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1. “The Supreme Court’s Health Care Ruling—Impact and Implications”
July 2, 10 a.m. to noon, UC BerkeleyLaw School
Moderated by UC Berkeley public policy professor John Ellwood, also the director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’ s Scholars in Health Policy Research program at UC Berkeley and UCSF.
Panelists will include:
- Jesse Choper, professor of law and expert on constitutional law who has written about the Supreme Court
- Stephen Shortell, dean of the
- Brad DeLong, professor of economics and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Economic Policy and expert on political economy
- Ann O’ Leary, a lecturer in health law, and an expert in
health law and the
- Ann Marie Marciarille, a lecturer and expert on health care law
Sponsored by the UC Berkeley Goldman
2. “Is Civility Overrated?” – A Zócalo/Cal Humanities Searching for Democracy Event
July 16, 2012, 6:00
p.m., Marines’ Memorial Club & Hotel,
Featuring:
* Henry Brady, Dean of the
* Cassandra Dahnke, the Institute for Civility in Government
*
* Meenakshi
Chakraverti, the Public Conversations Project in
Moderated by Joe
Mathews, California Editor,
For more information please visit www.ZocaloPublicSquare.org .
3. 13th Annual Alumni Dinner
October 26, 2012
The Berkeley City Club; more info
ALUMNI AND STUDENT NEWSMAKERS
1. “Reform law’s effect on employer health insurance a looming concern” (San Jose Mercury News, June 30, 2012); story citing LAUREL (TAN) LUCIA (MPP 2005); http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20975167/reform-laws-effect-employer-heath-insurance-looming-concern
2. “How Will the Health Care Ruling Impact Medi-Cal?” (The California Report, KQED public radio, June 29, 2012); interview with TOBY DOUGLAS (MPP 2001/MPH 2002); Listen to this program
3. “What Does Supreme Court’s Heath Care Ruling Mean for California” (The California Report, KQED public radio, June 28, 2012); interview with MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989); http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/06/28/99502/what_does_supreme_courts_health_care_ruling_mean_for_california?category=bay+area
4. “The
5. “Supreme Court Strikes Down Stolen Valor Act” (All Things Considered, National Public Radio, June 28, 2012); features commentary by GARY BOSTWICK (MPP 1976/JD 1977)
6. “‘A mixed message’ - In
7. “LGBT Pride Celebration” (KQED Public Media, June 24-28, 2012); program featuring ROGER DOUGHTY (MPP 1993/JD 1994); http://www.kqed.org/assets/pdf/support/membership/jun12-all.pdf
8. “Daniel Borenstein: It’s time to develop reasonable pensions for all” (Contra Costa Times, June 25, 2012); op-ed by DAN BORENSTEIN (MPP 1980/MJ 1985); http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_20920324/daniel-borenstein-its-time-develop-reasonable-pensions-all
9. “Jean Quan aide:
11. “Citywise: Jerry Brown’s tax measure helped Jean Quan” (Oakland Tribune, June 18, 2012); story citing AMY LEMLEY (MPP 1998) and RICHARD RAYA (MPP 1996); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_20867864/citywise-jerry-browns-tax-measure-helped-jean-quan?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
12. “Borenstein: Contra Costa pension overpayments a statewide problem” (Contra Costa Times, June 18, 2012); op-ed by DAN BORENSTEIN (MPP 1980/MJ 1985); http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_20874772/daniel-borenstein-contra-costa-pension-overpayments-statewide-problem
13. “UnitedHealthcare needs to stand by all of its patients” (Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities, June 17, 2012); Letter to Editor by LIZ DOYLE (MPP 2002).
14. “Californians anxious about pending ruling on Affordable
Care Act” (
15. “Military:
16. “Analysis disputes Quan’s
100-block
17. “Daniel Borenstein: In his quest to be like his father, Gov. Brown risks his own legacy on high-speed rail” (Contra Costa Times, June 10, 2012); op-ed by DAN BORENSTEIN (MPP 1980/MJ 1985); http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_20817320/daniel-borenstein-his-quest-be-like-his-father
18. “Student loan interest set to double unless Congress takes steps” (The Joplin Globe (Missouri) Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News, June 9, 2012); story citing MATTHEW REED (MPP 2007).
19. “Charlie Calomiris and Mickey Levy are interviewed” (Bloomberg TV, June 8, 2012); interview MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).
20. “Budget panel OKs waterfront condos” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 7, 2012); column citing CARMEN CHU (MPP 2003); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/06/MN121OTVJQ.DTL#ixzz1x7zrJEzS
21. “The Center for American Progress (CAP) holds a discussion on ‘Competency Based Education: College Strategies for the Success of 21st Century Students.’” (DC Daybook, June 7, 2012); event featuring AMY LAITINEN (MPP 2003).
22. “
23. “The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) holds a workshop on ‘The Part D Experience: What are the Lessons for Broader Medicare Reform?’” (The Washington Daybook, June 6, 2012); event featuring JULIETTE CUBANSKI (MPP 1998/MPH 1999).
24. “In
25. “A Social Security fund nears insolvency” (Washington Post, May 30, 2012); story citing NICOLE MAESTAS (MPP 1997/PhD Econ 2002).
26. “University of
27. “
28. “San Ysidro Schools Defend Family Hiring” (U-T San Diego, May 22, 2012); story citing JOANNE SPEERS (MPP 1984/JD).
29. “Facebook, HP Reflect Highs, Lows in the Valley” (San Jose Mercury News, May 19, 2012); column citing DOUG HENTON (MPP 1975).
30. “$18 million in cuts to jolt AIDS care; Public health” (The San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 2012); story citing GREG WAGNER (MPP 2004).
31. “Audit of NERC brings up some fundamentals: how to draw lines on autonomy, FERC’s role” (Electric Utility Week, May 14, 2012); story citing ALLEN MOSHER (MPP 1978).
32. “What Roma and American Black Males Have
in Common” (States News Service, May 2, 2012); newswire citing ROBERT ENTMAN (MPP 1980/PhD).
33. “Interview with Video Game Guru Jane McGonigal” (The Next List, CNN, April 15, 2012); program featuring MARINA GORBIS (MPP 1983).
34. “Backlash over sales bungles hurts brands” (The Courier
Mail (
35. “Light rail study as reliable as a ‘chimp with a machine gun’” (Waterloo Region Record, March 29, 2012); editorial citing AIDAN VINING (MPP 1974/PhD 1980).
36. “Ryan Medicaid Block Grant Would Cut Medicaid by One-Third by 2022 and More After That” (States News Service, March 27, 2012); newswire citing JANUARY ANGELES (MPP 2002).
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
1. “Court’s health care ruling upholds another
law for the ages” (
2. “Health care act faces November election hurdle” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 28, 2012); story citing JOHN ELLWOOD; http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Health-care-act-faces-November-election-hurdle-3672115.php
3. “What’s Next for Health Care?” (New York Times online, June 28, 2012); roundtable featuring ROBERT REICH; http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/28/whats-next-for-health-care/
4. “Member Spotlight: Dan Kammen’s race against climate change” (American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Online, June 28, 2012); profile of DAN KAMMEN; http://membercentral.aaas.org/blogs/member-spotlight/dan-kammens-race-against-climate-change
5. “Air Talk: How will bankruptcy affect
6. “Recovery depends on middle-class spending power” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 24, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Recovery-depends-on-middle-class-spending-power-3656031.php
7. “News Roundup: The Middle East” (Forum, KQED public radio, June 21, 2012); features commentary by MICHAEL NACHT; Listen to the program
8. “Sunday Dialogue: Electing a President” (New York Times & International Herald Tribune [*requires registration], June 24, 2012): Letter to Editor by HENRY BRADY; http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/opinion/sunday/sunday-dialogue-electing-a-president.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Berkeley&st=nyt
9. “Reich: Super PACs must face accountability” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/15/INE31P0K4T.DTL#ixzz1yBVGCXbL
10. “Robert Reich on Washington Journal” (C-SPAN TV, June 14, 2012); interview and live call-in with ROBERT REICH.
11. “Dismal jobs report shows recovery has stalled” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 10, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/08/INVK1OT0KR.DTL#ixzz1xVcsMTXc
12. “NY pot plan: Right step or bad message?” (CNN Wire, June 5, 2012); story citing ROBERT MACCOUN.
13. “Solar power generating social change” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 2012); op-ed by DAN KAMMEN; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/01/INDA1OP107.DTL#ixzz1wqULdFhD
14. “Fairness is crucial to economic growth” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/01/INTF1OOVJI.DTL#ixzz1wqWSTzXW
15. “The New Jobs Report: Ooof” (The New Republic, June 1, 2012); analysis citing JESSE ROTHSTEIN.
16. “Hard Times for the Elusive Father of the Euro” (Economic Principals.com by David Warsh, May 27, 2012); appreciation citing JOHN QUIGLEY.
17. “Change The World: Authors: Our democracy is failing the little guy” (Change The World (Orlando Sentinel), May 25, 2012); blog citing book coauthored by HENRY BRADY.
1. “Reform law’s effect on employer health insurance a looming concern” (San Jose Mercury News, June 30, 2012); story citing LAUREL (TAN) LUCIA (MPP 2005); http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20975167/reform-laws-effect-employer-heath-insurance-looming-concern
By Steve Johnson and Pete Carey, Staff Writers
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the health care reform law, one worrisome question is how many businesses will drop insurance for their employees, figuring the newly mandated financial penalty for not offering coverage is less costly than the insurance premiums.
Officials with several business associations contend many small to medium-sized firms are mulling that choice and that some may even decide to shut their doors for good, rather than deal with the law....
However, Laurel Lucia, a policy analyst with the Center for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkeley, said she doesn’t expect a big drop in job-based coverage, probably no more than 3 percent over the next few years....
2. “How Will the Health Care Ruling Impact Medi-Cal?” (The California Report, KQED public radio, June 29, 2012); interview with TOBY DOUGLAS (MPP 2001/MPH 2002); Listen to this program
(David McNew/Getty
Images)
This week’s Supreme Court
decision upholding President Obama’s Affordable Care Act is a bright green
light for health care reform in
3. “What Does Supreme Court’s Heath Care Ruling Mean for California” (The California Report, KQED public radio, June 28, 2012); interview with MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989); http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/06/28/99502/what_does_supreme_courts_health_care_ruling_mean_for_california?category=bay+area
A protester stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court on June 28, 2012
in
KQED’s Joshua Johnson
talks with Marian Mulkey,
director of the
MARIAN MULKEY:
Marian Mulkey is the director of the Health Reform and Public Programs Initiative of the California HealthCare Foundation.
[Marian Mulkey was also featured guest on “The
Health Care Ruling and
4. “The
Eric Patashnik sends the following:
The Supreme Court’s decision that the individual mandate is Constitutional under the federal government’s taxing power is a huge legal and political victory for the Obama Administration. Chief Justice Roberts found a middle path, granting the main conservative argument against the law (the federal government’s regulatory powers are not unlimited) but also allowing implementation of the law to go forward. As I wrote with my colleague Jeffery Jenkins, this does not mean that the battle over health reform is over. The partisan and ideological struggle over Social Security continued even after the Court upheld its constitutionality in Helvering v. Davis in 1937. Social Security’s political support was not consolidated until the 1950s.
Now the debate over Obamacare shifts to the presidential campaign trail and back to Congress. Look for GOP efforts to defund the law’s new benefits and bureaucracies through the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process, especially if Romney defeats Obama and the Republicans hold the Congress.
So: a major victory today but the battle over health reform will continue.
Patashnik is the author of Reforms at Risk: What Happens After Major Policy Changes Are Enacted which is a useful book to be reading about now.
5. “Supreme Court Strikes Down Stolen Valor Act” (All Things Considered, National Public Radio, June 28, 2012); features commentary by GARY BOSTWICK (MPP 1976/JD 1977).
... LARRY ABRAMSON: The
Stolen Valor Act, passed in 2005, was aimed at people like Xavier Alvarez. When
Alvarez stood up at a
Gary Bostwick wrote an amicus brief opposing the law for the First Amendment Coalition.
GARY BOSTWICK: Almost all First Amendment cases involve people that have done something that most of society doesn’t like.
LARRY ABRAMSON: The High Court said today, we don’t have to like people who lie about military honors, but we can’t necessarily send them to jail....
... The dissenting justices noted that Congress, long ago, made it a federal offense for anyone to wear, manufacture or sell certain military decorations without authorization. And the dissent points to the many laws against perjury, which sanction a form of lying. But the Court found that those statutes are designed to prevent actual harm, to the military, or to the justice system.
Attorney Gary Bostwick says there has never been a law that outlaws simple lying.
GARY BOSTWICK: Unless it harmed someone’s interests in some fashion in a very palpable way....
6. “‘A mixed message’ -
In
By Alan Gomez, Richard Wolf, Dennis Cauchon and Chuck Raasch
The Supreme Court’s
split ruling Monday on
The court, in
The “reasonable suspicion” provision has drawn criticism from immigration-rights groups, who say it would usher in state-sanctioned harassment and profiling.
Karen Tumlin, managing attorney for the
“There is no way to determine on sight and sound who has a right to be in this country and who does not,” Tumlin said.
7. “LGBT Pride Celebration” (KQED Public Media, June 24-28, 2012); program featuring ROGER DOUGHTY (MPP 1993/JD 1994); http://www.kqed.org/assets/pdf/support/membership/jun12-all.pdf
Each year, as part of Heritage Month celebrations, KQED recognizes local heroes who’ve demonstrated leadership and a strong commitment to community service — individuals making a difference. To learn more about the amazing work of the 2012 honorees, join us for our LGBT Pride Celebration....
LGBT Heroes: ...
Roger
Doughty
Roger Doughty has served
as executive director of the San Francisco-based Horizons Foundation, the
nation’s oldest LGBT community foundation since 2002. Prior to joining the
foundation, Roger was executive director of Horizons Community Services in
8. “Daniel Borenstein: It’s time to develop reasonable pensions for all” (Contra Costa Times, June 25, 2012); op-ed by DAN BORENSTEIN (MPP 1980/MJ 1985); http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_20920324/daniel-borenstein-its-time-develop-reasonable-pensions-all
By Daniel Borenstein – staff columnist and editorial writer
When it comes to retirement benefits, public employee unions have one thing right: We should not eliminate traditional pension plans.
If anything, we should move in the opposite direction, making available stable retirement income for all workers, public and private.
But that doesn’t mean expansion of the current public sector pension debacle into the private sector. It means development of a reasonable and affordable plan for all.
To understand the argument for making pensions more widely available, consider the available options:
▪ Social Security,
the foundation of the
▪ Defined-contribution plans, often known as 401(k) savings, provide an opportunity to set aside and invest money during working years, often with a contribution from an employer. Upon retirement, the worker can start withdrawing the money but faces the uncertainty of his or her own life expectancy....
But, theoretically, there remains a way to shield both employers and taxpayers from risk. Pension plans could be constructed to rely on conservative investment projections. If even those fail to materialize, retirees would bear the burden with reduced pension payments.
It’s not perfect. But it would be a tremendous improvement over the current system. As one thoughtful pension expert told me, “We need to find some compromise between the total security blanket in the public sector and being completely naked.”
9. “Jean Quan aide:
By Matthew Artz
Quan repeated that figure in numerous public appearances, and her office plastered it on promotional pieces about her program to reduce crime citywide by flooding those 100 blocks with police and social services.
After a recent study showed that violent crime in the city is far more dispersed, the mayor’s office disavowed it.
The correct data, Quan’s Chief of
Staff Anne Campbell Washington said, is during the past two years, 58
percent of Oakland’s homicides and 42 percent of shootings occurred in nine of
Oakland’s 35 police beats. Those nine beats, which span well over 100 blocks,
contain 10 high-crime neighborhoods that
“I don’t know where the
90 percent number came from,” said
Although the 90 percent
figure was inaccurate,
“The bottom line is if you’re trying to reverse a long-standing trend, you have to focus your efforts somewhere,” she said. “It’s very possible to stretch your resources so thin, you become ineffective.”
10. “Citywise: Jerry Brown’s tax measure helped Jean Quan” (Oakland Tribune, June 18, 2012); story citing AMY LEMLEY (MPP 1998) and RICHARD RAYA (MPP 1996); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_20867864/citywise-jerry-browns-tax-measure-helped-jean-quan?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
By Matthew Artz
...
There are still plenty of candidates looking to replace Councilwoman Jane Brunner, who is running for city attorney in December. The three candidates who have hired consultants and appear poised to spend the most money are: Amy Lemley, who co-founded Oakland’s First Place for Youth; Richard Raya, the policy director at California Forward; and Dan Kalb, a former policy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists....
11. “Borenstein: Contra Costa pension overpayments a statewide problem” (Contra Costa Times, June 18, 2012); op-ed by DAN BORENSTEIN (MPP 1980/MJ 1985); http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_20874772/daniel-borenstein-contra-costa-pension-overpayments-statewide-problem
By Daniel Borenstein – Staff columnist and editorial writer
Because of improper actuarial calculations, Contra Costa’s public employee retirement system overpays about 10 percent of its pensioners—and taxpayers must make up the resulting shortfall....
Meanwhile, knowing they had a problem, trustees nevertheless irresponsibly approved more inflated payments for new retirees.
It’s time for change. Payments should not begin without board approval. Optional pension calculations should be subjected to board review. And financial experts should serve as pension trustees across the state....
Finally, state lawmakers must address a key public policy question: Why allow retiring workers to designate someone other than a spouse or dependent minor as a recipient of lifetime pension benefits? There’s no rational answer.
12. “UnitedHealthcare needs to stand by all of its patients” (Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities, June 17, 2012); Letter to Editor by LIZ DOYLE (MPP 2002).
Readers Write – Letter of the Day...
Thousands of Minnesota children were delivered quite the blow with UnitedHealthcare’s announcement that it would once again deny health coverage to sick children with pre-existing conditions if the upcoming Supreme Court ruling permits the insurer to do so (“Key insurer will keep health law changes,” June 12). It’s bad enough the court is playing politics with people’s lives with this case. It’s even worse when wealthy health insurance companies opt to put their financial interests ahead of the health and well-being of the most vulnerable among us.
– LIZ DOYLE,
13. “Californians
anxious about pending ruling on Affordable Care Act” (
By Paul C. Barton,
Gannett
And because it has the highest population of any state, it would see billions in new federal dollars flowing its way if that happens, especially to its Medicaid program, health care analysts say....
Because of the tone of Supreme Court justices’ questions during oral arguments in March, innumerable pundits and court watchers are expecting the law to be struck down either in part or in full.
“There is a lot riding on the decision of the court, both (fiscally) and in terms of human impact,” Marian Mulkey of the California HealthCare Foundation said in an interview. The foundation is a health care research organization....
The Affordable Care Act increases Medicaid coverage to individuals and families up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. But the federal government pays for most of it, even all of it for the first three years, 2014-2016....
By bringing health care to millions of Californians who don’t have access now, some advocates say, it would prevent various cancers and other diseases requiring early detection to treat effectively.
If the law is
overturned, Mulkey,
of the
14. “Military:
By Carey L. Biron
“Despite the global
economic strain, demand for
He confirmed that the
“An Obama arms bazaar is
going on—this is further evidence of that,” Jeff Abramson, director of Control Arms, an international
civil-society alliance based in
“This administration has
made defense trade an economic rather than just a security issue—part of the
agenda in terms of keeping the
At this week’s
U.S.-India strategic dialogue here in
According to Control Arms’ Jeff Abramson, “We’re
definitely seeing the
15. “Jerry Brown moves to eliminate retiree workers” (The Sacramento Bee, June 13, 2012); story citing MIKE GENEST (MPP 1980); http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/13/4557862/jerry-brown-moves-to-eliminate.html#storylink=omni_popular
By Jon Ortiz and Phillip Reese
As Friday’s state budget deadline approaches, a
little-noticed provision in Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal would cut off thousands
of retirees who return to work for the state.
The idea targets all but the most essential of the state’s so-called “retired annuitants,” a group of about 5,800 workers who drew $110 million in pay from the state last year on top of their pensions.
The Democratic governor’s proposal could strike a chord with taxpayers by appearing to crack down on double-dipping. It also appeals to public employee unions – which want to eliminate jobs they believe stunt the growth of the regular workforce – at the same time he’s asking union workers to accept furloughs and a 5 percent pay cut.
Though axing retirees may score points with Brown’s political base, critics say the practice would cut off experienced, flexible and relatively cheap help. Retired annuitants receive no benefits and can be laid off without notice.
“The underlying policy is silly,” said Mike Genest, state finance director under former GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “It’s false populism.” ...
“There’s a business case to be made that you should hire more of them,” said Genest, a state pensioner whose former boss once ordered the state to thin the retired annuitant ranks. “They’ve already done the work. You don’t have to wait for them to figure out what they do. And you can turn them on and off. Hire a state worker, and it’s goodbye in 30 years.” ...
16. “Analysis disputes Quan’s 100-block
--Matthai Kuruvila
An
Quan unveiled her much-touted plan with fanfare in October, saying that 100 blocks in the city account for 90 percent of the shootings and homicides. However, an analysis by the Urban Strategies Council found that the city’s most dangerous 100 blocks accounted for only 17 percent of the 556 homicide and 3,045 shooting reports from 2007 through 2011....
Although city literature repeatedly refers to 100 blocks, Quan’s chief of staff, Anne Campbell-Washington, said Monday that the plan was always intended to focus on entire neighborhoods.
The goal was to identify “these clusters of homicides and shootings so that we can focus in a geographic manner on the neighborhoods that have been suffering from violent crime over a historic period,” she said....
17. “Daniel Borenstein: In his quest to be like his father, Gov. Brown risks his own legacy on high-speed rail” (Contra Costa Times, June 10, 2012); op-ed by DAN BORENSTEIN (MPP 1980/MJ 1985); http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_20817320/daniel-borenstein-his-quest-be-like-his-father
By Daniel Borenstein – Staff columnist and editorial writer
... [Gov. Jerry Brown]
promised an end to budget gimmickry, a vow he has only partially fulfilled, and
to return
To bolster his case, the governor who slept on the floor of a sparsely furnished Sacramento apartment and drove around in a Plymouth during his last tenure has demonstrated austerity this time by taking away half of the state-employee cellphones and asking workers to accept hour and salary reductions.
But he undermines the frugality image by continuing to champion a financially indefensible plan to link the major metropolitan areas of the state with high-speed rail. In his search for his own legacy, he risks voter support for his tax measure.
Brown should exercise caution. While he strives to be remembered like his late father for the capital projects he leaves behind, defeat of the tax measure could so badly undermine his financial recovery plans and lead to the gutting of the state’s public education system that his legacy might instead resemble that of his former chief of staff, Gray Davis....
18. “Student loan interest set to double unless Congress takes steps” (The Joplin Globe (Missouri) Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News, June 9, 2012); story citing MATTHEW REED (MPP 2007).
By Emily Younker, The
If all goes according to plan, Samantha Evans will find a government job upon graduation as a crime scene analyst or a forensic officer. She also eyes possibly working with the FBI or the Secret Service eventually.
But there’s a cloud hanging over those hopes—the $25,000 that she has so far borrowed to pay for her education at Missouri Southern State University.
“I’m terrified,” Evans, a 21-year-old criminal justice administration major from Lampe, said recently. “That’s a big number. That’s a lot of money that I don’t have.”
Evans is not alone. Millions of students nationwide pay for at least part of their college education through loans and consequently amass a growing amount of debt, estimated to have reached $1 trillion last year, according to the federal government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau....
Two-thirds of college seniors across the country graduated with loans in 2010, according to the Project on Student Debt, which is part of the Institute for College Access and Success, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit that researches issues in higher education....
The Project on Student Debt report theorizes that the sluggish economy “(widened) the gap between rising college costs and what students and their parents could afford.” In particular, cuts in state funding for public colleges and universities have been met by steep increases in tuition, which has in many cases forced more students to take out loans, the report notes.
“In general, (rising student debt) is because college costs continue to go up, and family resources and available grant aid don’t always go up,” said Matthew Reed, the report’s author, in a telephone interview Wednesday. Reed is also the program director of the Institute for College Access and Success.
When asked whether rising student debt is of concern, Reed said yes. He said it impacts borrowers, who because of their debt report delaying other major life events, such as buying a house. It also could impact prospective students, he said.
“It may deter some of them from doing what they have to do to get into college,” he said.
19. “Charlie Calomiris and Mickey Levy are interviewed” (Bloomberg TV, June 8, 2012); interview MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).
... MICKEY LEVY, Bank of
All of the inhibiting factors are non-monetary in nature. The financial system is gagging on excess liquidity. Bond yields are already low. More quantitative easing wouldn’t help....
There are other factors.
So you could go through QE3, 4, 5, 6. And you’d still have the mess in
mortgages and the adjustments in the economy that are inhibiting things, ditto
in
Do you think Draghi or anyone believes that ECB easing is going to help
the European situation? The only area where I see a reason to ease more is in
20. “Budget panel OKs waterfront condos” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 7, 2012); column citing CARMEN CHU (MPP 2003); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/06/MN121OTVJQ.DTL#ixzz1x7zrJEzS
--John Wildermuth
The saga of 8
Not surprisingly, the controversial proposal for what are expected to become some of the city’s most expensive condominiums didn’t sail through the hearing. Board President David Chiu, an outspoken opponent of the 134-unit project, dropped by to suggest that backers of the project hadn’t supplied needed paperwork, had broken the law by trying to cut a deal with Port of San Francisco officials before the project went out to bid, had inflated the value of benefits provided to the port and would never come up with the money promised to the port and the city....
But Supervisors Carmen Chu and Jane Kim agreed to move the project to the full board, although some details remain to be worked out.
The developer has tentatively agreed to trim 20 percent of the planned 255 public spaces in the underground parking garage, add a parking surcharge earmarked for nearby street improvements, boost its payment to the port for its temporary loss of parking and negotiate a minimum payment for the cafe that will be built on the site of a current port-owned parking lot.
While none of these
agreements is final, Kim and
21. “The Center for American Progress (CAP) holds a discussion on ‘Competency Based Education: College Strategies for the Success of 21st Century Students.’” (DC Daybook, June 7, 2012); event featuring AMY LAITINEN (MPP 2003).
EVENT: DISCUSSION - THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS (CAP);
LOCATION: CAP,
PARTICIPANTS: Assistant Education Secretary for Postsecondary Education Eduardo Ochoa; Michael Ettlinger, vice president for economic policy at CAP; Rebecca Klein-Collins, research director at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning; Amy Laitinen, senior policy analyst at Education Sector; Mary Lee Pollard, dean of nursing at Excelsior College; Ralph Wolff, president of Western Association of Schools and Colleges; and Stephen Steigleder, policy analyst at CAP....
22. “
By Josh Richman
In the 8th Assembly
District, the top two finishers in early ballots were Alameda Vice Mayor Rob Bonta and
23. “The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) holds a workshop on ‘The Part D Experience: What are the Lessons for Broader Medicare Reform?’” (The Washington Daybook, June 6, 2012); event featuring JULIETTE CUBANSKI (MPP 1998/MPH 1999).
... PARTICIPANTS: James Capretta, fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center; Juliette Cubanski, associate director of the Program on Medicare Policy at KFF; Jack Hoadley, research professor at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute; Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans; Marilyn Moon, senior vice president and health program director at the American Institutes for Research; and Tricia Neuman, senior vice president at KFF....
24. “In
By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press
The tobacco industry wants to keep it that way.
It has amassed nearly
$50 million to kill an initiative before
Marlboro-maker Altria Group Inc., RJ Reynolds and other tobacco heavyweights have spent their millions on a media blitz to snuff out Proposition 29, which would slap an additional $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products to fund cancer research.
If the tax passes,
The Public Policy Institute of California found that support for the initiative dropped from 67 percent in March to 53 percent by late May, reflecting the blizzard of radio and TV ads from the tobacco industry....
25. “A Social Security fund nears insolvency” (Washington Post, May 30, 2012); story citing NICOLE MAESTAS (MPP 1997/PhD Econ 2002).
By Brian Faler – Bloomberg News
A government entitlement program is headed for insolvency in four years, and it’s not the one members of Congress are talking about most.
The Social Security disability program’s trust fund is projected to run out of cash far sooner than the better-known Social Security retirement plan or Medicare. That will trigger a 21 percent cut in benefits to 11 million Americans—people with disabilities, plus their spouses and children—many of whom rely on the program to stay out of poverty....
Part of the reason for the burgeoning costs is that the 77 million baby boomers projected to swamp federal retirement plans will reach the disability program first. That’s because almost all boomers are at least 50 years old, the age at which someone is most likely to become disabled.
The growing costs are also a result of the economy’s troubles. When people can’t find work and run through their jobless benefits, many turn to disability benefits for assistance....
People whose benefit applications are rejected can appeal to administrative-law judges, and statistics show some judges are far more likely to approve benefits than others. One reason is that the program, which once focused largely on people who suffered from strokes, cancer and heart attacks, increasingly supports those with depression, back pain, chronic fatigue syndrome and other comparatively subjective conditions.
“They’re very, very hard
to evaluate,” said Nicole Maestas, director of the
26. “University of
By Brett Barrouquere - Associated Press; Bruce Schreiner - Associated Press
Portions of the campus were swamped by flash flooding that seeped into some buildings and caused daytime classes to be canceled.
[UofL President James] Ramsey said the flooding wasn’t nearly as bad as the approximately 7-1/2-inch deluge that hit the campus in a little more than an hour in August 2009, inundating a few dozen buildings and causing extensive damage.
Since the 2009 flood, the university has worked to make buildings more water proof from flooding, said Larry Owsley, UofL’s vice president for business affairs. UofL workers detected new sources that allowed water to leak in from the latest flooding, he said.
Meanwhile, other projects around campus have focused on preventing water from backing up and flooding streets, he said....
27. “
By Richard Littlemore
Of course, these gigantic government spending sprees - this particular program, known as the National Shipbuilding Strategy, is estimated to be worth $33 billion - are also a wonderful opportunity for political showboating. Aidan Vining, a business professor at Simon Fraser University, says, “Normally, the government wants to take political credit for job creation in the regions.... Normally, the ‘winners’ in these tournaments are very happy while the ‘losers’ are highly dispersed.”
But the Conservative administration of Prime Minister Stephen Harper could see, for a couple of reasons, that these were not normal circumstances. First, there was a hard historical lesson in the dangers of playing East against West on big defence contracts.... It was a major factor in the West’s shifting allegiance to the Reform Party, splitting the right-of-centre vote and dispatching conservatives to the federal political wilderness for more than a decade. That’s not a mistake that Stephen Harper was going to repeat.
Second, because there
are so few shipbuilding centres in
28. “San Ysidro Schools Defend Family Hiring” (U-T San Diego, May 22, 2012); story citing JOANNE SPEERS (MPP 1984/JD).
By Ashly McGlone, U-T
San Ysidro -- The son and daughter of Superintendent Manuel Paul are employed by the San Ysidro School District. So is the son of Assistant Superintendent Gloria Madera. School board member Jean Romero has a son and grandson working at the district.
The relationships have become a sore point with the teachers union, especially after a key school board meeting in July. At that meeting:
• Romero’s son, Jason Romero, was appointed assistant superintendent of human resources, a job that had not been posted for applications. His predecessor, Jennifer Brown, was relieved of duty and was paid a one-year salary of $135,000 as severance. Jason Romero was hired at the same salary....
JoAnne Speers, executive director of the Sacramento-based nonprofit Institute for Local Government, said the appointment may cause issues.
“Even if the superintendent supervises the superintendent of human resources, the fact that the H.R. superintendent has a mother on the board puts the superintendent in an awkward position,” Speers said, since the school board supervises the superintendent.
Still, Speers said, districts have to walk a line when guarding against nepotism.
“There are competing considerations that local agencies have to balance because there are rules and legal principles that say you can’t discriminate against people due to family relationships,” Speers said....
29. “Facebook, HP Reflect Highs, Lows in the Valley” (San Jose Mercury News, May 19, 2012); column citing DOUG HENTON (MPP 1975).
By Chris O’Brien, cobrien@mercurynews.com
So rarely do two events
occur in such close proximity that perfectly capture
the agony and the ecstasy of
As the sun rose, hundreds of hoodie-wearing Facebook employees gathered on their new campus to celebrate the social network’s first day as a public company. Meanwhile, employees of Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard were still digesting reports that their company is potentially planning to lay off between 25,000 and 30,000 people.
Facebook
represents the promise of the future. HP, the onetime icon, seems destined to
continue its slow, ignoble slide. And
“We once again see how ‘creative destruction’ continues to transform the Valley as Facebook goes IPO and Hewlett-Packard restructures,” wrote Doug Henton, CEO of Collaborative Economics, in an email Friday. “This is historical but fits a longer-term pattern.” ...
30. “$18 million in cuts to jolt AIDS care; Public health” (The San Francisco Chronicle, May 15, 2012); story citing GREG WAGNER (MPP 2004).
--Rachel Gordon
... The city is set to lose almost $8 million in federal AIDS funding in the new fiscal year that starts July 1—the biggest one-time cut ever—and $10 million the following year.
The deep cuts would not
shutter any programs, but would jeopardize care for people living in
[Mike Smith, who runs the AIDS Emergency Fund and serves as president of the HIV/AIDS Providers Network] and others hope the city will step in to fund the money lost from the Ryan White Care Act and the Centers for Disease Control.... Combined, the city got $41.8 million from the two federal programs for the current fiscal year that ends June 30....
31. “Audit of NERC brings up some fundamentals: how to draw lines on autonomy, FERC’s role” (Electric Utility Week, May 14, 2012); story citing ALLEN MOSHER (MPP 1978).
By Esther Whieldon
Simmering jurisdictional tensions between the North American Electric Reliability Corp. and its federal regulators rose to something of a boil this month when an audit of NERC pulled no punches in cataloging concerns with how the organization tracks and spends its budget....
NERC fought back at most of the criticisms, challenging “any assertion that it has engaged in non-statutory activities or expended Section 215 funds on non-statutory activities.”
The problem with the audit “is the mistaken premise that the statutory function of developing reliability standards is limited to the process for drafting and balloting such standards,” NERC said. “This has never been the case because such a narrow view would eliminate a broad range of functions that are critical to improving those standards.”
Allen Mosher, vice president of policy analysis and reliability standards for the American Public Power Association, said “NERC is far more than just standards and compliance, so the functions it performs in those areas need to be performed. If NERC does not do it, then who is going to perform those activities? They’re the best-situated organization to collect the reliability metrics data.”
“If we don’t have NERC collecting that data and analyzing it, then how do we get the feedback loop to standards development? If you don’t collect that reliability risk information, how do you properly target the enforcement program?” said Mosher, who also chairs the NERC Standards Committee.
“Saying that NERC should just focus on standards and compliance doesn’t necessarily ensure the effectiveness of that program,” he said....
32. “What Roma and American Black Males Have in Common” (States News Service, May 2, 2012); newswire citing ROBERT ENTMAN (MPP 1980/PhD).
By Rashid Shabazz
In December 2010, the Open Society Foundations partnered with the American Values Institute and the Knight Foundation to host a three day convening called Black Male: Re-Imagined. In attendance were key media influencers, like Charles Blow, Spike Lee and Andre Harrell, as well as advocates like Rashad Robinson of Color of Change and Biko Baker from the League of Young Voters. The convening also included researchers and scholars such as Open Society Foundations’ U.S. Programs Board Chair Sherrilyn Ifill, Drew Westen, and Robert Entman. The convening provided [the Campaign for Black Male Achievement] with a framework to shape a strategy addressing bias toward black males....
33. “Interview with Video Game Guru Jane McGonigal” (The Next List, CNN, April 15, 2012); program featuring MARINA GORBIS (MPP 1983).
... JANE MCGONIGAL, GAME DESIGNER: Games are an extraordinary way to tap into the best version of yourself, the most determined, the most creative, the most resilient in the face of failure, the most likely to collaborate with other people....
I’ve actually been designing games since 2001. And I was really interested in what would happen to gamers when they stopped playing their favorite games. Did it change the way that they would think about themselves and what they were capable of? Would it change what they tried to do in real life?
And so I started to track this phenomenon. My process for making a game usually starts with a problem. Someone has a problem. Either I have a problem or somebody out in the world has a problem. And they think that a game might be the right solution.
It was designed as a
crash course in changing the world. It was a 10-week game that you would play
and we aimed it first at young people in sub-Saharan
MARINA GORBIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR THE FUTURE: I think this is Jane’s greatest genius and contribution is that she is reframing the whole conversation about gaming. She created a game called “Superstruck.” We asked people to envision four, five very disruptive scenarios for the future around energy, around water shortages.
MCGONIGAL: For example, we had a super threat called generation exile, which was considering the possibility that there might be massive migration due to climate change.
GORBIS: We asked people, how would you cope with these challenges? We had thousands of people from all around the world participating....
34. “Backlash over sales
bungles hurts brands” (The Courier Mail (
By Rose Brennan
AS the internet empowers consumer feedback, retailers need to fix mistakes not just apologise to customers, a marketing expert has warned.
The warning follows the recent debacle for electronics giant Dick Smith in which three pricing lists for an upcoming sale were leaked online before the sale started.
The price lists failed to show that the items, which dropped to as low as a dollar for some items, weren’t in stock in every store which left many customers disappointed.
Associate professor of marketing at the
Prof Alpert said the surge of online blogs and commentary by the disgruntled customers would damage the Dick Smith brand.
“Even if the publicity leads to a lot of sales, the bad publicity will hit their brand equity,’’ Prof Alpert said. “In general, brand equity is much more vulnerable than short-term sales.’’
He said the internet allowed public opinions on a company to flow quickly and uncontrollably.
“It can’t be controlled by the company, it has to be managed,’’ Prof Alpert said.
He said that to rebuild, a company must apologise and “convince customers you’re taking steps immediately’’.
“Right now there’s a buzz and some anger but if the company goes well and satisfies customers, after this (customers) will forgive and trust will be earned,’’ Prof Alpert said....
35. “Light rail study as reliable as a ‘chimp with a machine gun’” (Waterloo Region Record, March 29, 2012); editorial citing AIDAN VINING (MPP 1974/PhD 1980).
By Peter Shawn Taylor
... This new process dispenses with a single spreadsheet of advantages and disadvantages and instead allows planners to consider numerous, separate ‘accounts.’ Traditional costs and benefits, covering construction expenses, travel times and ridership, are mixed in with vague, subjective measures of such things as community happiness. And there is no need for a conclusive final number.
In short, multiple account evaluation allows planners and politicians to produce reports supporting whatever outcome they may desire.
For this reason, many
economists consider multiple account evaluations wholly inappropriate for
scrutinizing large transit projects. Aidan
Vining is a professor at the
In an interview, he likened the use of multiple account evaluations to “letting chimps play with machine guns—it can be very dangerous for everyone.”
Within the region’s multiple account evaluation, for example, there is an account called “community livability.” No one knows what this really means. Regional planners apparently figured trains make people happier than buses and scored that as a win for light rail over buses.
Under the social account, the region claims light rail transit will result in 38 fewer hospital visits per year as compared to regular buses.
However, this is based on wholly discredited smog-death figures.
Vining observes that regional planners prefer multiple account evaluations over traditional cost/benefit analysis because it allows for “maximum feasible obfuscation.” ...
36. “Ryan Medicaid Block Grant Would Cut Medicaid by One-Third by 2022 and More After That” (States News Service, March 27, 2012); newswire citing JANUARY ANGELES (MPP 2002).
By Edwin Park and Matt Broaddus – The Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
[8] See January Angeles, Ryan Medicaid Block Grant Would Cause Severe Reductions in Health Care and Long-Term Care for Seniors, People with Disabilities and Children, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, May 3, 2011....
1. “Court’s health care ruling upholds another
law for the ages” (
By J. Craig Anderson and Ryan Randazzo - The
As was the case with major social regulations that preceded it, the Affordable Care Act is unlikely to gain acceptance from a majority of Americans for years, public-policy analysts say.
Still, the challenges to repealing and replacing
it are large enough that the act likely is here to stay, said John Ellwood, a professor at the
Ellwood said the health-care act is unpopular with many, but Republicans will have a difficult time replacing it with anything substantially different....
“Regardless of where you are on this issue, so far (the act) has not sold very well to the American people. Folks on the right see this as an expansion of government and they don’t like that, and they don’t see how it helps them (because they mostly already have coverage).”
However, he said that polling shows some people don’t like it because they want an even more liberal, single-payer plan. When those people are counted as supporting the measure, the breakdown of supporters to detractors is closer to 50-50, he said.
Repealing the health-care law is unlikely without a Republican sweep giving them control of Congress and the presidency, Ellwood said.
“This is why it was so hard to put it through in the first place,” he said. “This has been the left-wing dream since Teddy Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt refused to make it a part of Social Security because he knew it would fail. Kennedy and Johnson didn’t even try (to pass it) and (Johnson) did Medicare/Medicaid instead. Carter tried and failed. Nixon tried and failed.”
Another obstacle to its repeal is that many people favor significant portions of the law, just not the individual mandate requiring uninsured people to buy insurance.
“They hate the mandate, and love everything else,” Ellwood said. “They don’t see that without the mandate, everything else falls apart, unless you run up huge deficits. That is why the mandate was key.” ...
2. “Health care act faces November election hurdle” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 28, 2012); story citing JOHN ELLWOOD; http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Health-care-act-faces-November-election-hurdle-3672115.php
--Carolyn Lochhead
There’s one more hurdle: the November election....
Both parties face a problem. Universal health care always polls well, but the details of getting there seldom do.
For Democrats, touting the law’s benefits and downplaying its costs remain a hard sell.
The problem, said John Ellwood, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, is that most Americans have health insurance and “they either like their health insurance or they are scared to death that someone’s going to take away what they have.” Pelosi structured the law so that “all the goodies would come first,” he added....
3. “What’s Next for Health Care?” (New York Times online, June 28, 2012); roundtable featuring ROBERT REICH; http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/28/whats-next-for-health-care/
Room for Debate presents a video roundtable, via Google+, about the Supreme Court’s decision to largely uphold the Affordable Care Act. The half-hour debate, moderated by David Firestone of The Times editorial board, includes Robert Reich, Michael Cannon, Grace-Marie Turner and Maggie Mahar....
ROBERT
REICH, Former Labor Secretary: ... The Supreme Court’s ruling gives
the nation the opportunity to see how this thing operates.... I think the experience will be remarkably
like that in
4. “Member Spotlight: Dan Kammen’s race against climate change” (American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Online, June 28, 2012); profile of DAN KAMMEN; http://membercentral.aaas.org/blogs/member-spotlight/dan-kammens-race-against-climate-change
--Chris Raphael
...
[Daniel] Kammen has to run. To avoid the
most drastic effects of climate change, scientists generally agree that the
world has only a few decades to stabilize atmospheric carbon-dioxide
concentrations at 450 parts-per-million. Meanwhile 1.5 billion people on the
globe lack access to electricity. Providing reliable, clean energy to the poor
while accelerating green power investments in the developed world is a task for
Atlas.
“The problem is the clock,” said Kammen, an AAAS fellow. “We have four decades to make a dramatic change. We are way behind.”
Kammen, a professor
in UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group,
“I’m not interested in [a] world where we don’t solve the joint problems of reliable energy access for the poor and human-induced climate change,” Kammen said. “I don’t want to live there and I don’t want my kids to live there.” ...
One tool from [the Renewable and Appropriate
Energy Laboratory in
Politicians are often reluctant to deploy renewable energy because of perceived costs, but the SWITCH study, published in April, found that achieving the 450-ppm, “low-carbon” goal in the West could be done with existing technologies and a price on carbon — and at a modest 20 percent electricity price increase by 2030 over a business-as-usual case.
5. “Air Talk: How will bankruptcy affect
Host: Larry Mantle
Guests: ...
John Ellwood, Professor of Public Policy, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley; specializing in financial management and public sector budgeting; board member, California Budget Project....
The city of
“In terms of its problems, it’s not a one off,” said John Ellwood, Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. “It is representative. It will obviously be an individual decision on the part of each government whether to go the bankruptcy route.” ...
A major point of contention is the issue of
pensions which, under current
“But what happens if the system doesn’t have the
money? Under current law, think about start selling oceanfront property,
Ultimately, for cities who
choose to go into bankruptcy their future lies in the courts. The city of
“It very much depends on what the courts decide in terms of, particularly pensions and health care contracts, whether those will stay and under what conditions they will stay,” Ellwood said....
6. “Recovery depends on middle-class spending power” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 24, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Recovery-depends-on-middle-class-spending-power-3656031.php
--Robert Reich
Rarely in history has the cause of a major economic problem been so clear yet have so few been willing to see it.
The major reason this recovery has been so anemic
is not
It’s not even, as some liberals contend, because the Obama administration hasn’t spent enough on a temporary Keynesian stimulus.
The answer is in front of our faces. It’s because American consumers, whose spending is 70 percent of economic activity, don’t have the dough to buy enough to boost the economy—and they can no longer borrow like they could before the crash of 2008.
If you have any doubt, just take a look at the Survey of Consumer Finances, released last week by the Federal Reserve. Median family income was $49,600 in 2007. By 2010 it was $45,800—a drop of 7.7 percent....
What to do? There’s no simple answer in the short term except to hope we stay in first gear and don’t slide backward. Over the longer term, the answer is to make sure the middle class gets far more of the gains from economic growth....
© 2012 Robert Reich Robert
Reich, former
7. “News Roundup: The Middle East” (Forum, KQED public radio, June 21, 2012); features commentary by MICHAEL NACHT; Listen to the program
Host: Michael Krasny
Guests: ...
Michael Nacht, professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, former dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy and former assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs....
8. “Sunday Dialogue: Electing a President” (New York Times & International Herald Tribune [*requires registration], June 24, 2012): Letter to Editor by HENRY BRADY; http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/opinion/sunday/sunday-dialogue-electing-a-president.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Berkeley&st=nyt
To the Editor:
The Constitution begins with “We the People” and describes a process for selecting a president that involves all the states, but in practice presidential elections are decided by about a dozen battleground states. The other states are ignored by candidates except for fund-raising.
At least 70 percent of the dollars given to
politics come from the top one-fifth of Americans in terms of education and
income. And more than half of the lobbyists on Capitol Hill are hired by
business groups while fewer than 5 percent represent workers. Only voting is
still relatively equal in
Professor Brams is right: We deserve a national popular vote that reflects the will of “We the People.”
HENRY E. BRADY
The writer is dean of the Goldman
School of Public Policy,
9. “Reich: Super PACs must face accountability” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 17, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/15/INE31P0K4T.DTL#ixzz1yBVGCXbL
--Robert Reich
JPMorgan, BP, Walmart and the multibillionaire Koch brothers have just launched a TV advertisement blasting President Obama for the national debt. Actually, I don’t know who’s behind the ad because there’s no way to know. And that’s a big problem.
The front group for the ad is Crossroads GPS, the sister organization to the super PAC American Crossroads run by Republican political operative Karl Rove. But because Crossroads GPS is a nonprofit, tax-exempt “social welfare organization,” it can spend unlimited money and doesn’t have to reveal its sources.
In reality, it’s a political front group, and the
ad is blatantly partisan. The narrator in the ad says
Obama is “adding $4 billion in debt every day, borrowing from
To make matters worse, it’s a bald-faced lie....
Big corporations and Wall Street are secretly funneling big bucks into other front groups as well—like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—that will use the money to air anti-Obama ads while keeping secret the identities of these firms. The chamber and other front groups argue that if they revealed their names, the firms might otherwise face “retaliation” and “reprisals” from their customers. That’s another way of saying they might be held accountable....
© 2012 Robert Reich Robert Reich, former
10. “Robert Reich on Washington Journal” (C-SPAN TV, June 14, 2012); interview and live call-in with ROBERT REICH.
ROBERT
REICH, Former Labor Secretary: No country, that I know of, has gotten out of recession by
cutting its budget. I was debating
someone at the Cato Institute and he said that
[In response to a caller on the Republican line] I’m not for trickle-down anything; I’m certainly not for trickle-down communism...
11. “Dismal jobs report shows recovery has stalled” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 10, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/08/INVK1OT0KR.DTL#ixzz1xVcsMTXc
--Robert Reich
However one looks at the June 1 jobs report, it’s
a stunning reminder of how anemic the recovery has been—and how perilously
close
Not surprisingly, Republicans have had a field day with the May jobs report—using it to argue that President Obama’s economic policies have failed and that we need, instead, their brand of fiscal austerity combined with more tax cuts for the wealthy. That’s precisely the reverse of what’s needed.
Obama shouldn’t let Republicans get away with it. He should call for a cut in the payroll tax that now takes more than 6 percent of every working person’s wages. Exempting the first $20,000 of income from this tax for the remainder of 2012 and all of 2013 would immediately put money into Americans’ pockets, much of which they would spend.
And the president should renew his call for more
federal spending to repair
So when Republicans refuse to sign on, the president should blast them, explaining that we’ll get a real jobs recovery only when he has the votes to make it happen. Come election day, Americans can make sure he has those votes.
© 2012 Robert Reich Robert Reich, former
12. “NY pot plan: Right step or bad message?” (CNN Wire, June 5, 2012); story citing ROBERT MACCOUN.
By Umaro Djau and Joe Sterling – CNN
The
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled the proposal Monday and said the law would end a double standard that has disproportionately hurt black and Hispanic youth....
Robert MacCoun, professor of law and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, said a dozen states have decriminalized small amounts, usually up to an ounce for a first-time possession, and most of the legal changes took place in the 1970s.
An expert on marijuana laws, MacCoun said the “decriminalization label has mattered less and less” over time.
“First, the other 38 states have become less and
less likely to send convicted marijuana possession felons to prison. Second,
states that have ‘decriminalized’—like
And echoing concerns about the stain of an arrest for marijuana, he said, “There is a lasting effect on their records, which hurts their employability.”
MacCoun said the “big change” over the past 10 years “is the partial legalization of medical marijuana in many states.”
“Recent polls suggest that roughly half of American voters now support some form of legalization; if current trends continue, I think we’ll see a state legalize marijuana soon, perhaps even this November. But there will be a thorny conflict with federal laws that prohibit marijuana,” he said.
He points out that medical marijuana or decriminalization can’t be confused with “true legalization.” He called decriminalization a “sensible reform” and not a “risky” legal change.
“Marijuana possession sanctions have almost no
measurable effect on levels of marijuana use. So it is not clear whether any
valid purpose is being served by all the marijuana arrests in
13. “Solar power generating social change” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 2012); op-ed by DAN KAMMEN; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/01/INDA1OP107.DTL#ixzz1wqULdFhD
--Daniel M. Kammen
U.S. Navy veteran Elmer Rankin, 71, has a failing heart, prostate cancer and arthritis that keeps him in a wheelchair. Last year, Rankin, who survives on his Social Security checks, could no longer afford the mounting costs to heat his home and power the oxygen tank he uses every night. He turned down the heat and got so cold that he wound up in the hospital.
Fortunately, while Rankin’s health remains precarious,
today he’s no longer scrambling to pay for power. Thanks to rooftop solar
panels - paid for with a
“Solar power didn’t just save me money—it saved my life,” he says.
Like clouds temporarily blocking the sun, the continuing partisan debate about Solyndra - the Fremont solar power firm that went bankrupt last year despite a $528 million federal loan guarantee - has obscured the more important story taking place in the solar energy field: Clean, renewable solar power is rapidly becoming a mainstream, affordable U.S. energy option - and a boon to our overall economy....
Daniel M. Kammen is the distinguished professor of energy at UC Berkeley in the Energy and Resources Group and in the Goldman School of Public Policy. From 2010 to 2011, he was the chief technical specialist for renewable energy and energy efficiency at the World Bank.
14. “Fairness is crucial to economic growth” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/01/INTF1OOVJI.DTL#ixzz1wqWSTzXW
--Robert Reich
Some self-styled “pro-growth centrists” in the Democratic Party are worried that the president is going too far in emphasizing widening inequality. They “wish the administration’s focus was on growth over fairness,” says the respected National Journal.
They’re wrong. Fairness isn’t inconsistent with growth. It’s essential to it. The only way the economy can grow and create more jobs is if prosperity is more widely shared.
For years, conservative “supply-side” economists
have told
It has been a cruel hoax. Nothing has trickled down. The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 - the lion’s share of whose benefits went to the wealthy - ushered in an era of slow growth, fewer jobs, declining wages and mammoth budget deficits.
You want to know the real reason the economy
crashed in 2008 and why the recovery has been so anemic? Because so much of the
nation’s income and wealth have become concentrated at the top that
© 2012 Robert Reich Robert
Reich, former
15. “The New Jobs Report: Ooof” (The New Republic, June 1, 2012); analysis citing JESSE ROTHSTEIN.
By Jonathan Cohn, Senior Editor
... The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday morning that the economy created just 69,000 jobs last month. It also revised its estimate for April, down to 77,000 from 115,000. Unemployment has gone up a tenth of a percentage point, to 8.2 percent. That’s partly because more people have returned to the labor force, seeking jobs. But that’s really the only hint of good news in what economists everywhere are calling a dreary report....
Jesse Rothstein, an economist at the University of California-Berkeley, offered TNR a similar take:
I suspect (based on what CNN is saying) that this is going to be read as a sign that the economy is slowing down. I think that’s misreading things, mostly because I think we never sped up to begin with. There were a couple of somewhat better months, but I always thought—and in retrospect I think I was right—that those were likely to be temporary blips rather than a real change in trend. So we’re still stagnating. Which isn’t a surprise—our policymakers haven’t really done anything in a year or more to improve things, so things aren’t improving. Of course, the way things are going, we’ll be lucky if they don’t take action to make things worse in the next few months.
Rothstein is right, particularly on that last count. We’re going to hear a lot about the political implications for President Obama and his reelection bid....
16. “Hard Times for the Elusive Father of the Euro” (Economic Principals.com by David Warsh, May 27, 2012); appreciation citing JOHN QUIGLEY.
... Economist
John Quigley, mainstay of the
“Quigley hadn’t wanted anyone to know,” Henry Brady, Quigley’s dean, said. “He kept coming into the office until the last ten days of his life, and although he was visibly sick, he resolutely refused to tell us that anything was wrong.”
He was a special case. He graduated from the Air
Force Academy in 1964, spent four years doing econometrics at the Pentagon,
then resigned in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, and followed urban
economist John Kain, his
A profound social consciousness, disciplined by determination to get the economic story right, was the hallmark of his work. He demonstrated how ghettos diminished black families’ opportunities by denying them the growth of savings through home ownership. He studied the economic advantages of green structures, residential and commercial. And he tied homelessness, not to moral failure, but to collapsing low-end housing markets and rising government standards....
17. “Change The World: Authors: Our democracy is failing the little guy” (Change The World (Orlando Sentinel), May 25, 2012); blog citing book coauthored by HENRY BRADY.
By Kate Santich
It’s no secret that money is power. But a new book from Princeton University Press [http://press.princeton.edu/] has some sobering evidence of how lopsided our political system has become. The book, “The Unheavenly Chorus: Unequal Political Voice and the Broken Promise of American Democracy,” examines political participation according to wealth, education levels and associations.
“The Unheavenly Chorus”—by eminent political scientists Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba and Henry E. Brady—may be the first book to compare the political participation of individual citizens versus that of organized interests—including unions, trade associations, corporations, hospitals and universities. It draws on both in-depth public surveys and the largest database of special-interest organizations ever created, representing more than 35,000 groups over a 25-year span.
“This book conclusively demonstrates that American democracy is marred by deeply ingrained and persistent class-based political inequality,” the publisher concludes. “The well educated and affluent are active in many ways to make their voices heard, while the less advantaged are not. This book reveals how the political voices of organized interests are even less representative than those of individuals, how political advantage is handed down across generations, how recruitment to political activity perpetuates and exaggerates existing biases, [and] how political voice on the Internet replicates these inequalities.”
With the exception of the latter point (wasn’t the Internet supposed to be the great equalizer?) the conclusions may not be shocking. But the extent and depth of evidence, the publisher says, “reveals how far we really are from the democratic ideal and how hard it would be to attain it.”
If that sounds discouraging, though, one of the central points is that knowledge is power. So here’s one tidbit to help explain why lawmakers so often cut programs for the sick and poor, even when those programs have large public support: Of the billions of dollars spent by Washington lobbyists each year, 72 percent comes from business interests—while less than 1 percent comes from advocates for social welfare and the poor.
June 24-27 “A Conversation with Robert Reich” (broadcast
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