Finding Common Ground on Taxes

~ by C. Oscar Olson ~

The word “bipartisan” seems to be more and more a stranger to our tongues in these tumultuous political times. It seems, sadly, in our troubled two-party system, progress is a thing of the past.

A constant encumbrance plaguing our United States today is polarized governance. There’s no doubt the people of this country are restless and worried, looking to the left and to the right for answers and solutions. But for one night on Nantucket, two sides can come together constructively and debate an issue that affects us all: Tax Reform.

At 8 pm on Sunday, July 31, a small group of citizens known as the Common Ground Committee will do just that. Join them at the Unitarian Meeting House on Orange Street for a civil discussion on tax reform, featuring distinguished panelists Hon. Barney Frank and Larry Kudlow. This is a chance to bring light, not heat, to much needed public discourse… without asking anyone to sacrifice principles for the mere sake of agreement.

The Honorable Barney Frank served as a Democrat in The United States House of Representat ives from 1981 to 2013. He also served as chairman of theHouse Financial Services Committee and was a leading co-sponsor of the 2010 Dodd–Frank Act, a sweeping reform of the U.S. financial industry. Frank is considered to be the most prominent gay politician in the United States.

Larry Kudlow is CNBC’s senior contributor and former host of The Kudlow Report. As a conservative commentator, articles he writes appear in numerous newspapers, on websites, and blogs around the country. Writer and editor Gail Russell Chaddock will moderate the discussion between Frank and Kudlow; a discussion sure to be spirited. Organizers promise a “passionate but respectful, informed exploration of important questions shaping the debate over federal tax policy in this presidential election year.” A question and answer period will be part of the evening.

Common Ground Committee is a citizen-led initiative and nonprofit organization free of agenda or influence. They pursue initiatives which will reveal common ground for finding truth, clarity, understanding, and progress on issues of importance in a civil manner that does not require compromise of fundamental principles. The organization’s focus is fostering healthy, productive public discourse, and its mission is finding common ground.

Tickets to attend this Common Ground forum are $35 and can be purchased at Mitchell’s Book Corner at 54 Main Street, at Nantucket Bookworks at 25 Broad Street, and online at commongroundcommittee.org.