MacGuineas found crowdsourcing the budget consisted pulled effective, moderate ideas out of people, while moderating extremes, regardless of party affiliation. Their answers revealed a great deal of bipartisan agreement on certain solutions. The biggest was "means testing," the idea that social benefits should primarily be paid to those who need them, rather than high income individuals. "It’s about what makes sense," she says. "Republicans and Democrats ask why do we send checks to people who don’t need them. Social security and medicaid are huge toxic issue … but you can’t give a town hall meeting without means testing coming up. It’s kind of a head-nodder.
via fastcoexist.com
Why not? We've got Americans Elect and PopVox and how many other experiments in crowdsourcing government. At first glance, we'd wind up with a citizenry more knowledgeable about the budget and more involved in government, a broader base of ideas for a way forward, and a way to get past the entrenched interests that seem to have a lock on things now. Take a look at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget's Stabilize the Debt.