Volunteerism on the Rise 

Filed under: CR, US Conservatives, US Liberals on Monday, February 1st, 2010 by tgreco | No Comments

Posted by Tara Greco

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released volunteerism numbers for 2009.

For the second year in a row, volunteering is on the rise.
One-and-a-half million additional people volunteered in 2009, which is pretty incredible considering the economic climate last year.

The Corporation for National and Community Service will have a more in-depth analysis of this data in the coming months on  www.volunteeringinamerica.gov

Health Care Reform: SOTU Update 

Filed under: Doctors, Health Care, Health Policy, Political Moms, US Conservatives, US Liberals on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 by bpierce | No Comments

Posted by Bill Pierce

The president painted a clear picture to the public. He said all the right things, using phrases such as “Take another look,” “Don’t walk away,” and “Come together.” But to Congress, especially to his own party, the picture was much less clear.
 
What remains unanswered from his speech is how he is going to get health insurance reform back on track and passed. The rhetoric he used about asking Republicans for their ideas are the same words he used last year, and neither side acted on them. The GOP didn’t really try to engage, and neither did Democrats. So what is different now?
 
The House version cannot achieve the 60-vote threshold required by the Senate, making the Senate version the only viable option, yet the Senate bill does not appear to have anywhere near the 218 votes needed for passage (recall the House bill only passed the House with 220 votes). Complicating this calculus is the fact that it is also unclear whether there is enough support for proceeding with the companion tactic of using reconciliation to iron out the differences between the House and Senate bills.
 
The president was clear that he is not prepared to quit the fight, but few thought he would.
 
So the answer to what’s next is: stay tuned.

Down and dirty analysis of election and impact on health care reform 

Filed under: California-based Conservatives, California-based Liberals, Doctors, Health Care, Health Policy, Political Moms, US Conservatives, US Liberals on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 by bpierce | No Comments

Posted by Bill Pierce

Because of the insular nature of Washington politics, elected officials run the risk of losing sight of who is really in charge. Last night in Massachusetts, voters reminded Washington of the answer to that question. Voters are in charge.
 
So now what do Democrats and Republicans do when it comes to health care, which was on the verge of becoming law? While the path is still a bit cloudy, we should have a pretty good idea in the next 48-72 hours.

Here are paths they could travel:

  • Drop health care reform altogether: highly unlikely. The president and Democrats have invested a huge amount of political capital in passing legislation. Dropping it would be the equivalent of waving the white flag. Republicans would use their “victory” in the November elections as part of their attack on Democrats. There is this to also consider: Many Democrats believe that the reason they lost the majority in the House of Representatives in 1994 was not because the Clinton health care bill was a weight around their neck, but instead because they failed to pass the bill. If that’s true, then surrendering now makes no sense.
  • Bring the current Senate bill to a vote in the House, paired with a reconciliation bill that reflects the results of the current House-Senate negotiations. This path is very unlikely. More and more moderate Democrats were expressing discomfort with the whole process before the election. With the election of Brown, opposition to such a move is growing, and I would guess privately they are concerned they could be the next Martha Coakley. There are also too many issues they could not settle (i.e., abortion, exact nature of exchanges, excise tax, etc.).
  • Wait (a few weeks or months) and pull together a consensus bill that is directed at those with health insurance who felt they were getting nothing out of the current bill (i.e., much-much less cost) and move it forward. This would likely happen as part of a bigger bill, i.e., a jobs bill or even reconciliation. This is the most likely. There are many issues about which, when you pull back the curtain, there is a fair amount of agreement between Democrats and Republicans.

The basic issues that will determine which path they follow are:

  • For Democrats, the question is which choice will hurt less or, conversely, benefit them politically/electorally? Failing to pass a bill or passing a bill? Many Democrats feel they cannot let this issue go by given all they have staked on passing reform.
  • For Republicans, it is a similar question: Do we genuinely cooperate on a consensus smaller bill, or do we continue to oppose? Which strategy helps us most at the polls in November?

The wildcard is this: The wave Scott Brown rode into office is not a wave for Republican control. While he rode the wave, he did so barely running as a Republican. This wave could change direction before next fall and/or it could throw the GOP off at any point.

It’s in our nature to help 

Filed under: CR on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 by tgreco | No Comments

Posted by Tara Greco

With the outpouring of support for Haiti, reporters and pundits alike are marveling at the sense of altruism from every corner of the world.
Maybe they shouldn’t be too surprised.

A few weeks ago, The New York Times published an article that posits humans “may be born with an urge to help.”
The science is being validated with the world’s response to the earthquake in Haiti.
And it’s reinforced every day when people lend their time, talent or treasure to help someone in need.

In fact, despite the tough economic times, one million more Americans volunteered through a formal organization last year than the previous year.  This doesn’t even account for the people who are just “helping out a neighbor.”

Helping and collaboration comes naturally to us…it’s a hidden component of “survival of the fittest.”

LSE European Institute ‘Perspectives on Europe’ 

Filed under: Uncategorized on Monday, January 18th, 2010 by dking | No Comments

by Dr Steven King

The first APCO Worldwide – LSE European Institute ‘Perspectives on Europe’ lecture of 2010 drew a large crowd last night. While many were there to hear the Swedish finance minister, Anders Borg, eloquently describe how the Swedish economy was turned around in the early 1990s during the Moderate (conservative) Party’s last period in office, the media turned out in force because George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, had offered at just 24 hours notice to give a response.

The Tories’ interest in the Swedish model of educational reform is longstanding and well known but Osborne revealed that other policies had been picked up on trips to Stockholm as well. The Moderates created a Fiscal Policy Council that independently evaluates the sustainability of the public finances and future spending plans. Helping to ensure the finance minister of the day keeps to his or her promises on spending and borrowing keeps Swedish interest rates down and ensures greater economic stability, the Moderates argue.

The Tories agree. Their Office of Budget Responsibility will have much the same function, making recommendations about how much fiscal tightening or loosening it thinks necessary to have a better than 50% chance of meeting the chancellor’s mandate for the public finances.

Viewed from the UK, the intense interest in the Swedish model is understandable. Saab’s future might be bleak but, worldwide recession notwithstanding, the Swedish national finances are roughly in balance. Borg even hopes to record a budgetary surplus in two years’ time. A simple graph contrasted Sweden and Bulgaria at one end of the European scale and the UK, Ireland and Greece with their 10%+ budget deficits at the other.

Borg had four main points. First, that a serious deficit situation had to be addressed early if international credibility is to be established. Second, that consolidation must involve both tax rises and spending cuts. Third, those tax rises should mainly focus on disincentivising certain potentially harmful substances (tobacco, carbon, alcohol) and on consumption, not on corporate profits or personal income. And, fourth, cuts must be socially equitable, not bearing down hardest on the poorest in society.

Labour likes to portray the Tories as friendless and isolated on the European scene so it was hardly surprising that Osborne was seen nodding vigorously in agreement throughout – except when Borg praised the euro. Under severe time constraints, Osborne’s own remarks were to the point: “The message could not be clearer – if you find yourself on the wrong road, you take the first available exit instead of carrying on. With the date of the general election increasingly likely to be after the beginning of the next financial year, that means we will need to make early in-year reductions in existing plans.”

Clearly signalling that the Conservatives want to be seen as serious about paying down the record £178 billion deficit, he outlined a number of measures that would be taken even before an emergency Tory budget that many expect within weeks of the election: “Programmes that represent poor value for money, excessive spending on things like advertising and consultants, spending on tax credits for people earning over £50,000, and spending on Child Trust Funds for better off families will all have to be cut during the financial year.”

The alternative, Osborne argued, would be worse: “There is a clear and present danger that the world will lose confidence in Britain’s economic policy. That would push mortgage rates up, more businesses would go bust and the recovery would be undermined.”

He said the biggest spending cuts, such as a pay freeze for five million public sector workers earning more than £18,000, would not be made until 2011, but other measures would take effect swiftly: “As he [Anders Borg] puts it so well, the longer one waits with the heavy lifting, the more difficult it becomes. I agree with him and an emerging international consensus that acting early helps to establish credibility, which will in turn help to keep interest rates lower for longer and support a strong recovery.” Osborne reiterated that he cannot even contemplate abolishing the 50p rate on the highest paid while at the same time asking many public sector workers to accept a pay freeze to protect their jobs.

Labour plans to raise spending by £31bn in the 2010-11 financial year, which begins in April, a month before the expected election. Osborne believes this 2% increase in real terms is not credible with a 12-13% fiscal deficit and a slow recovery. As the election approaches, the Conservatives appear ready to reveal bit-by-bit where some of the cuts will be found and welfare is an obvious place to start. Whether such economic rigour is necessarily an election winner is another matter, though: the Moderates lag some way behind their Social Democrat rivals in the Swedish opinion polls currently.

Texting Your Support 

Filed under: CR, Global Development on Friday, January 15th, 2010 by tgreco | No Comments

Posted by Tara Greco

The stories and images we have seen and heard about rescue and recovery efforts on Haiti over the last few days have been riveting, heart-breaking and in a way, unbelievable.

The response from governments, faith communities, businesses and NGOs has been immediate and significant.

And over the last 60 hours, an amazing wave of support has come from individuals via text messaging.

As of 5:30 p.m. on Thurs., January 14, the Red Cross had raised $5 million through $10 text message contributions. This figure represents hundreds of thousands of people who were able to take immediate action with a few quick thumb strokes—which adds up to a significant pool of resources for the Red Cross to deal with immediate needs in Haiti.

If you haven’t done so yet, please do consider a text donation.

Here are some options:

  • $10 donations can be sent to the Red Cross International Relief Fund by texting “HAITI” to 90999.
  • $5 donations can be contributed to Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Haiti organization by texting “Yéle” to 501501
  • Text “Haiti” to 20222 to donate $10 through the Clinton Foundation (President Clinton is the UN Special Envoy to Haiti)