Americans have had plenty of warnings about the need to deal with the nation’s fiscal challenges. And judging from how ordinary people respond to The Concord Coalition’s deficit-reduction exercises around the country, they expect more from Washington than unrealistic budget plans and partisan stalemates.
Participants in the exercises “are willing to make the hard choices themselves when given the opportunity,” Concord’s Sara Imhof writes in a recent guest column in the Duluth News Tribune.
She notes, for example, that many people favor comprehensive tax reform, which would end many tax breaks, and they are willing to make changes in the Social Security program such as raising the earnings cap on its payroll tax and using a different index to make cost-of-living adjustments in benefits.
Imhof, who is Concord’s Midwest regional director, will facilitate two more “Principles and Priorities” exercises tomorrow in Duluth and Brainerd, Minnesota. Concord is hosting them with U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan.
External links:
Information on Deficit Reduction Program in Duluth
Information on Deficit Reduction Program in Brainerd
