WGMD News

Kelli Steel

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With all the talk from people about what they’d do to rein in the federal government’s ever-growing budget deficit, Rep. John Carney is giving his constituents a chance to do just that.

In partnering with the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan advocacy group for fiscal responsibility, he spoke today to an audience of about 75-80 people at the CHEER Center in Georgetown about the challenges he’s faced in the House in trying to reduce the deficit. Coalition Northeast Regional Director Jeff Thiebert gave a PowerPoint presentation on how the government gets its revenue, what it spends the most money on, what expenditures are increasing the most (in this case, healthcare), what revenues have been compared to expenditures since 1980, and what the projections are for 2020. Attendees then had a chance to review 35 different options for reducing defense and discretionary spending, along with tax changes and entitlement spending. The groups of five to six people elected a chair, then discussed and voted on each option, then presented them to Carney and Thiebert.

Two more workshops will be held today, in Dover and Stanton. Below are the e-versions of the PowerPoint, options book and workbook.