I’ll Be Speaking at Drive the Discussion

I’ll be speaking at the Florida GOP’s “Drive the Discussion” event in Orlando, Florida in a couple weeks. The event is August 22 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and among the speakers will be (according to the website) “Olympic Gold Medalist, motivational speaker, and television personality Bruce Jenner, Former Miss California and Miss USA first runner up Carrie Prejean, author and political commentator Jonathan Krohn and Washington Times columnist and political blogger Amanda Carpenter.”

The event is free, but you do need to sign up at the link above. I’m not listed as a speaker… probably because I don’t have a Wikipedia page. Or, more likely, because I’m neither super hot nor some kind of child genius.

I’ve got a basic presentation put together, but I’d love to hear what my readers are interested in and use that to… well… drive the discussion. So… how about it? More interested in talking about videos? Talking about understanding numbers? Talking about “new media”? Talking about Carrie Prejean? Let me know and I’ll use your input as I put together my talk.

Also, if you’re a reader or Twitter follower, let me know and we’ll “tweet-up” (which is the somewhat bizarre terminology for meeting twitter followers in real life).

6 thoughts on “I’ll Be Speaking at Drive the Discussion

  1. Paul Bressie

    Well, the thing that most interests me about this site is the plainspoken way you illustrate numbers that are not easily understood. The props (legos & pennies) are clever, but not what really interests me. Unfortunately, numbers in the political sphere are most often used for spin – to support their policy objectives. Rarely, are the numbers used to illuminate. This is why your videos are so wonderful. $100,000,000 cut from the budget sounds like a lot – but, as you show it’s almost a rounding error. We keep hearing 47 million uninsured – and that sounds bad – but, below the soundbite, beneath the murky surface, the reality leaves a different impression, and leads to a different diagnosis – a problem, not a crisis. Problems have different solutions than crises.
    What I would like to hear you talk about is that all these things are figure-out-able – with just a little homework, and a little cleverness. Shine a light on the raw numbers. Once we have truth in numbers, we can address the real problems, not just the pet projects and special interests of the politicians.
    Thanks for the great work!!

  2. RR

    Hey Political Math –
    I just saw this regarding the math of the President – maybe you can research and find more info?

    Apparently BO has divided the stimulus into four-thirds and two-halves.

    “He who prints money makes his own math” 🙂

    Oh, and I echo what Paul said – your math videos have helped friends and family understand the implications of all this spending. Much abliged!

  3. nhfalcon

    Regarding the current health care debate:

    Everybody screams about how much health care costs now. Well, how about a breakdown of where those costs really come from?

    You know, let’s say Procedure X costs $100. Well, how much of that $100 comes from people needing to make a profit (the doctor? the hospital? the insurance company? the pharmaceutical company? etc…)? How much comes from having to compensate for US citizens who don’t have insurance? How much comes from having to compensate for illegal aliens who don’t have health insurance? How much comes from having to compensate for malpractice insurance? How much comes from the pay schedule being set by MediCare and/or MedicAid (as opposed to being set by a truly free market)?

    Have I left any factors out?

    I’d love to see a breakdown like that!

  4. AndyB

    I agree with Paul Bressie. Use the numbers to illuminate the truth in a clear, concise way that your average Joe can understand.

  5. Patricia Sullivan

    Hi Matt,
    I can’t believe you were at DTD! My family was there but left after the opening to make it to a 10th amendment Town Hall and then Orlando TEA Party. If you are ever back in FL, please let me know! I would love to have you as a guest at a North Lake TEA Party event. I’ve used your videos as our “educational video of the week” on our webiste, but since there hasn’t been another one since Lego, it’s been up for over a month!
    You’ve got a great message and gift. Keep up the fantastic work!
    In service,
    Patricia Sullivan

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