Government shutdown and the Wall

Ground rules:

• Maintain a respectful conversation. (Attack the ideas, but not the person expressing them.)

• Speak at a volume that the table can hear you. This is especially important for today because the venue just told me we'll be on the patio area where it gets kind of noisy.

• Try not to stray TOO far from the topic at hand (there is no formal moderator or anything but it's just so that everyone gets to talk about the topic they came for).

Format:

• Self Introductions

• Context - How does funding work in US government? What does a "shutdown" mean? What does a "partial" shutdown mean? Under what circumstances have shutdowns occurred in the past? What resolved those conflicts and reopened the government in the past?

• Current events - What is the context of the current shutdown? Who are the stakeholders? What does each stakeholder want? What leverage does each side have? What criteria determine a winner? Who is winning? Who is losing?

• Future - Should shutdowns be absolutely prevented from occurring or are they a necessary part of governing? How can this be avoided in this future? What scenarios are possible moving forward from today?

• Closing remarks

Note: Meal is not provided with this event. Please plan to pay for your own grub.

p.s. We're looking for volunteers to help offset the ~90 bucks that Meetup charges to host this group. Attendees are requested to pitch in $2 to $5 (or whatever you can afford) during dinner so the group can continue.

Check out our sponsor: NoD CoWorking (noddfw.com)