress and signed by President Obama from three angles with three guests:

Michael Reisch, the Daniel Thurz Distinguished Professor of Social Justice at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, and an expert on social policy in the U.S., looks at what the deal suggests for the future of entitlement programs -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Brian Wendell Morton, the Political Animal columnist of the City Paper, sizes up the meaning of the deal for President Obama and a Democratic Party that was unable to counter the anti-government message of the Tea Party wing of the GOP. Which Republican presidential candidate gained ground during the long battle over the debt ceiling?

John Delaney, founder and chairman of Blueprint Maryland, a nonprofit effort to help a state rich with government jobs prepare for fewer federal dollars supporting its economy. The U.S. government employs more than 280,000 Marylanders directly and many indirectly, The Baltimore Sun reported last week, and federal spending per person outpaces that in all but three other states and the District of Columbia. Blueprint Maryland hopes to help the state chart a path to economic growth that doesn't rely so heavily on federal spending, a prospect that became more real with the debt deal.