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Foxx leads group in budget workshop
Winston-Salem, NC,
August 24, 2010
A group of 80 people got a chance to pretend they were members of Congress yesterday to create a model federal budget.
They were participants in a forum at the Lewisville Library led by U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, and The Concord Coalition, a natio
Winston-Salem Journal By Fran Daniel A group of 80 people got a chance to pretend they were members of Congress yesterday to create a model federal budget. They were participants in a forum at the Lewisville Library led by U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, and The Concord Coalition, a national nonpartisan group. The forum's focus was a workshop giving taxpayers an inside look at the federal budget. "Federal government spending is the biggest issue for the people in this country right now," Foxx said. But some people had a different opinion. Just before the forum started at 6:30 p.m., 25 people protested outside the library, the majority of them holding signs that read, "Foxx does not speak for us!" The group's organizers were Charles Wilson and his wife, Anne, of Winston-Salem. Charles Wilson said he didn't believe Foxx was helping the middle class, creating jobs and improving education. "We are tired of Virginia pretending to represent the people of the 5th District, when, in fact, she doesn't," Charles Wilson said. During the workshop, participants examined a variety of spending and tax options, as they considered projections that set the budget deficit over the next 10 years at $14.4 trillion. Phil Smith, the national political director for The Concord Coalition, warned them that some options would work against a balanced budget. A list of more than 35 options included a freeze on all domestic discretionary spending, increasing the maximum taxable earnings cap for the Social Security payroll tax, reducing the federal subsidy for AMTRAK, eliminating the one dollar bill, and not extending any of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Freddie Gravely of Lewisville said he attended to get an idea of what was going on in Washington. He thinks that members of Congress are not listening to citizens in terms of industry bailouts and health care and hoped to hear some of Foxx's views on those issues. Considering the workshop options aimed at reducing the projected federal budget was tougher than he expected. "It's harder than you think," Gravely said. |