I have just received an email from Move-On asking people to show up at 7:30 am and protest a town hall meeting they say is sponsored by interests who want to do away with medicare and social security - in fact the email title is Save Social Security. They don't seem to have any understanding of what we're doing here. Does anyone know what's going on?

The funders and sponsors of AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy intentionally span the political spectrum from left to right, to represent all perspectives.

Why is there no conversation about the huge ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM? The Department of Defense and the reckless spending on wars in Iraq & Afghanistan are really what is draining us dry. Those expenditures far outweigh costs of social security and healthcare.

BTW, to cut healthcare costs, let's include in the conversation how to educate the populace to eat in a more healthful manner. Increasing much more consumption of vegetables and far less consumption of meat will not only lead to healthier people, but healthier land, and less use of land and water to support cattle herds. Subsidizing vast agribusiness depletes the Treasury, depletes the land, and leads to less healthy populations.
Let's have a big crash course in changing much more than overspending on goods made in China.
Much of our current tax code is unfair; the wealthiest are often taxed @ rates far less than their fair share.

joe barton has to go, lets be americans first, then said party participant

I'd like to see the dollar put back on the gold standard to stop the printing and dilution of our dollar. and everyone would have to just deal with that.

and I want to see a correlation between minimal federal taxes collected from EVERYONE and money spent by Congress.

If I don't have the dollars, I don't spend. and our dollar is basically backed by nothing so it's really just monopoly money and The Fed can print as much as Congress wants to spend and that's just wrong.

I would like to see examples of how you propose to cut federal spending to reduce the deficit. What choices will you be presenting in the Town Meeting?

Also, what tax increases are you proposing? Again, what choices are you framing?

BTW, I write a syndicated newspaper column.

Mike McManus

Hello Mike. This week, in preparation for the National Town Meeting on Saturday, we shared an Options Workbook that you can download on this Materials page http://usabudgetdiscussion.org... (see 2nd link from top). Thanks.

Thank you -- that's nicely clarifying! Sounds to me like we need to be finding more sources for tax revenues. After we start reigning in the corporate practices of hiding profits in offshore tax havens, why don't we set a greater tax on gasoline designed to discourage reckless and wasteful consumption. We could learn to car pool, use existing trains and buses. These revenues could be partially targeted toward renewable investment initiatives.