Tag Archives: Public Discourse

Money Talks

Posted on by

Copies of Obama's budget for FY2011Although reviewing a budget proposal doesn’t sound as glamorous as creating policy, those who handle budgets are arguably the ones with real power, my husband says. My husband may be somewhat biased — he works as a budget analyst for the U.S. Department of the Treasury — but I think he has a point. Good policies and programs are essential, but they still must get support from those who control the money if they are to thrive. Those who approve budgets also must balance competing priorities.

President Obama’s budget submission to Congress February 1 is no exception to the rule. Although the president has outlined his priorities, it is Congress — not the president — who has the final word on how the federal government will spend money, according to the U.S. Constitution. As one of my co-workers writes, “the president’s budget is simply a recommendation.” Under U.S. law, legislators do not need to adhere to the president’s proposals, and in the past Congress has produced spending bills substantially different from the president’s suggestions.

Until October 1, the public will have a chance to influence congressional debates on what should go into the government’s 13 major spending bills for the next fiscal year. Some people may testify at hearings. Others may organize rallies and petitions. Still others may publish opinion pieces in mainstream or social media outlets. Although Congress will ultimately decide how to allocate federal money, everyone has the opportunity to have a say — from corporations and unions to nonprofit groups and individuals.

Should the government focus more on jobs creation? Should it spend more money on counterterrorism efforts? Should climate change be the top priority? Should the United States work to pay down the national debt? What do you think the spending priorities should be?

Feedback on Fairfax’s Finances

Posted on by

Like many other places in the United States, Fairfax County, Virginia, is facing some budget shortfalls as a result of the global economic downturn. But rather than work in isolation to try to solve the problem, the county’s leaders are seeking input from residents.

“Our ongoing challenge is to develop a budget with an appropriate level of services that are both sustainable and acceptable to the community,” reads a notice I received from my son’s primary school. “Fairfax County Government and Fairfax County Public Schools invite you to register and attend one of 12 Community Dialogues being held this Fall to share your feedback on the impacts of recent budget reductions as well as seeking for solutions to close the FY 2011 budget gap. Community decision-makers will use your input as a key factor to help guide the development of criteria for making budget decisions.”

For those who can’t attend any of the dialogues but who nevertheless want to provide input, the county has also established a dedicated phone number (“Budget Hotline”) and a budget feedback form on its Web site.

I don’t know if county leaders will find anything I say to be helpful, but I certainly appreciate being asked! Do government leaders ask for public input where you live?

Different, But Similar

Posted on by

One of the best things about traveling is that it gives you an opportunity to explore differences between cultures. I’m currently on temporary assignment for the State Department in Brussels, Belgium, and I’m definitely enjoying sampling their local cuisine, speaking French, trying to pick up a few words in Dutch, and learning about life in this country whose capital city is often called the Capital of Europe.

But in addition to the differences, there are also the similarities; the things that make you realize we’re not all that different from one another. I had my first such recognition while reading the neighborhood magazine created for the Brussels suburb I live in. As I read the magazine’s opening story, written by a local government official, I had a moment of déjà vu.

The official was talking about recent community meetings that were organized to discuss possible changes to one of the city’s roadways. According to his commentary, some of these meetings had been attended by very vocal citizens whose discourse had drowned out all other voices and whose aggressive opposition had made others “not dare to speak favorably” of the project. The author felt that individual wants were being heard at the expense of a true discussion on what was best for the community as a whole. Hmmm … this was starting to sound like what some Americans see as the tone of the community meetings on issues like health care and the economic crisis that have recently taken place in the United States.

At the end of his article, the government official asked a series of questions that he felt all representative democracies must try to answer: “What influence should this type of citizen participation have on the final decision?” “Can individualism have the final word?” “Where does the public interest fit in?” “How are minorities represented?” There are no easy answers to these questions. How would you answer them?

The Health Care Debate Part 2: Mad About Mackey

Posted on by

An August 11 editorial by Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey on health care reform has generated an enormous amount of discussion on the Web. Following the publication of the Wall Street Journal piece, many people have been using social media tools to organize a boycott of the organic food company. As of August 27, the Facebook group Boycott Whole Foods had more than 29,600 members and links to a related blog, Twitter account and flickr pool.

A man protests outside a Whole Foods store.

A man protests outside a Whole Foods store.

On August 18, the Wall Street Journal published its own editorial criticizing the boycott. “Those who actually read Mr. Mackey’s piece may find the racket puzzling. The CEO suggests ways to reform health care without a new deficit-busting entitlement,” it says. It also notes that “Whole Foods is a publicly traded company, so the effects of a real boycott would mainly damage the pocketbooks of those nice Whole Foods employees and its stockholders,” and that “Whole Foods’ Web site has its share of angry customers, but they have been joined by many supporting Mr. Mackey’s position.” (As of August 27, the site’s forums section had more than 2,460 separate message threads and over 18,300 posts about health care reform.)

“Mr. Mackey wrote his op-ed to join a national debate on a subject that will affect his company and employees. He deserves credit for exercising his right to free speech, no matter the risk this currently entails in our politics,” the Wall Street Journal says.

The CtW Investment Group, a major shareholder in Whole Foods that is affiliated with union pension funds (Whole Foods is not unionized), argues the controversy over Mackey’s editorial goes beyond the issue of free speech. On August 25, the group issued a letter to Whole Foods’ lead independent director calling for the CEO’s removal, noting that “Mr. Mackey’s article was not a citizen’s ‘letter to the editor,’ but a lengthy op-ed that explicitly tied him to Whole Foods by identifying him as the CEO.” According to CtW, “This is not the first time Mr. Mackey’s unsanctioned communications have damaged Whole Foods’ image with consumers and investors.”

Should people closely affiliated with companies have restrictions on what they can say and write? And does it make sense to boycott a company over something not directly related to its products?

Of Plastic and Petitions

Posted on by

[image src="http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/Week_3/061909_AP050204027978_500.jpg" caption="A cafeteria worker prepares school lunches." align="left"]A few months ago my 6-year-old son asked me to save something that would normally be thrown in the trash or recycling so he could use it for a school project on the environment. I saved and cleaned a plastic milk jug for him, which he decorated and now uses as a coin bank. I am pleased that schools are teaching children as young as my son about the importance of conserving resources, following the mantra “refuse, reuse and recycle.” This increased student awareness has, in fact, led to an interesting situation at a primary school in Montgomery County, Maryland.

According to an article in the Washington Post, members of the Young Activist Club at Piney Branch Elementary in Takoma Park have been petitioning their school to stop using disposable foam trays and plastic utensils. The club members have obtained the support of their principal and the city council and have raised $9000 to buy a dishwasher and supplies for their school. However, Montgomery County school officials have expressed concern about the additional labor costs the school would incur if it changed to reusable materials. County administrators also have cited environmental concerns, including the amount of power and water the dishwashers would use and the cleaning chemicals they could introduce into the environment. The county is considering biodegradable alternatives to foam, though.

I don’t know whether the Young Activist Club members will succeed in persuading the school, and perhaps the school system, to switch to reusable cafeteria supplies. But the willingness of these children to engage public officials on the issue bodes well for the future of activism.

Transparency in Government

Posted on by

I’ve been hearing a lot about transparency lately.  First there were UK citizens crying out for more transparency after learning about the less-than-necessary items MPs were buying with taxpayer money.  Now it’s our turn to discuss transparency in the U.S., with the announcement of a “next step” project related to President Obama’s Transparency and Open Government memo. 

You can read about this next step on the White House’s Open Government Blog, but if you don’t want to do that, I’ll summarize it for you.  Basically, American citizens are being invited to participate in a brainstorming session.  The Obama administration plans to publish a set of recommendations for making the federal government more transparent, participatory and collaborative, and citizens have been asked to submit ideas they feel should be included.  The public can view and vote on submissions, and later the government and citizens will discuss their ideas and use a wiki to draft the recommendations collaboratively.

I’m curious to see how this experiment in transparency will go.  How many citizens will participate?  Will these suggestions be included in the final set of recommendations that come out of the White House?  Will the Obama administration and future administrations continue to use this model for collaboration?  The process is well underway, and ideas are available for the public to review.  I’ve already started voting for my favorites.

Democracy and Patience

Posted on by

You can’t blame Minnesotans for feeling underrepresented these days. 
The good citizens of my home state of Minnesota still only have one Senator serving their interests in Washington.  Normally, there are 100 Senators in the U.S. Congress; two for each of the 50 states, but the election that took place in Minnesota between candidates Norm Coleman and Al Franken is still not decided.  When the voting results on November 4, 2008 were too close to call, a legal battle began.  Nearly six months later, Minnesotans – generally a mild-mannered, polite bunch – are starting to get a little annoyed. 

Minnesota RecountOn the bright side, the events that have taken place in Minnesota regarding the undecided election have served as an interesting case study for the democratic phenomenon of recounts.   According to the official 2008 Recount Guide for the State of Minnesota, an automatic manual recount of votes cast for federal and state contests in a general election (as opposed to a primary election) will occur when:

1. The difference between the votes of the winning candidate and any other candidate is less than one-half of one percent of the total number of votes counted for that office.

2. Or, if the difference in vote count is ten votes or less for an office in which 400 votes or less votes were cast.

We’re dealing with thousands of votes cast, so reason #1 is what launched this recount. Each ballot had to be recounted one-by-one, with representatives of each of the two candidates able to dispute ballots they feel are not clear.  Some ballots have been thrown out, others that were counted in favor of one candidate have been switched to the other.  Everything follows the state rules on determining a voter’s intent.

This issue is getting enormous amounts of attention in the national media, with some commentators praising the fair and reasonable proceedings while others cry foul.  The sense I get from my friends and family back home is that they just want the whole thing to be over.  Personally, I’ve been impressed with the amount of transparency that has surrounded the recount.  The state has a website that regularly posts information about the proceedings, and Minnesota Public Radio even displays disputed ballots on its website and asks citizens to make their own judgments about them. 

It looks like Franken will eventually be named the winner, but there are still a few more legal steps to be taken.  In the meantime, Minnesotans will have to stay patient, informed, and vigilant.  This can’t go on forever, can it?

The More the Merrier

Posted on by

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about the death of the newspaper.  Michael even discussed it earlier in the week.  The argument goes something like this: A democracy needs a well-informed citizenry to be able to stay strong and viable.  A citizenry needs reliable sources of news like newspapers to stay well-informed.  Newspapers are in decline.  Blogs and other Internet content are not reliable.  A world with too few newspapers will not be able to inform the citizenry and therefore democracy will be at risk. 

Sounds scary, right?

I’m a member of what many call the “digital native” generation.  I grew up with computers and feel comfortable using social media, adapting to new technologies, and getting some of my news online.  But I can be old fashioned too.  One of my favorite sources of news is the radio, and I love curling up with a cup of coffee and a newspaper on the weekends.  So, it’s fair to say that I was not taking the predictions of the death of newspapers lightly. 

Then, I saw a clip on television that made me rethink this disaster-scenario assumption.  I encourage you to view the clip, but essentially the presenters suggest that a future where news is obtained from a variety of sources that allow readers to comment and add to the conversation (namely, blogs)  is simply a return to the same media landscape that existed around the time of the American Revolution when there were pamphlets and a large number of independent newspapers that also solicited feedback. 

Today, they argue, is just a return to the “many voices” model of the past, and bloggers are simply modern-day pamphleteers. 

So, are we worried about the possible death of the newspaper for nothing?  Americans are often criticized for too easily forgetting the past, is the frenzy over online news sources and the decline of newspapers simply a case of having forgotten what once was?  Is a world with fewer newspapers but more alternative sources of news (sources that are sometimes deemed as not reliable) good or bad for democracy?  Nobody can have all the answers to these questions, but I definitely feel optimistic about our future media outlook.  As long as there are enough people who like to curl up with the Sunday paper and a cup of coffee, I have to believe that at least some of the printed news will survive.

Citizens Asking Questions

Posted on by

A town hall meeting with President ObamaIs it just me, or has President Obama been engaging in town hall meetings seemingly non-stop since taking office in January?  There was the discussion in Costa Mesa, California, the online town hall filmed at the White House, and conversations with international audiences in Strasbourg, France and Istanbul, Turkey.  Secretary Hillary Clinton has also participated in town hall meetings, most notably in Monterrey, Mexico and Brussels, Belgium as well as at this week’s Summit of the Americas, and Vice President Joe Biden led one in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  World leaders who are accessible to average people like you and me?   Awesome!

But I wonder: is this model of engagement sustainable?  Will we see town hall meetings and other outreach efforts of this magnitude throughout the Obama administration?  Is there such a thing as too many town hall meetings?  And what are leaders in other parts of the world doing to connect with their citizens? 

Speaking directly and frequently to the American people didn’t start with Obama.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt is famous for his Fireside Chats – weekly radio broadcasts that helped calm a nervous nation during the Great Depression.  While all presidents since FDR have given regular addresses (generally one-way conversations, Obama being the first president to take so many questions from average citizens), not all have been as accessible as Obama.  Should they be expected to be?  Maybe.  After all, we elected them, they work for us, shouldn’t they be required to talk to us openly and often?  I understand the need for confidentiality when dealing with certain issues, but there is definitely a balance to be struck between confidentiality and transparency.  And frankly, I’d like to see them err on the side of transparency.

So far, it looks like the town hall model will continue to be used by the Obama administration.  I look forward to seeing where he’ll speak next, which issues will be addressed, and whether or not I’ll get my own chance to ask the president a question.  So, how does your government communicate with you?  Do you know anyone who attended Obama’s overseas town hall meetings?

I Stumbled Upon Pictures I Tried to Forget

Posted on by

I’m Listening to “Title and Registration” by Death Cab for Cutie

You really can’t separate diversity from democracy, especially in a country like the United States.  But equality and harmony are often only ideals when you take a closer look.  I think an important first step in moving forward on racial and community relations is to acknowledge and honestly come to terms with past injustices.

Last month I visited Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia and discovered a program called “Coming to the Table,” which promotes dialog between the descendants of former slaves and former slaveholders.  I couldn’t help but think of my own family’s past as slaveholders in Maryland and Virginia and wonder what became of the families of those whom one of my great-great grandmothers euphemistically described as “servants” after slavery was formally ended in 1865.  I also wonder if my family was kinder or crueler to their slaves than their neighbors were.

Photo of Stephen's family c. 1913, taken in Shawsville, VirginiaIt is an issue never discussed in my family, even behind closed doors.  Even though I have often thought about it, I never had the courage to bring it up with older relatives, mainly because their own attitudes toward race seemed to be worlds apart from mine.  I grew up in a much more diverse world than they did.  Interracial relationships and friendships that were once socially forbidden are now perfectly normal.

I think slavery and its legacies, such as sharecropping and segregation, are still highly sensitive topics because so many on both sides have simply wanted to sweep them under the carpet and pretend it has now either all been resolved or it doesn’t exist.  But for some white Americans, it is a source of guilt, and for some black Americans, it is a source of shame.  And because it has never been addressed on the personal level all of these years, the legacy has only grown more complex.

During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama, himself the descendant of white slaveholders, said Americans still haven’t worked through these complexities.  But it is inevitable, he said.  “In fact, we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.”