We're all in this huge crisis together. It's an opportunity for at least some form of consensus,

but our divided dysfunctional politics get in the way of doing things better, finding solutions.

And that's why we're launching Let's Find Common Ground.

I'm Ashley Miltite, and I'm Richard Davies.

We're bringing together smart, passionate people from different points of view and different backgrounds

to shed light, not heat, on the problems we face.

That doesn't necessarily mean agreeing, but being in the same room, having a conversation.

Episode 1, starting over, Saving Lives and the Economy.

We're joined by Jared Bernstein and Nia McGinnis.

All four of us in our remote studios working from home.

Jared was chief economist to former Vice President Joe Biden.

He was deeply involved in the White House response and stimulus bill

after the last economic shock, the Great Recession that started in 2008.

Today he's a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Maya McGinnis heads up the committee for a responsible federal budget.

Maya has studied the federal budget and mounting debt for years and in normal times

she's more of a budget hawk than Jared.

But these are not normal times.

Jared and Meyer, welcome to Let's find common ground. Thank you.

Let's start with you, Maya, saving the economy and protecting public health.

What's most important right now?

So the most important, the number one priority at this time is fighting the pandemic getting as much testing doing as much research in terms of medication

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