The James Madison Institute (JMI) welcomed more than 600 people to watch a debate on the role of government in economic growth and job creation, led by TIME Magazine senior national correspondent, Michael Grunwald and New York Times best-selling author, Matt Kibbe. JMI senior fellow and FAU political science processor, Dr. Marshall DeRosa, moderated the debate. Audience members attending the event at the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center at Nova Southeastern University, participated in a question and answer session and book signing with the speakers following the debate.“Florida, a bellwether for the nation on many current issues, will continue to be a pivotal state in elections and as part of our continued effort to inform the people of Florida on critical issues, we were honored to have Mr. Grunwald and Mr. Kibbe dispute this timely topic,” said Dr. Robert McClure, JMI president and CEO. “The differentiating views on government’s responsibilities for moving this country forward are hotly contested in this election and this discussion is certainly not going away anytime soon.”Michael Grunwald, author of “The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era” and recent guest on the “The Colbert Report” had this to say in his argument: “Four years ago we were in a ditch. Government dragged us out. There have been 13 statistical studies of the stimulus, and 12 said it worked.”Matt Kibbe, president/CEO of FreedomWorks, a recent panelist on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and author of “Hostile Takeover: Resisting Centralized Government’s Stranglehold on America” responded with his view, stating: “Don’t blame the market on the things government creates. Here we are in Florida where housing prices went up artificially – the fault of government intervention. There was a tech bubble — government didn’t come to the rescue — and we had a pretty quick recovery.”“At the JMI debate, we saw the discussion turn from whether it is fiscally wise for the government to intervene in the economy to whether it is even constitutional – or moral – to do so,” said Francisco Gonzalez, JMI vice president of advancement and event organizer. “Our audience became very animated in their responses, particularly during the lively Q&A session. We were grateful to have FreedomWorks live stream the event and several university classes tuned in to hear both sides.”http://www.saintpetersblog.com/debate-hosted-by-james-madison-institute-draws-hundreds
