Democrats bring a plastic spoon to a gun fight and wonder why they lose.

Tea Party/Freedom Caucus/MAGAs want to reduce Federal government spending. Getting them to specify exactly where is a challenge.

Democrats bring a plastic spoon to a gun fight and wonder why they lose.

The Biden challenge to them to “show me the budget” is a step in the right direction. Right now all they have are jargon, buzz words, and talking points that test well in MAGA focus groups and on Foxhub. They should be constantly pressed to identify specifically where the reductions would occur. Find the “waste; find the “fraud;” find the “fat” to cut.

The words of Brian Deese, Director of the National Economic Council and Shalanda Young, director White House Budget Office ring true: call on McCarthy to release the MAGA budget so it can be compared to a real world budget.  Show me the money!

Democrats bring a plastic spoon to a gun fight and wonder why they lose.

It is possible to calculate how much each state sends to Washington compared to what it receives in return. In general, the Union states subsidize the Confederate states and urban states subsidize rural ones. The same analysis should be brought down to a congressional district level. Incumbents, even MAGA, love to brag about bringing home the bacon even if they opposed the legislation.

Democrats bring a plastic spoon to a gun fight and wonder why they lose.         

Once the numbers are known for how much MAGAs want to reduce the budget and how much the federal spending is in their individual district, then challenge the MAGAs to show what spending they want to cut in their own districts. Their decisions may vary from district to district but that’s fine. The people who shout the loudest about cutting spending and getting the Federal Government off the backs on the voters, will have the opportunity to how exactly where they would reduce spending in their own district.

Democrats bring a plastic spoon to a gun fight and wonder why they lose.

Assuming the MAGAs refrain from specifying what they would cut in their own district, then hold town halls in the MAGA districts so the people who shout the loudest about cutting spending would show the country just how it is done. A related possibilities is to have the networks both mainstream and right wing conduct televised town halls so the nation could watch how the sausage is unmade. The example of Americans reducing spending in their own Congressional districts would be inspirational to other districts. See! It can be done! Look at how the districts of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and the other MAGA representatives showed how the budget could be balanced.

THE CONCORD COALITION

The Concord Coalition may be instructive in this exercise. According to its website:

The Concord Coalition is a nationwide, non-partisan, grassroots organization advocating generationally responsible fiscal policy. The Concord Coalition was founded in 1992 by the late former Senator Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.), former Senator Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Peter Peterson.

The Concord Coalition is dedicated to educating the public about the causes and consequences of large-and-growing federal budget deficits and national debt, the long-term challenges facing the economy and how to build a sound fiscal future for all generations. The Concord Coalition’s national field staff and volunteer Fiscal Lookouts cover the country, hosting lectures, facilitating interactive exercises, conducting classes, giving media interviews and briefing elected officials and their staffs.

The mission of this organization dovetails nicely with what the MAGAs claim they are trying to achieve. The Concord Coalition goes beyond the efforts of the MAGAs. The Coalition not only talks the talk, it walks the walk.

Budget Exercises

One of the most important sets of tools The Concord Coalition uses to highlight the importance of fiscal responsibility and the choices involved in being fiscally responsible is our interactive budget exercises. These exercises allow citizens at the grassroots level, whether as part of town hall meetings with their members of Congress or as students in the classroom, to learn in a group setting that takes advantage of the interactions with people of different generations or different ideological or political backgrounds.

We also have an experienced network of field staff around the country who lead these exercises in person and help volunteers and teachers learn how to facilitate the exercises themselves.

So it already is prepared to conduct workshops and town hall meetings on how to reduce spending and balance the budget. It has a proven tool or game that can be applied in each MAGA congressional district. The MAGA participants would be able to demonstrate to the country exactly how the reduced spending sausage is made.

Principles and Priorities

Principles & Priorities is an interactive exercise in which participants learn how difficult it is to balance the federal budget. Constituents working in groups of five to ten, review current tax and spending policies, suggest priorities for the future, and apply their personal principles throughout the exercise. 

What you’ll learn

The most popular exercise from this collection is “Principles and Priorities” which is designed to help groups learn about the competing pressures facing members of Congress in budgeting over the next 10 years. The participants gain exposure to current policy options that Congress often debates, while getting a sense of the political and time pressures that arise legislative sessions. Our “Debt Busters” exercise is a condensed version of “Principles and Priorities” designed for use in limited time sessions. And, we offer our “Penny Game” which can be used for elementary and high school students who want to learn the basics about where we get and spend our tax dollars.

What is Principles & Priorities?

Budget exercise

1-2 hour immersive course
Appropriate for business, community and college groups
Exercise for multiple groups of 4-10 people
Suitable for as few as 8 or as many as 200 people

Imagine if such workshops were held in the MAGA congressional districts throughout the land. The ratings would easily trump those of the January 6 House Select Committee exposing the insurrection attempt led by Donald Trump.

Every day between now and the June apocalypse, Joe Biden and the Democrats should be calling on the MAGAs to show the American people the money. That won’t happen because:

Democrats bring a plastic spoon to a gun fight and wonder why they lose.

Perhaps they can learn from the example of Hunter Biden.