Courtesy Hold the Eye Images

Next week in Philadelphia I’m hosting an event called “A More Perfect Union: A Dialogue on American Values.” It’s the first in a series from the Ford Foundation and Georgetown University. During this one we’ll be exploring how our values play into decisions about the national budget.

CLICK HERE for more information on the event.

There will be 10 participants including the presidents of Georgetown and the Ford Foundation, former California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson and Maryland’s former Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

Prior to the event we asked the participants to respond to three questions:

1. Do you believe Americans hold a set of shared values, such as freedom, equality and community? What are some other important values in public life?

2. In your view, has identification with shared American values grown stronger or weaker over the past decade?

3. Which values do you think should guide decisions about our national budget?

I’ll be posting some of their answers on my blog leading up to Tuesday’s discussion. Here’s what the former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina, had to say:

“Americans, and those who want to be Americans, have always believed that everything is possible in this country.  Americans believe that their children’s future will always be brighter than the present.  And while Americans have appreciated our diversity, they have believed that what we hold in common – a belief in possibilities and futures – is more important.  Most Americans get a lump in their throat when they sing about “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

Our shorthand for these beliefs is the “American Dream” and it has been a powerful metaphor and uniting force in public life.  However, these beliefs are being sorely tested.  The American Dream is becoming too hard for too many.  People are losing faith in many public institutions and in the political process.  Many worry that their children’s future is now constrained.  Government has become both more intrusive and less responsive.

As we make decisions about our national budget we should focus on restoring the American Dream.  This means creating the conditions to allow more Americans to succeed.  It means making it easier for small businesses to form, grow and prosper, because small business is the engine of growth in our country and the first rung on the ladder of the American Dream.  And this means remembering always that the money we spend in Washington, D.C. belongs not to politicians, but to American citizens.  We should question every dollar spent.  And we should expect from government what we expect from any business:  acceptable results from our investment.”

Please continue to check back here as we post more of the participants’ thoughts leading up to the Oct. 11th event. And weigh in below on how you would answer those three questions.

– George Stephanopoulos