SFA guest speaker to discuss national debt and budget deficit

Jeffrey Thiebert of the Concord Coalition

NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Jeffrey Thiebert of the Concord Coalition, a Washington, D.C., think tank, will visit Stephen F. Austin State University Tuesday, Nov. 3, to discuss the national debt and the budget deficit.

Thiebert will lead a discussion on these issues following a screening of the movie I.O.U.S.A., a critically acclaimed documentary that premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The screening will begin at 7 p.m. in the Kennedy Auditorium.

The public is invited to attend both the screening and the discussion. Earlier in the day, Thiebert will meet with SFA political science classes.

Founded in 1992 by the late former Sen. Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.) and former Sen. Warren Rudman (R-NH), the Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan organization that advocates for responsible fiscal policies and provides educational materials about the causes and consequences of the national debt and budget deficit.

Thiebert joined the Concord Coalition's Washington, D.C., office in 1998. He served as youth outreach coordinator and field director for the Mid-Atlantic Region before focusing solely on policy development as a policy analyst for the organization. After graduating from George Mason University School of Law and working in the private sector, Thiebert rejoined the Concord Coalition in 2006 as the organization's southwest regional director.

In 2008, he was promoted to the position of national grassroots director of the Concord Coalition's volunteer network. In this position, Thiebert oversees all of think tank's nationwide volunteer and grassroots activities. In 2009, he relocated to northern Virginia and now serves at the northeast regional director.

Thiebert's speaking engagements and presentations at SFA are sponsored by the Department of Government, the Student Government Association and the American Democracy Project at SFA. The American Democracy Project is a non-partisan effort to promote civic engagement on more than 200 college campuses. Dr. Steven Galatas, SFA assistant professor of political science, serves as campus coordinator for the ADP at SFA.

For additional information about the Concord Coalition, visit www.concordcoalition.org < http://www.concordcoalition.org/> . More information about the documentary I.O.U.S.A. is available at <http://www.iousathemovie.com/> .