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America Speaks offers chance to weigh in on deficit

County residents can join national town hall in Portland

By Kathie Durbin
Published: June 24, 2010, 12:00am

In this election year, politicians and voters of every stripe are talking about federal spending, the ballooning federal deficit and the need to put the nation’s fiscal house in order.

On Saturday, Clark County residents can join in an all-day national discussion about those issues with the expectation that their views actually will be represented in the halls of Congress.

o What: National town hall meeting, an opportunity to take part in a national discussion about the nation’s fiscal priorities. The nonpartisan town hall will link 19 meeting sites across the country.

o Where: Oregon Convention Center, 777 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland.

o When: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

o To register: 866-755-6263 or fax a completed registration form from website to 301-567-9553 or click here.

o What: National town hall meeting, an opportunity to take part in a national discussion about the nation's fiscal priorities. The nonpartisan town hall will link 19 meeting sites across the country.

o Where: Oregon Convention Center, 777 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland.

o When: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

o To register: 866-755-6263 or fax a completed registration form from website to 301-567-9553 or click here.

o Alternatively: People can choose to participate in the discussion online here, where they can watch the program's webcast and join online forums.

o Alternatively: People can choose to participate in the discussion online here, where they can watch the program’s webcast and join online forums.

“America Speaks: Our Budget, Our Economy” will originate in Philadelphia and link 19 meeting sites across the nation via satellite, video and Internet technology, including one in Portland, to create what its organizers are calling a true national town meeting. Portland is the only host site in the Pacific Northwest.

Participants at each site will watch a presentation about the context for the national discussion on budget priorities. They’ll review and discuss several revenue and spending options available to Congress. They’ll add their own thoughts to the mix. And after two rounds of small-group discussions, they’ll decide on the messages they want to send to national leaders.

Among those participating at the Portland site will be members of two Vancouver Tea Party groups, We the People Vancouver and We the People of Southwest Washington. They’ll join a diverse mix of participants, including representatives of land use watchdog group 1000 Friends of Oregon, The Bus Project, the Portland Business Alliance, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Portland Community College and the city of Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement.

Thomas Hann, who will represent We the People Vancouver, sent a letter to members this week urging them to participate and express their views about the exploding $13 trillion national debt, which he called “the make or break issue for our nation.”

The process will be open to diverse opinions, Hann said, giving Tea Party members a chance to put their own solutions on the table.

“The greater threat of skewed results from this town hall comes from lack of participation (rather) than from the process itself,” he said.

The process is designed to begin a tough and necessary discussion about the nation’s priorities, according to materials provided by America Speaks, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that seeks to reinvigorate American democracy by engaging citizens in public decision-making.

“As national leaders work to jump-start our economy, challenges loom on the horizon and threaten the long-term vitality of the United States — most notably national deficits that are projected to grow at an unsustainable rate,” America Speaks organizers said. “In the next year or two, large deficits will be unavoidable as we continue to implement policies to ensure a robust economic recovery. Nevertheless, we must begin working today to find common ground on the tough choices our nation will have to make in the years ahead to ensure that we are not spending more than we have.”

The organization will present the priorities that emerge from the process to Congress, President Barack Obama, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force. Those priorities will have credibility with policymakers, organizers say, because they will reflect the views of a large, informed and representative group of Americans who have not been manipulated by any one side or point of view.

America Speaks is funded by major foundations, including the John T.D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Its process has been used to address such issues as the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the municipal budget crisis in the District of Columbia.

Kathie Durbin: 360-735-4523 or kathie.durbin@columbian.com.

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