The Manship School at LSU has created a game that lets taxpayers put forward their own plan on how to address the billion dollar fiscal cliff. “Solve The Budget” presents players with a list of budget items that can be cut or funded, and tax proposals that can be adopted to rejected to close the budget gap. Manship Dean Jerry Cepos is encouraging everyone to hop online and give it a try.
Cepos says, "There's no better way to get the gut feel of what thousands of people would suggest that their legislators do."
Budgetary issues are not easy to digest, just ask the legislators from the recent failed special session, but Cepos says the game will help players understand the big ticket budget issues.
Cepos says, "It's probably unrealistic to expect people to dig into thousands of pages of budget documents." This is why the game was created to introduce people to the key subject of budget deficit.
Early results from the first 1700 people to play are mixed, with only Medicaid reform and some tax proposals receiving a noticeable level of support. Cepos says last year, support for one category stood out.
According to Cepos, "Education is very important to people."
The website is solvethebudget.com.