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At the Strengthen Social Security news conference in Washington July 29 leading experts on Social Security discussed the difference between the condition of the program today and the early 1980s, when an actual crisis compelled changes to the program. Those changes, the experts explain in this video, continue to keep the program solvent today. There are long-term challenges, but these experts, joined by leaders of organizations representing 30 million people, offer solutions that do not require benefit cuts.

Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, testifies before the White House Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. At the hearing, Hickey says that while he supports smart economic policies to reduce our structural federal deficit over time, "we are in danger of killing or weakening needed growth in the name of reducing deficits." He warns that some of our deficit-reduction strategies are misguided. He also adds that "reducing the deficit cannot be our only economic policy goal. We also need to invest in the future."

The 2010 America's Future Now! 2010 conference featured dozens of the leading activists and thinkers of the progressive movement working to rekindle grassroots energy around the economy, financial reform, health care and a host of other vital issues. This video shows how the theme of the conference, "We Are The Change," played out through the conference presentations and in the informal conversations of attendees. Among those featured here are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Alan Grayson, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, NAACP President Ben Jealous and Green For All leader Van Jones. More conference videos are available at http://ourfuture.org/now.

Blogger Sara Robinson discusses what's ahead for movement progressives after the America's Future Now! conference in early June. In this interview, Robinson offers her take on the "We Are the Change" conference theme, how the front lines for activism are shifting, and the need for both "prophetic voices" and "fighters" to carry forward progressive change in the months ahead. She also announces a new project with the Progressive Ideas Network that will result in a series of forward-looking essays that will appear on OurFuture.org in the months ahead.

Building the new economy and reinforcing the progressive majority were the top agenda items on Day 2 of the America's Future Now! conference, with speakers that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Gov. Howard Dean, American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert and NAACP President Benjamin Jealous.

On the first day of the America's Future Now! conference in Washington, activists wrestled with how to respond to the Obama administration's first 17 months, and came to a consensus that rather than depending on President Obama's leadership to move progressive change, it is up to progressive activists to prod and set the stage for progressive action by elected leaders. Here are excerpts of some of the plenary session speeches at the conference and interviews with some of the participants.