Federal Budget Presentations Highlight Panel Discussion at Farmington Church

Discussion of three proposed plans for the federal budget brought together area residents at in Farmington.

“The Federal Budget: Three Visions, Three Voices” featured Frank Houston, chair of the Oakland County Democratic Party, Jim Thienel, chair of the Oakland County Republican Party, and Natalie Mosher and Prasad Venugopal, who presented in place of Rep. John Conyers, D-MI, in support of the plan known as the People’s Budget.

Conyers was originally scheduled to attend but was still in Washington D.C.

The event, which was moderated by Farmington resident Amy Lange of WJBK-TV, was co-sponsored by and the Detroit Area Peace with Justice Network.

The crowd, which easily topped 100 people, was boisterous and often applauded talking points they supported.

“This is a good example of what civic engagement looks like,” said Kim Redigan, the chair of Moveable Peace’s Peace Walk initiative. “It reminds you of old town hall meetings.”

Of the three presentations, Mosher and Venugopal’s drew the most applause and appeared to be the most popular with the crowd.

“I like the People’s Budget because it tries to balance the raising of taxes with cutting spending,” said Tracy Ringstad, 28, of Canton. “Cutting spending is important but I do think we need to raise taxes too.”

In quoting the executive summary from the People’s Budget, Vengopal said that the plan “is a reflection of the values and priorities of working people as expressed in poll after poll, across the political spectrum.”

The presentation that drew the most negative feedback came from Thienel, 63, who admitted to the crowd he did not expect to garner much of their support. However, Thienel made it a point to state that he believed the nation’s current problems are not the fault of one political party, but of his generation.

“We failed our children and we have failed our grandchildren,” Thienel said. “It wasn’t a Republican problem and it wasn’t a Democrat problem. It was a Congressional and leadership problem.”

Thienel’s presentation highlighted the Republicans’ proposed plan, which was created by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and calls for spending cuts. Houston, whose speech promoted the virtues of a plan proposed by President Obama, said that many aspects of Ryan’s plan are similar to policies enacted during George W. Bush’s presidential term.

“When you look at Ryan’s proposals, the scary thing is that they are even farther to the right than some of Bush’s proposals that didn’t work,” Houston said. “So when you look at fairness, you look at how we promote a balanced approach toward federal budget and how it impacts us here in Michigan, you’ve got to have some cuts, you’ve got to have some revenue, and you’ve got to have some real reforms.”

The event was staged as a part of the , where groups travel on foot to Lansing from Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo or Detroit. Its goal is to stop in towns along the way, and both speak and listen to the state’s residents on issues they care about.

Upon arriving in Lansing on Aug. 9, they plan on submitting petitions to the state legislature calling for a Commission For Peace and Justice.