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President Obama Moves the Health Debate Forward

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:22:05 GMT

Karen Davenport provides analysis of President Obama's health care speech and insight into what we can expect in the weeks to come.

By seeprogress

Tags : care, congress, health, obama, president, reform, speech

Tom Daschle: Health Reform Is Good for Doctors and Patients

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:14:00 GMT

Senator Tom Daschle on why he believes we needs health reform and how it will help all Americans, including doctors and patients, the insured and the uninsured.

By seeprogress

Tags : care, congress, daschle, health, obama, reform

The Broken Individual Health Insurance Market

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:35:01 GMT

Peter Harbage explains how the individual market is different from employer-sponsored insurance, and how health reform would improve health care for all.

By seeprogress

Tags : care, congress, hall, health, insurance, obama, reform, town

Getting More Value from the Health System

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:05:00 GMT

Karen Davenport explains what it means to modernize the health care system and how it could save Americans $550 billion over 10 years.

By seeprogress

Tags : care, congress, debate, health, obama, reform

We Can't Afford Not to Modernize the Health System

Thu, 28 May 2009 19:57:01 GMT

The question isn't whether we can afford health reform it's whether we can afford not to fix our broken system. Karen Davenport explains why kind of budget savings health reform would bring and when we would start seeing them.

By seeprogress

Tags : Congress, budget, care, costs, health, reform

The Case for Health Reform

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:34:00 GMT

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2009/03/public_plan.html Why do we need health insurance reform? Who will benefit from health insurance reform? And what is at stake if Congress is unable to pass health insurance reform? CAP's Peter Harbage explains why we need health reform, who will benefit from it, and what's at stake if Congress is unable to enact reform.

By seeprogress

Tags : congress, debt, doctor, health, insurance, medicine, money, obama

Wired for Progress: Rebuilding America's Energy Infrastructure

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:50:00 GMT

"Wired for Progress Version 2.0," hones in on the key decisions facing Congress and the Obama administration in coming days and weeks as they take up the challenge of rebuilding America's electricity infrastructure. Version 2.0 focuses on the four major hurdles to building a national clean energy smart grid—planning, siting, cost allocation, and ensuring the low-carbon attributes of the electricity. We then examine three broader policy imperatives—grid intelligence, physical and cyber security, and job training and workforce development—that must also be part of this crucial modernization effort. In February, the Center for American Progress published a major report on the urgent need to build a national clean energy smart grid to power an innovative, low-carbon 21st century economy that combats global warming and creates millions of good jobs. Titled "Wired for Progress 1.0," our report - based on an extensive stakeholder outreach process undertaken in partnership with the Energy Future Coalition – detailed the reasons why we need to build this national clean energy infrastructure quickly, and outlined key policy measures to move this complex project forward. In just a few short weeks since that February release, Congress has made progress on drafting concrete legislative language and in building the political will to turn these policies into law. As this debate moves forward, it is critical that the essential features of the proposal remain clear, and the basic outlines of a national compromise be preserved. Reducing our nation's dependence on foreign oil by examining short- and long-term solutions to replace foreign oil with domestic resources to fuel vehicles and trucks, including natural gas, is also an important issue to be addressed. Featured Speakers: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid T. Boone Pickens, founder and chairman, BP Capital Management John D. Podesta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for America

By seeprogress

Tags : biofuel, carbon, climate, congress, electricity, energy, environment, green, grid, pickens, podesta, reid, smart, solar, technology, wind

Ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:03:07 GMT

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/03/tauscher-end-dadt/ Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) proposed repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prohibits gay men and women from serving openly. Speaking at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Tauscher said that “there is one last, final barrier that we need to tear down.” “We need to end the `Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ policy,” she said. In an interview with ThinkProgress after her speech, Tauscher responded to skeptics who think that working to repeal the ban is a “knife fight” that “no president wants to get into,” saying that “times have changed dramatically” and that “a lot has happened since 1993,” when the policy was enacted: TAUSCHER: So, I think that there’s, a lot has happened since 1993 and I think that even though the atmospherics look the same, a brand new president, you know, at a time when the Republicans are critical of whatever he’s doing, I think that what our job is is to inform people about the current state of affairs. And that is that 75 percent of the American people believe that this is the wrong policy. And that we have a lot of people behind us. And I think Colin Powell, you know that we know that Colin Powell has changed his mind, so I think if we put our package together of information, we do a good job of doing that, I think that people will move along with it. We asked Tauscher if her legislation would be a “test” for Republicans like Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), who said on ABC yesterday that “the Republican Party has to return to be one of inclusion, not exclusion.” Tauscher responded that “they’re tested every day,” but that she’s “not sure that they’re doing well.” She added that they’re locked in by their “their very rigid far r

By seeprogress

Tags : afghanistan, american, army, congress, gay, iraq, lesbian, military, obama, pentagon, progress, security, seeprogress, tauscher, war

National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy PT 3 (FINAL)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:28:04 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/wired_for_progress.html National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), a longtime champion of building a clean energy economy and Former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, former U.S. Senator and United Nations Foundation President Timothy Wirth, business leader and clean energy advocate T. Boone Pickens and Center for American Progress Action Fund President John Podesta. The key theme of the forum: overcoming clean energy infrastructure challenges and reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil. The discussion will focus on guiding the transformation of our nation’s energy policies with particular attention on modernizing the electricity grid, integrating energy efficiency and distributed generation into its operation and regulation, rapidly increasing transmission capacity for renewable energy, and reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil through natural gas, plug-in hybrids, and batteries in the transportation and distribution system. The National Clean Energy Project builds on the August 2008 “National Clean Energy Summit” sponsored by Senator Reid, CAPAF, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The participants in the summit concluded that inadequate access to transmission was one of the most significant barriers to widespread development of renewable energy. The goal of this forum will be to discuss the best, most cost-effective options to “green the grid” and lay the groundwork for a broad national consensus between as many key stakeholders as possible on a clean energy agenda that will reduce emissions, increase reliability and affordability, and make us more secure and competitive. This important event will influence the development of a new and better national energy policy and should help speed its adoption. Among the list of confirmed participants in the roundtable are many top

By seeprogress

Tags : afl-cio, american, bingaman, biofuel, carbon, chu, climate, clinton, coal, congress, dorgan, earth, economy, electricity, energy, environment, exxon, global, gore, grid, oil, pelosi, pickens, podesta, power, progress, reid, salazar, security, seiu, smartgrid, solar, transmission, warming

National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy PT 2

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:08:06 GMT

By seeprogress

Tags : american, biofuel, cap, chu, climate, clinton, congress, electricity, energy, environment, geothermal, grid, innovation, obama, oil, pelosi, pickens, podesta, power, progress, reid, salazar, science, security, seeprogress, solar, wind

CAP Animation: How the Recovery Works

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:06:01 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/recovery_animation.html http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/obama_housing_plan.html READ ABOUT THE OBAMA HOUSING PLAN ABOVE Recovery investment isn’t only about the government paying for individual jobs; it is about rebuilding confidence in the economy and creating an environment that will enable economic growth and spur the private economy to create jobs.

By seeprogress

Tags : american, cap, congress, economy, energy, health, jobs, mortgage, obama, president, progress, progressive, recovery, stimulus, tax

Next Steps in Economic Recovery - ASK THE EXPERT

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:01:01 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/recovery_reinvestment101.html How quickly will we begin seeing the effects of the economic recovery and reinvestment package? How much does the stimulus invest in long-term, rather than short-term, growth? How can we prevent a similar economic downturn in the future? Michael Ettlinger of the Center for American Progress offers the answers in the latest installment of CAPs ASK THE EXPERT series.

By seeprogress

Tags : bank, bush, cap, congress, economy, ettlinger, infrastructure, jobs, obama, progressive, stimulus

All You Can Eat? How Hungry is America in Good Times versus Recession?

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:58:03 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/02/recovery_animation.html “It is insane, and morally bankrupt, for a nation with this much wealth to allow [hunger] to continue,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, at a Center for American Progress event Friday morning. At the event, CAP Policy Analyst Joy Moses led a panel discussion on the importance of a new U.S. commitment to end food insecurity and hunger for all Americans. Panelist Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and author of All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?, noted that in 2007, more than 36.2 million Americans either did not have enough food or feared they would not have enough at some point during the year. “Hunger,” he said, “should be on the same level as what people thought about cholera, malaria, and yellow fever. These have all been eradicated with the government’s help.” Berg added that with the aid of the federal government, hunger can be eradicated in a few short years. Federal programs have already made progress. The establishment of food safety net programs, or federal aid and entitlement packages aimed at assisting in the purchase of food for hungry families, has helped to stem the prevalence of starving children that once filled the streets in the early 20th century. Today’s hunger problems require targeted assistance. “Current food insecurity,” Weill noted, “is often a choice between food and rent, or between food and health care.” As a result, policies focused on bolstering support for poor and working-class families will have the largest effect on hunger. Weill noted that hunger experts “almost unanimously agree we need to boost food stamp programs. Dollar for dollar, they have the best value.” Congress has clearly taken note. The version of the recovery package recently passed by the House of R

By seeprogress

Tags : american, cap, children, congress, economy, food, hunger, obama, poverty, progress, progressive, recession, stimulus

The Truth About the Stimulus - Rescuing the Economy

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:42:07 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/recovery_reinvestment101.html Heather Boushey of the Center for American Progress debunks some of the myths and falsehoods making the rounds of talk radio & the cable news programs on the stimulus bill. This recession has the potential to be deeper and more protracted than most other recessions. The Federal Reserve can normally encourage economic activity by lowering the cost of borrowing, but these tools are not as effective as they are in more typical recessions because of the crisis facing the financial sector. The Federal Reserve has already used up its most common ammunition to boost the economy—the Federal Funds Rate. It lowered the Federal Funds Rate to about zero percent in December 2008 from 5.25 percent in August 2007. Even so, economists are forecasting that economic growth will continue to be negative in 2009, and the end of the economic downturn is nowhere in sight. What’s more, U.S. families began this recession with less to fall back on than in prior recessions because of existing economic weaknesses. Income growth had been weak, and Americans had more debt and fewer assets than at the beginning of prior recessions. Since consumers make up over 70 percent of the U.S. economy, the weakness of family finances will likely hamper the economy’s ability to recover quickly. Why does a stimulus and recovery plan help? The recovery and reinvestment package is designed to break the cycle of job loss and economic decline. An economy suffering from lack of demand needs a jump-start. The stimulus allows the government to step in and create demand by making purchases itself; it directly puts people back to work and gets money into people’s pockets so they can spend again. Businesses begin, in turn, to hire and make investments as they regain confidence that there is a market for what they produce. The downward spiral becomes an upward spiral. What

By seeprogress

Tags : american, bank, cap, congress, conservative, deficit, economy, limbaugh, obama, pork, progress, recession, seeprogress, stimulus, tarp, tax

Rescuing the Economy: How Does the Stimulus Work?

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:50:01 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/recovery_reinvestment101.html Michael Ettlinger from the Center for American Progress explains why the US economy needs a stimulus bill passed that leads with public investments. THE FACTS 1) WE ARE LOSING 15,000 JOBS A DAY. 2) THIS BILL IS ABOUT JOBS: IT SAVES JOBS, CREATES JOBS, HELPS PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR JOBS, and LAYS THE FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE JOBS. 3) CONSERVATIVES ARE PUSHING THE SAME, OLD FAILED BUSH POLICIES THAT GOT US HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE – tax cuts that benefit big corporations and CEO’S at the expense of the middle class. STIMULUS BACKGROUND: 1) SAVES AND CREATES 3-4 MILLIONS JOBS: The recovery bill will save jobs that are currently on the chopping block and create jobs by making targeted investments and boosting economic activity. Relief for state and local governments will help them avoid making the layoffs of police, firefighters and teachers, more spending cuts, and tax increases that will worsen the downturn. Stemming the downturn will protect private sector jobs that are on the verge of being cut. The recovery bill will make targeted investments that will create millions of jobs. For example, the recovery bill’s… Investments in energy will create 459,000 jobs. Investments in infrastructure will create 377,000 jobs. Investments in education will create 250,000 jobs. Leading economists like Mark Zandi have concluded that targeted spending is the most efficient way to create jobs in a recession 2) HELPS PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR JOBS: The recovery bill will help people who lost their jobs with middle-class tax cuts and investments in programs that will put money in the hands of people who will spend it and protect the most vulnerable. The “make work pay” tax cut will give $1,000 to 95 percent of families. Expanding unempl

By seeprogress

Tags : american, bank, cap, congress, economy, education, energy, health, jobs, money, obama, progress, recession, recovery, stimulus

Help for Students, Help for the Economy

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:46:01 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/recovery_reinvestment101.html http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/ctc_house_senate.html What kind of education provisions are included in the recovery and reinvestment package? And why is education important to economic stimulus? The Center for American Progress's Raegen Miller answers these questions in the latest installment of CAP's ASK THE EXPERT series.

By seeprogress

Tags : american, cap, children, congress, economy, education, invest, obama, progress, raegen, recession, recovery, school, stimulus, teacher

Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy - Michael Signer

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:46:00 GMT

http://www.progressivebookclub.com/pbc2/viewBook.pbc?id=1242 Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies Distinguished Speaker: Congressman Tom Perriello (D-VA) Featured Panelists: Peter Beinart, Editor-at-Large, The New Republic, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations Rachel Kleinfeld, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Truman National Security Project Michael Signer, formerly Senior Policy Advisor, Center for American Progress Action Fund; Author, Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies Discussion Moderated by: Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, the Center for American Progress Action Fund; Author, The Prosperity Agenda A provocative dicussion about the future of democracy in the post-Bush years. Michael Signer's debut book, Demagogue illuminates how humanity's urge for liberty can triumph over the dark forces that threaten our freedom. The demagogue is a dangerous byproduct of democracy, an authoritarian leader who owes his initial rise to the democratic support of the masses and who will go to almost any extreme to expand his power. This book describes not only these fascinating, often violent usurpers of freedom, from Cleon of Athens to Huey Long to Adolf Hitler, but also the heroes who have resisted them, from Aristophanes to Thomas Jefferson to Hannah Arendt. Demagogue also unravels the mystery of how 21st century leaders have made such profound mistakes in Iraq and elsewhere, unleashing democracy's ancient enemy rather than securing a new democratic world. Signer presents a bold new theory of democracy and American power, "exemplarism," revealing a host of new, innovative measures that can undermine demagogues, strengthen democracy, and create a freer world. In the end, Signer presciently reveals how America's historic victory over the demagogue at home can help a new generation of leaders rescue democracy across the world. Praise for Demago

By seeprogress

Tags : american, cap, congress, demagogue, democracy, katulis, michael, perriello, progress, progressive, security, signer, vote

Latinos and the Nation's Future

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:20:00 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2009/01/cisneros.html The Latino population is now so large, its trajectory of growth so rapid and its contrast in relative age to that of the general population so stark, that it will not be possible for the United States to advance without substantial, and so far unimagined, gains for the nation's Latino community. The Census Bureau's mid-range estimates for 2050 assert that the nation's Latino population will grow by 63 million people or a stunning 48% of total U.S. growth, and that Latinos will constitute 25% of the United States population in 2050. Henry Cisneros and Arte Pblico Press of the University of Houston celebrate the launch of their new book, Latinos and the Nation's Future and take part in an engaging debate on what Latino growth means for our country, and what the next administration needs to do about it. Latinos and the Nation's Future is a landmark collection of essays by leading Latino figures such as Raul Yzaguirre, Lionel Sosa and Aida Alvarez, among others, about the most pressing issues facing Latinos today and how the future of the nation is inextricably linked to that of the Hispanic community. Featured Panelists: Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView, former San Antonio Mayor and former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Sarita Brown, President, Excelencia in Education Dr. Nicols Kanellos, Founder and Director, Arte Pblico Press Janet Murgua, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Council of La Raza Moderated by: Esther Olavarria, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

By seeprogress

Tags : american, border, cap, cisneros, congress, hispanic, immigration, latinos, olavarria, progress, progressive, reform, spanish

Priming the Pump: Policymakers Should Consider with a Stimulus Package

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:07:00 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/lilly_stimulus.html Confronting the growing economic crisis will be the first order of business for the new Congress and the incoming Obama administration. Should the incoming administration work to deliberately increase the size of a federal deficit already projected by the Congressional Budget Office to exceed $1.2 trillion for the current year? How big should a stimulus package be? How should it be structured? These are the questions that a Center for American Progress panel on fiscal stimulus will grapple with at an upcoming event. Part of the discussion will involve what the Labor Department's December employment report will tell us about the future course of the economy and the need for stimulus. Featured Panelists: Jim Horney, Director of Federal Fiscal Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities who has previously served as Deputy Democratic Staff Director at the Senate Budget Committee and Chief of the Projections Unit at the Congressional Budget Office Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Chief Economist for Ford Motor Company who also currently serves as President of the National Association for Business Economics and formerly served as Staff Economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisers Brian M. Riedl, (invited) Lead Budget Analyst at The Heritage Foundation and Grover Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Moderated by: Scott Lilly, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress, former Clerk and Staff Director of the House Appropriations Committee and the Congressional Joint Economic Committee

By seeprogress

Tags : american, budget, business, cap, congress, deficit, economy, infrastructure, lilly, obama, progress, progressive, recession, stimulus, tax

Change We Can Believe In - Matt Miller

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:27:03 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2009/01/tyrannyca.html Matt Miller, host of KCRW's "Left, Right & Center" and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, discusses his provocative new book, The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, in which he lays bare the greatest threat to our economic future: the things we think we know – but don't with New York Times columnist David Brooks. America is at a crossroads. In the face of global competition and rapid technological change, our economy is about to face its most severe test in nearly a century - one that will make the recent turmoil in the financial system look like a modest setback by comparison. Yet our leaders have failed to prepare us for what lies ahead because they are in the grip of a set of "dead ideas" about how a modern economy should work. They wrongly believe that: * Our kids will earn more than we do * Free trade is always good, no matter who gets hurt * Employers should be responsible for health coverage * Taxes hurt the economy * Schools are a local matter * Money follows merit These ways of thinking—dubious at best and often dead wrong—are on a collision course with economic developments that are irreversible. In The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, Matt Miller offers a unique blend of insights from history, psychology, and economics to illuminate where today’s destructive conventional wisdom came from and how it holds our country back. He also introduces us to a new way of thinking - what he calls "tomorrow's destined ideas" - that can reinvigorate our economy, our politics, and our day-to-day lives. These destined ideas may seem counterintuitive now, but they will coalesce in the coming years in ways that will transform American capitalism and democracy for the 21st century.

By seeprogress

Tags : american, brooks, cap, care, congress, david, education, environment, health, matt, miller, obama, podesta, progress, progressive, tax