Chicago to Host National Discussion on Debt; Residents Urged to Participate

Diverse Group of Local Leaders Come Together to Endorse June 26th National Town Meeting

CHICAGO – Chicago has been selected as one of six primary sites for an unprecedented national discussion on the national debt. A diverse group of local leaders called for Chicagoland residents to participate in the national discussion on Saturday, June 26th. Local leaders from across the political spectrum endorsed the nonpartisan process, called AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy, which will bring together Americans here and across the country to meet in person and online to learn about the issues involved, weigh the options, and develop recommendations for policymakers in Washington.

“The long-term national deficit continues to erode our economy, affecting all of us right down to the local level,” said Joe Cook, chairman of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Mayor of Channahon, Ill. “Chicago area residents need to have their voices heard on this important issue, and AmericaSpeaks is providing the platform for a truly democratic discussion.”

All Stars Project of Chicago, Arab American Family Services, Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Urban League, Chinese-American Service League, El Valor, Faith in Place, Illinois AARP, Illinois League of Women's Voters, Illinois Library Association, Latino Policy Forum, League of Women Voters of Chicago, LISC Chicago, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Metropolitan Planning Council, Mikva Challenge Foundation, Resurrection Project, Trinity United Church of Christ, Voices for Illinois Children, and Wheaton College’s J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government, and Public Policy are among the local organizations committed to work to ensure that Chicago residents will be well represented in the national discussion. The Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the three national foundations providing funding for this national discussion.

Chicagoland residents, reflecting the demographic, geographic and political diversity of the area, will come together to weigh in on the difficult choices necessary to put our federal budget on a sustainable path. On June 26th, the public will be presented with a set of options that are designed to represent a range of approaches before policy makers. Participants will use keypad polling and groupware technology to identify views that transcend geography, demographics or politics. AmericaSpeaks will present the priorities that emerge from the National Town Meeting to the President and Congress.

Chicago was selected as one of 18 communities across the country that was chosen to host a National Town Meeting site, each of which will be linked together by satellite and the Internet for the national discussion. Participants at the town meeting sites will be joined by smaller conversation sites organized by volunteers in other communities across the country. More information can be found at the online hub for Our Budget, Our Economy, USABudgetDiscussion.org, including videos, reports on the budget and economy, blog posts, site registration and much more. The site also provides a platform to share ideas at the national and local levels through links to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn.

“The United States is on an unsustainable path and the fiscal challenges facing our nation stand out as issues that will require compromise from the left and right in order to address the scale of the problems we face,” said Carolyn Lukensmeyer, founder and president of AmericaSpeaks. “Chicago’s participation represents an unprecedented opportunity for residents to get involved in the larger national discussion to start finding agreement about steps to redefine our fiscal future.”

This unique national discussion is a project of the nonprofit organization, AmericaSpeaks, and is supported by three leading foundations with a shared commitment to informing the American public and policymakers of the fiscal realities facing the country: The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The event will take place at Chicago’s Navy Pier from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration is now open at this site. Visit USABudgetDiscussion.org to join the discussion and to learn more.

AmericaSpeaks is a nonprofit organization that provides citizens with a voice on the most important decisions that impact their lives. The nonpartisan organization has convened more than 150,000 people to shape policy making. For more information, visit www.americaspeaks.org.

Founded by Peter G. Peterson with a commitment of $1 billion, the Foundation is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of key fiscal challenges threatening America's future and to accelerating action on them. To address these challenges successfully, we work to bring Americans together to find sensible, long-term solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results. For more information, see www.PGPF.org.

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. Visit www.macfound.org for additional information.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, established in 1930, supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Visit www.wkkf.org for more information.

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