PORTLAND- The group which hosted a national budget discussion last weekend released their preliminary findings Wednesday, showing the American public is sick of partisanship in policymaking.
Portland was one of 19 cities that took part in a national discussion created to talk about the country’s financial and budgetary problems and potential solutions.
The local event, which drew nearly 430 members of the public, took place on June 26 at Portland’s Convention Center. It took AmericaSpeaks, a D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank, four days to calculate preliminary findings from the suggestions and priorities for every city that participated in the national discussion.
In their findings, the group found that 89% of participants nationwide expressed their dissatisfaction with the “tone and quality of political discussion” in America today. Among the most common views expressed was the dislike of partisanship in government.
“Abandon the failed politics of partisanship,” was one of the common opinions expressed during the event. “You can’t demonize each other and expect us to trust you.”
In the written testimony released about the preliminary findings, Carolyn Lukensmeyer, President of AmericaSpeaks, wrote that participants in the event showed that the American public cares about America’s fiscal problems, can understand the hardships associated with fixing those problems, and is able to offer guidance on policy to policy makers.
“They offered a plea to policy makers to set aside partisan differences and get on with the work of addressing our most pressing problems,” wrote Lukensmeyer.
Local sponsors for the event included 1,000 Friends of Oregon, the Portland Business Alliance, the Bus Project, the Oregon 912 Project, Portland Community College, Rebuild Oregon, and Oregon Politico’s parent organization, the Cascade Policy Institute, among others.
Steve Buckstein, Founder of the Cascade Policy Institute, said the event was especially important because “if we don’t get the nation’s fiscal house in order, our local troubles will pale in comparison to what’s headed our way from Washington, D.C.”
“The concept of divergent voices coming together and just trying to find common ground is something we’ve been supportive of and tried to work in the way we approach dealing with issues,” responded Eric Stachon, Communications Director for 1,000 Friends of Oregon.
Richard Burke, Grassroots Coordinator for Americans for Prosperity, was hired by the AmericaSpeaks group to recruit “fiscally conservative” participants into the Portland discussion. He said he thought the discussion was effective in raising the profile of the budget and national spending.
“The question of our national debt, I think, will be one of the defining issues for the next fifty or even one hundred years for this country,” said Burke. “It’s an issue that has been on the back burner too long. An issue we pay too little attention to. And one that we need to raise the profile of.”
Stachon added that he was “impressed by the turnout” and thought it was effective in making participants feel their opinions had value.
Burke noted that despite the makeup of the event, which he characterized as being mostly left leaning, a majority of participants supported less spending on health care and non-defense spending.
Both Stachon and Burke thought future events like the one hosted by AmericaSpeaks are beneficial for the public and policy makers. Burke added that because of the importance of the issues, there can’t be enough discussions like this.
Final results from the event are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
