While many people are enjoying a lovely summer’s day in Maine today, others will be pondering a very serious matter. In the state capital of Augusta, at the University of Maine branch there, people will gather to discuss taxation and the budget. They will not be discussing the state and local budgets in the state, but the national version.
In fact similar events will be happening all over the country in almost every state. And they will all be speaking to each other. The organisers of the event say the following.
“Thousands of Americans from across the nation have signed up to take part in this national deliberation. Working together in small groups all across the country, we’ll have people from every walk of life and every part of the political spectrum. I hope you come to the event ready to share your thoughts, but I hope you are also ready to listen to others and join in an authentic conversation.”
This National Town meeting as it’s being billed aims to engage in a national discussion about the finances of the US. Needless to say organizations like Heritage Foundation are putting out talking points, as I suspect the other side will be as well. Heritage’s speaking out against spending PDF gives clear talking points for those who seek fiscal responsibility.
It looks to be a great way for tea party members to go and express their fiscal conservative ideals as part of the discussion. We can be assured that big government types and socialists will be out in force defending the status quo. There will even be people who believe that the federal government is not spending enough.
We shall see how this experiment is going to work. It will be a fascinating attempt at having a chat across the country on this very important subject. Those on the east coast are fortunate that they have a reasonable start, less so for those on the other side of the country.
It will be a long day for all, as it’s set to run 6 hours and it is yet to be determined if any good will come out of it.
