It isn’t easy getting young people fired up about the debt. Look no further than the current plight of The Can Kicks Back.
Politico’s Byron Tau reported Wednesday that the group — an arm of Fix The Debt, the organization founded by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson — is running on fumes.
As of November, The Can Kicks Back was operating at a small loss. The group’s cash reserves were down to $70,000, with more than $75,000 in outstanding commitments, according to documents and emails. And the group’s co-founders and management team have expressed concern about its future.
According to emails, the group has no actual debt but only enough cash to last through April.
The Can Kicks Back intended to use a youth-driven grassroots campaign to achieve a so-called “grand bargain” on budgetary issues by July 4, 2013.
“This requires organizing Americans at the grassroots level to increase pressure on their elected representatives,” the group said on its website. “The time to begin doing so is now. In early 2013,campaigning will be over and governing must begin. In this window, many believe a bipartisan deal on debt and deficits can be achieved. The only question is: will young people show up to make it happen?”
The young people did not show up, but the group deserves credit for trying to make a can mascot happen.
