|
Web |
Editors |
eDIGEST November 2012
|
|
|
eDigest
Archives | Upcoming Events | Quick Reference List | Alumni & Student Newsmakers | Faculty in the
News Recent Faculty Speaking
Engagements &
Publications | Videos & Webcasts |
|
1. “Climate change
legislation from an international perspective and
Lee Friedman will be moderating the panel:
Bob Infelise –
Olof Hansen – with EPA but not representing the agency at this event
Emilie Mazzacurati (MPP 2007) – Real Options International
November 5 at 12 noon-1:30 pm in GSPP 250.
Sponsored by CEPP (Center for Environmental Public Policy) and the Environmental Policy Group
2.
November 8,
2012, 6:00-8:00 p.m., more info &
to register
3.
“16th annual Mario Savio Memorial Lecture:
Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How can we get there?”
Van Jones, former Special Advisor to
the Obama White House, president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream
Lecture & Young Activist Award |
November 28 | 8 p.m. | Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, Pauley Ballroom
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is
free, but tickets are required; they will be available in the student center
lobby from 6:30 p.m. on.
Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley
Library, the
ALUMNI AND STUDENT NEWSMAKERS
1. “Election winner gets ... a mess - On the White House
welcome mat: The ‘fiscal cliff,’ trouble abroad and a toxic political landscape”
(
2. “Jobs-data flux distorts economic picture” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 31, 2012); op-ed by LUKE REIDENBACH (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Jobs-data-flux-distorts-economic-picture-3994779.php
3. “Union Law Delay Falters - 2 Resolutions Link Labor Ordinance” (Albuquerque Journal, October 30, 2012); story citing CHRIS CALVERT (MPP 1979).
4. “Daniel Borenstein: Showdown coming on whether new pension law ends Contra Costa abuses” (Contra Costa Times, October 29, 2012); op-ed by DAN BORENSTEIN (MPP 1980/MJ 1985); http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_21876984/daniel-borenstein-showdown-coming-whether-new-pension-law
5. “As city cuts trigger police layoffs, bullets in the night claim a young mother’s life” (CNN Wire, October 28, 2012); story citing TRACY GORDON (MPP 1996/PhD 2001).
6. “How the 2014 elections tip prospects for a ‘grand bargain’ on US deficits” (Christian Science Monitor, October 27, 2012); analysis citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976).
7. “Home mortgage interest deduction vulnerable” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 27, 2012); op-ed by ALEXEI PAINTER (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Home-mortgage-interest-deduction-vulnerable-3985338.php
8. “CBS Evening News for October 26, 2012,” (CBS, October 26,
2012); interview with SEAN WEST (MPP
2006).
9. “CCSF faculty pack hall as cuts weighed” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 26, 2012); story citing PETER GOLDSTEIN (MPP 1981); http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/CCSF-faculty-pack-hall-as-cuts-weighed-3983128.php#ixzz2AjWr2RuB
10. “Calif. State Colleges Hold Their Breath as ‘Trigger Cut’ Proposition Heads for Vote” (Chronicle of Higher Education [*requires registration], October 25, 2012); story citing JONATHAN STEIN (MPP/JD cand. 2013); http://chronicle.com/article/Trigger-Cut-Proposition/135398/
11. “Walmart Announces New Commitments to Drive Sustainability Deeper into the Company’s Global Supply Chain” (India Retail News October 25, 2012); story citing KARA HARTNETT HURST (MPP 1998).
12. “Two Democrats vie for Assembly District 18 seat” (Oakland Tribune, October 24, 2012); story citing ABEL GUILLEN (MPP 2001); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21837381?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
13. “UC Berkeley: ‘poor data’ in Chamber minimum wage study” (San Jose Business Journal [*requires registration], October 23, 2012); story citing report co-researched by MIRANDA DIETZ (MPP 2012), ZACHARY GOLDMAN (MPP cand. 2013), and LUKE REIDENBACH (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2012/10/23/uc-berkley-poor-data-in-chamber.html
14. “SF District 5 candidate backers flee” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 23, 2012); column citing DAVID LATTERMAN (MPP 2002); http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-District-5-candidate-backers-flee-3972676.php#ixzz2A9331iIY
15. “
16. “Candidates mum on fiscal cliff” (CNN Wire, October 23, 2012); story citing SEAN WEST (MPP 2006).
17. “First-Ever Partners in Primary Care Summit Shares
Lessons from the Field” (Targeted News Service, October 23, 2012); newswire
citing TANGERINE BRIGHAM (MPP 1990).
18. “SF City College money woes have long history. Faculty influence may have gotten too strong” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 21, 2012); story citing PETER GOLDSTEIN (MPP 1981); http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/SF-City-College-money-woes-have-long-history-3968316.php
19. “Report: Students Carrying More Debt; PA. Has 2nd-Highest Total Nationwide” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 18, 2012); story citing MATTHEW REED (MPP 2007).
20. “
21. “Californians Overwhelmingly Support Recent School Meals Overhaul; Students Say Lunches are Getting Better” (Targeted News Service (USA), October 18, 2012); newswire citing DAVE METZ (MPP 1998).
22. “FADING DREAMS; Hard-up colleges turn to donors;
Community campuses face challenges in trying to follow a path long traveled by
four-year universities” (Los Angeles Times, October 18, 2012); story citing CATHERINE HAZELTON (MPP 2005).
23. “Liberal v. Liberal. Two progressives, Rob Bonta and Abel Guillen, are squaring off in the 18th Assembly District race” (East Bay Express, October 17, 2012); story citing ABEL GUILLEN (MPP 2001); http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/liberal-v-liberal/Content?oid=3365371
24. “Endorsements Part II: Vote Bates, Capitelli,
and
25. “Why Apple won’t make iPhones
and iPads in the
26. “GPO Partners with Treasury Department on Public Access
to Digital Collections” (Targeted News Service, October 17, 2012); newswire
citing NANI COLORETTI (MPP 1994).
27. “On ballots: Has pro-marijuana camp found way to win over
28. “Comparing plans? Check the details” (Oregonian, October 14, 2012); column citing JULIETTE CUBANSKI (MPP 1998/MPH 1999).
29. “Broaden the base. Don’t touch the rates” (The Reality-Based Community, October 13, 2012); blog citing ERIC PATASHNIK (MPP 1989).
30. “Oct 12 letters to the editor: Support Guillen for Assembly” (Oakland Tribune, October 12, 2012); Letter to Editor citing ABEL GUILLEN (MPP 2001); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21753875?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
31. “Software Calculates City-Specific Carbon Footprint” (Morning Edition, National Public Radio, October 11, 2012); interview with KEVIN GURNEY (MPP 1996).
32. “Friends of Northern Lake tout ‘action’ at meeting” (St. Albans Messenger (VT), October 11, 2012); story citing KARI DOLAN (MPP 1990).
33. “Legislation, money may be needed for health law” (The Lowell Sun, October 11, 2012); story citing KEVIN BEAGAN (MPP/MPH 1988).
34. “Affirmative action back before the Supreme Court. As the
justices deliberate Fisher v University of Texas, I hope they hear that
affirmative action is working for a fairer America” (Guardian [
35. “
36. “Presidential campaigns target new citizen voters” (The Associated Press, October 9, 2012); story by GARANCE BURKE (MPP 2005/MJ 2004); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21730245/va-ex-rep-goode-may-pose-risk-romney?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
37. “Jobs, the Economy, and the Presidential Race” (Forum, KQED public radio, October 8, 2012); program featuring MICHAEL LINDEN (MPP 2007); Listen to the program
38. “Monterey Downs to create jobs” (Monterey County Herald, October 8, 2012); story citing JAMES EDISON (MPP/JD 1997).
39. “NERC budget does not clarify its legal authority, priorities, key electricity group says” (Inside F.E.R.C., October 8, 2012); story citing ALLEN MOSHER (MPP 1978).
40. “President Obama gets chastized over wind turbine energy” (Portland Examiner, October 7, 2012); editorial citing ROB GRAMLICH (MPP 1995).
41. “Rachel Maddow Show for October 5, 2012” (MSNBC, October 5, 2012); story citing HARLEY FRAZIS (MPP 1981/PhD).
42. “Forum Weighs School-Funding Measures: 2 Propositions on Ballot Called ‘Confusing’ for Voters” (Press Democrat, October 5, 2012); story citing EDGAR CABRAL (MPP 2005).
43. “Senate Fails to Override Port Authority Bill Veto”
(Herald News (
44. Piedmont/Montclair letters to the editor: “Like public services? Renew parcel tax” (Contra Costa Times, October 4, 2012); Letter to Editor by ABE FRIEDMAN (MPP/JD 1998); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21697934?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
45. “Prop. 36: Yes, because it improves ‘three strikes’ law” (San Diego Union Tribune, October 3, 2012); op-ed by VIJAY DAS (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/03/prop-36-yes-because-it-improves-three-strikes-law/?page=1#article
46. “Perspectives: Animal Nation. Paul Staley says it isn’t just elephants and donkeys going to the polls on election day” (KQED Public Radio, October 2, 2012); commentary by PAUL STALEY (MPP 1980); Listen to this Perspective
47. “Pass on Ross Mirkarimi vote? Not so fast” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 2, 2012); story citing DAVID LATTERMAN (MPP 2002); http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Pass-on-Ross-Mirkarimi-vote-Not-so-fast-3910868.php#ixzz28A5DtUxX
48. “S.F. cracks down on camping in RVs” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 2, 2012); column citing CARMEN CHU (MPP 2003); http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/S-F-cracks-down-on-camping-in-RVs-3910865.php#ixzz28ACkVYFq
49. “Letters to the editor on wind subsidy, political books, Johnson’s words” (Wichita Eagle, October 1, 2012); Letter to Editor citing ANAT SHENKER-OSORIO (MPP 2005).
50. “GSA Tests Innovative Building Technologies, Aims for Savings” (Targeted News Service, September 27, 2012); newswire citing DOROTHY ROBYN (MPP 1978/PhD 1983).
51. “Size, not weight, matters in cars” (Washington Times, September 27, 2012); Letter to Editor by LUKE TONACHEL (MPP 2004).
52. “Options weighed for rapid bus lanes” (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 23, 2012); story citing WENDY STERN (MPP 1974).
53. “County’s Big Cities Short on Funding Pensions All fail at coming close to recommended 80% covered by investments” (U-T San Diego (CA), September 23, 2012); analysis citing TRACY GORDON (MPP 1996/PhD 2001).
54. “Compton bond ratings suspended” (Compton Bulletin, September 19, 2012); story citing LISA SCHROEER (MPP 2005).
55. “Abt Associates holds a discussion on ‘The Intersection of Housing Policy and Health: Policy Options to Improve health for Vulnerable Populations’” (The Washington Daybook, September 12, 2012); event featuring CAROL WILKINS (MPP 1983).
56. “Wind power direction in question—Stronger, lighter materials
offer more potential for
57. “Weak jobs report made worse by leaner government payrolls - With fewer than 100,000 new jobs, August dampened hopes for a rebounding jobs market. One big culprit: governments are not hiring like they used to” (The Miami Herald, September 7, 2012); analysis citing TRACY GORDON (MPP 1996/2001).
58. “Close Encounters with Homo Sapiens’ Closest Kin” (The New York Times, September 5, 2012); blog citing DUANE SILVERSTEIN (MPP 1980); http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/close-encounters-with-homo-sapiens-closest-kin/
59. “Health Plan Takes Shape—Two Bills Sent to Governor Define Minimum Benefits under Federal Overhaul” (San Jose Mercury News, September 2, 2012); story citing CARY SANDERS (MPP 2002).
60. “Hard to Grin While Bearing Cuts in Medicaid Dental
Coverage” (The New York Times, August 29, 2012); story citing SHELLY GEHSHAN (MPP 1985).
61. “Experts weigh in on medical school’s job, economic effects” (Austin American-Statesman, August 24, 2012); story citing JOE CORTRIGHT (MPP 1980).
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
1. “Caution Urged on ‘Value Added’ Reviews - Scholars say districts must be more careful” (Education Week, October 31, 2012); story citing JESSE ROTHSTEIN.
2. “Smell the Truth Blog: Dutch ‘
3. “
4. “Are The Rich Taxed Enough?” (NPR Online, October 30, 2012); debate featuring ROBERT REICH; Listen to the Debate
5. “Romney’s Latest Lie, His Former Lies, and Why We Must Not Put Liars in the White House” (Huffington Post, October 30, 2012); blog by ROBERT REICH; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/romney-campaign-lies_b_2045745.html
6. “Mitt Romney’s Question-Mark Economy” (Huffington Post, October 24, 2012); commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/mitt-romney-economic-uncertainty_b_2008532.html
7. “Letter to the Editor: Safe and Fruitful DNA Innovation” (Wall Street Journal [*requires registration], October 23, 2012); Letter to Editor by STEPHEN MAURER; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443749204578052811387862922.html?KEYWORDS=Berkeley
8. “The Subversion of Direct Democracy” (Huffington Post, October 23, 2012); blog by ROY ULRICH; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roy-ulrich/voting-california_b_1989765.html
9. “The Final Presidential Debate” (Forum, KQED public radio, October 23, 2012); program featuring commentary by HENRY BRADY; Listen to the program
10. “Desegregation and (Un)Equal Opportunity: Rucker Johnson at TEDxMiamiUniversity” (TEDxTalks, October 22, 2012); video featuring RUCKER JOHNSON; view the video
11. “Op-Ed: Finances bleeding
12. “Big money in play in Oakland school board
campaigns” (Oakland Tribune, October 18, 2012); story citing HENRY BRADY; http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21801931/big-money-play-oakland-school-board-campaigns?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
13. “How Obama Can Smoke Out Mitt: Call for Breaking Up the Biggest Banks, and Resurrecting Glass-Steagall” (Huffington Post, October 18, 2012); blog by ROBERT REICH; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/obama-glass-steagall_b_1983777.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012
14. “The Greener the Economy, the Greater the Economy” (Huffington Post, October 17, 2012); blog citing study lead-authored by DAN KAMMEN; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-wagner/the-greener-the-economy-t_b_1968908.html
15. “‘Pivots’ key to Romney, Obama debate” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 16, 2012); column citing JENNIFER GRANHOLM; http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Pivots-key-to-Romney-Obama-debate-3951481.php
16. “Solyndra Sues Chinese Solar Competitors” (KQED Radio, October 15, 2012); interview with DAN KAMMEN; http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/10/15/109565/solyndra_sues_chinese_solar_competitors?category=bay+area
17. “Blog: Memo to the President: Your Next Debate” (Huffington Post, October 15, 2012); commentary by ROBERT REICH;
18. “Drummond:
19. “California’s renewable-energy plans may hinge on presidential race” (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 14, 2012); story citing DAN KAMMEN and study led by DOUG HENTON (MPP 1975) and coauthored by JESSIE OETTTINGER (MPP 2011); http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/14/4910372/californias-renewable-energy-plans.html
20. “Op-Ed: Economic recovery hinges on election” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Economic-recovery-hinges-on-election-3944813.php
21. “Fulbright NEXUS 2012-2013 Scholars Research Climate Change Adaptation” (Targeted News Service, October 13, 2012); newswire citing DAN KAMMEN.
22. “Debate preparation like boot camp” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 11, 2012); column citing JENNIFER GRANHOLM; http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Debate-preparation-like-boot-camp-3938012.php
23. “Obama turns to San Francisco rally, reaches out to Latinos, as polls show tightening race” (Contra Costa Times, October 9, 2012); analysis citing HENRY BRADY; http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_21726783/obama-way-sf-announces-cesar-chavez-monument
24. “Environment expectations low in US election” (Deutsche Welle, October 8, 2012); analysis citing DAN KAMMEN; http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16245416,00.html
25. “Blog: Mr. President: Next Debate, Make Moral Choice Clear” (Huffington Post, October 8, 2012); blog by JENNIFER GRANHOLM; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-m-granholm/mr-president-next-debate_b_1949803.html
26. “Jobless drop unlikely to sway voters” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 5, 2012); analysis citing HENRY BRADY; http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Jobless-drop-unlikely-to-sway-voters-3924192.php
27. “Letter to the Editor: Says Murphy committed
to
28. “Can the
1. “Election winner gets ... a mess - On
the White House welcome mat: The ‘fiscal cliff,’ trouble abroad and a toxic
political landscape” (
By Susan Davis and
Richard Wolf,
Confrontations abroad. A divided Congress at home. A budget stalemate on the horizon that threatens another recession....
Without action, almost
every tax cut enacted since 2001 is set to expire at the end of the year. The
resulting $500 billion tax hike would raise the average American household’s
tax burden by $3,500, according to the non-partisan
The first $110 billion of a planned $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years to reduce the deficit also would begin at the start of the new year. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned that, left unchanged, those defense cuts would threaten the nation’s security....
More worrisome is the next vote to raise the government’s borrowing authority, which the Treasury Department estimates will be reached in February, just weeks after the president’s inauguration. A heated debt-ceiling battle in 2011 between the White House and Congress threatened the nation’s credit rating and sent stocks tumbling.
And then there’s the potential for another threatened government shutdown. The Obama administration and congressional Republicans clashed over spending limits last year but cut a last-minute deal to avert a shutdown after weeks of brinksmanship. The government’s current funding extends only until March 27.
“What the next president is looking at in 2013 is a steady series of cliffhangers,” says Stan Collender of Qorvis, a federal budget expert. “I’m not sure I see a way out of this unless everybody gets religion.” ...
2. “Jobs-data flux distorts economic picture” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 31, 2012); op-ed by LUKE REIDENBACH (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Jobs-data-flux-distorts-economic-picture-3994779.php
--Luke Reidenbach
... On the first Friday of the month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its estimate of how many jobs were added or subtracted in the previous month. These numbers are based on a survey of 14,000 employers around the country. There is one major problem, though: The initial estimate is almost always wrong.
This isn’t because the bureau isn’t any good at its job. It is, but collecting data like this takes considerable time. Over the next few months, the agency will release revised estimates of that same month’s data as it gets more information.
So far this year, that initial data release has been, on average, about 30,000 new jobs fewer than were actually created. This adds up.
Since the economic recovery began in the summer of 2009, these monthly revisions total 1.1 million more jobs than were in the initial headlines....
This hasn’t stopped the American public from breathlessly following every monthly jobs-data release and using it as points on a political scoreboard while ignoring the subsequent revisions that tell the real story. Headlines such as “August report is more bad news for Obama” or “New jobs numbers change narrative in race for president” have become the standard, rather than careful analysis of the data....
Earlier this football season, there was universal outrage at the quality of the replacement referees during the NFL lockout. Everyone agreed that the botched calls and the uncertainty surrounding the lackluster officiating were ruining the game. And yet, those who closely follow the economy deal with that type of uncertainty all the time.
Our economic recovery is not a sport. Perhaps, even for just a few months after the election, we can move away from the tendency to treat it like one.
Luke Reidenbach is a master of public policy candidate at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley.
3. “Union Law Delay Falters - 2 Resolutions Link Labor Ordinance” (Albuquerque Journal, October 30, 2012); story citing CHRIS CALVERT (MPP 1979).
By Kiera Hay, Journal Staff Writer
A proposed delay of
The Santa Fe Public
Works Committee rejected a plan to delay the ordinance until the
Meanwhile, councilors introduced two new resolutions related to the community workforce agreement ordinance: one that would require the city to collect and analyze data on an upcoming condominium renovation at the Santa Fe Railyard, expected to be the city’s first project under the new ordinance, and one tweaking hiring guidelines to ensure a maximum number of Santa Fe County-based workers are hired for city projects.
The former measure is sponsored by Councilors Rebecca Wurzburger, Peter Ives and Chris Calvert, while Calvert is also sponsoring the latter resolution....
On the BBER proposal, Calvert said, “I don’t think we really
need another study,” and noted that BBER would probably study information that
4. “Daniel Borenstein: Showdown coming on whether new pension law ends Contra Costa abuses” (Contra Costa Times, October 29, 2012); op-ed by DAN BORENSTEIN (MPP 1980/MJ 1985); http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_21876984/daniel-borenstein-showdown-coming-whether-new-pension-law
By Daniel Borenstein – Staff columnist and editorial writer
The Contra Costa retirement board members are being told by their lawyer that new state legislation requires them to finally end abusive and costly pension spiking practices they have allowed for years.
The new law, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last month, prohibits counting most payments at termination for unused vacation and sick leave as income when computing pensions....
Under Contra Costa rules, for example, one fire chief converted a $185,000 annual salary into a starting $241,000 yearly pension; another traded a $221,000 salary for a $284,000 starting retirement. And two-thirds of the retirees from the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District boosted their retirement by 25 percent to 41 percent. The new rules would do away with much of that sort of spiking, affecting workers at all pay levels.
The changes in state law were not originally part of touted pension legislation recently rushed through the Legislature and signed by Brown. Indeed, as I pointed out in a column a day before the Aug. 31 vote, the original bill would have expanded spiking, allowing other county systems to behave as Contra Costa had.
In response to my column, the Legislature passed a companion bill clarifying its intent that all county-level systems follow the appellate court rulings. In doing so, they brought Contra Costa under the rules.
It’s the implementation of that companion bill that’s at issue now....
5. “As city cuts trigger police layoffs, bullets in the night claim a young mother’s life” (CNN Wire, October 28, 2012); story citing TRACY GORDON (MPP 1996/PhD 2001).
By David Ariosto – CNN
Stopped at a red light
in a crime-wracked neighborhood of
Her death is one of at
least 71 homicides so far this year in cash-strapped
And as
A silver lining may be that it’s finally forcing the discussion.
“We’re now having that frank public conversation about what do we want from government and how much do we want to pay for it,” said Brookings Institution fellow Tracy Gordon....
6. “How the 2014 elections tip prospects for a ‘grand bargain’ on US deficits” (Christian Science Monitor, October 27, 2012); analysis citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976).
By David Grant, Staff writer
... But any deal Mr. Obama or Mr. Romney strikes – if either can get one at all – may be shaped in important ways by ... you guessed it, lawmakers looking ahead to Election 2014....
So what will those Democratic senators do when presented with a deficit-reduction plan that could put their political careers in peril?
Some will balk at Obama’s grand bargain dreams, predicts Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, who has persuaded most Republicans in Congress to sign his group’s pledge never to raise taxes. That means they will punt on any tax increases or deep entitlement reforms until after 2014, when Democrats will have set their sights on a target-heavy list of Republican senators up for reelection in 2016. And that means no grand bargain....
That need not be the
case, says Stan Collender,
a former Democratic budget aide now at Qorvis
Communications. Democrats, if they can summon a little
By letting the Bush tax cuts expire as scheduled at year’s end and then reinstating only the cuts for households with incomes of less than $250,000, Democrats could claim to have voted for a tax cut and dare Republicans to vote against them. Republican senators held firm on a similar vote in the Senate earlier in 2012, but Collender says Republicans may not be so steely when an actual tax increase is on the line....
7. “Home mortgage interest deduction vulnerable” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 27, 2012); op-ed by ALEXEI PAINTER (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Home-mortgage-interest-deduction-vulnerable-3985338.php
--Alexei Painter
... In the scramble for [federal budget] savings, the home mortgage interest deduction is a tantalizing target simply because it’s so big.
This tax break for millions of middle- and upper-income taxpayers amounts to about $100 billion per year in lost revenue to the U.S. Treasury. That’s nearly twice as much as the deduction for charitable contributions, or, if you think of tax deductions as spending in disguise, more than twice as big as all other federal housing programs combined.
Faced with difficult choices, lawmakers might be smart to opt for one bold blow to an iconic piece of the tax code instead of enduring the political pain of making lesser cuts to hundreds of popular programs or tax breaks.
But there are better reasons to put the home mortgage interest deduction on the chopping block. It doesn’t increase homeownership, and most of the $100 billion goes to taxpayers who are already well off....
So what should be done?
Elimination of the deduction would have real consequences because its
availability to taxpayers inflates home prices. The National Association of
Realtors estimates that in some parts of the country,
Instead of eliminating it, lawmakers should say boldly what so many others in previous Congresses have said: A commission made us do it! In other words, they should follow the recommendations of the bipartisan debt-reduction commission headed by former Sen. Alan Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles....
The Simpson-Bowles reform is better than the alternatives, and would help millions of middle-class homeowners across the country. Either Mitt Romney or President Obama should be happy to embrace that notion.
Alexei Painter is a master’s candidate at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley.
8. “CBS Evening News for October 26, 2012,” (CBS, October 26, 2012); interview with SEAN WEST (MPP 2006).
... ANTHONY MASON, CBS CORRESPONDENT: The 2 percent growth in the economy nationally in the third quarter was fueled in part by consumer spending, which rose 2 percent, and by a housing market that’s showing increasing signs of life. But a 13 percent jump in defense spending by the government played the biggest role. Without that increase, the economy’s growth rate would have been only 1.4 percent.
Sean West studies politics and economic policy for the Eurasia Group. He says the numbers have something in them for both campaigns. President Obama can claim the economy is growing, but Governor Romney can claim it’s not growing fast enough.
SEAN WEST, EURASIA GROUP: Voters have basically drawn their conclusions about the economy already, so, you know, the impact that a GDP number can have or that the final jobs report on the Friday before the election is going to have is won only at the margins. Now, this election is close enough that the margins matter....
MASON: As West mentioned, the last unemployment before the vote comes out a week from today. A surprise in either direction could influence the outcome of the election.
9. “CCSF faculty pack hall as cuts weighed” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 26, 2012); story citing PETER GOLDSTEIN (MPP 1981); http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/CCSF-faculty-pack-hall-as-cuts-weighed-3983128.php#ixzz2AjWr2RuB
--Nanette Asimov
Over the objections of labor leaders, trustees of the nearly bankrupt City College of San Francisco were expected to dismantle a long-standing system of faculty leadership on Thursday night to streamline governance and save $2 million.
The move would send dozens of department chairs back to the classroom from the administrative positions they have held for years, earning extra pay for that work while being released from teaching. Deans would largely take their place, as is customary at other colleges....
Faculty members packed
the small auditorium at
... The college is fighting to keep its accreditation and could be forced to shut down because trustees have been diffident in their approach to cuts, making only limited reductions even as state funding for City College plunged by $25 million since 2008.
Now City College must find a way to close a $15 million budget gap expected for the 2013-14 school year, Vice Chancellor Peter Goldstein told the trustees, letting them know that if voters reject Prop. 30, a tax measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, the school’s budget would drop by another $11.4 million....
10. “Calif. State Colleges Hold Their Breath as ‘Trigger Cut’ Proposition Heads for Vote” (Chronicle of Higher Education [*requires registration], October 25, 2012); story citing JONATHAN STEIN (MPP/JD cand. 2013); http://chronicle.com/article/Trigger-Cut-Proposition/135398/
By Lee Gardner
Gov. Jerry Brown urges students to approve Prop 30. Some of the measure’s expected revenue is already slotted to fix a
$15.7-billion budget shortfall. (Randy Pench,
As November 6 draws
closer, chances are growing slimmer that a
When it comes to the
question of whether Prop 30 will pass, “it’s a coin flip,” says Jonathan G. Stein, a student working toward
a master’s degree in public policy, as well as a law degree, at the
As the voting student member
of the
“Those possibilities are
all on the table,” he says, including a “very, very substantial” tuition
increase—as much as 20 percent—and raising the cap on out-of-state-student
enrollment at UC from 10 percent to as high as 20 percent. Even with increased
tuition revenue, though, the
11. “Walmart Announces New Commitments to Drive Sustainability Deeper into the Company’s Global Supply Chain” (India Retail News October 25, 2012); story citing KARA HARTNETT HURST (MPP 1998).
The additional initiatives announced at today’s event will build on the broader sustainability goals Walmart set at the China Sustainability Summit in 2008. The commitments outlined today include: ...
* The Walmart Foundation will grant $2 million to fund The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) and
assist in its efforts in launching TSC in
“The $2 million grant from the Walmart Foundation will support the Consortium and position us to help bring the best science and research to support the development of the green supply chain here in China and globally,” said Kara Hurst, CEO of The Sustainability Consortium....
12. “Two Democrats vie for Assembly District 18 seat” (Oakland Tribune, October 24, 2012); story citing ABEL GUILLEN (MPP 2001); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21837381?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
By Angela Woodall –
The similarities between Assembly District 18 candidates Abel Guillen and Rob Bonta are often mentioned.
Both say they want to be
the district’s voice in
Instead, experience may be the most substantive difference among these two candidates.
Bonta
was elected to the Alameda City Council and works as a deputy city attorney for
His voting record on the
City Council made him the subject of a recall petition, which Bonta dismissed as politically motivated by anti-growth
factions in
Guillen is a public financial adviser by trade who highlights his working-class roots and said he was the first in his family to graduate from college. He was elected to the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees in 2006.
The top issues in District 18, according to Guillen, are hunger, a high drop-out rate and double-digit unemployment.
The solutions, Guillen said, involve public education, healthcare and public safety.
He would draw on state and federal funds to help build the state’s infrastructure and partner with solar and greentech companies in the district to create more jobs....
He said his six years on the board of the four-campus, 30,000-student Peralta district prepared him for the Assembly. Guillen boasted that he stood up for the district, and that he pushed for the ouster of former Peralta district Chancellor Elihu Harris, who was investigated for financial misconduct....
Abel Guillen
Age: 37
Party: Democrat
Occupation: Public finance adviser
Professional/elected
background:
Personal background: Single
Education: B.A. and M.A. in public policy from UC Berkeley
Website: www.abelforassembly.com
13. “UC Berkeley: ‘poor data’ in Chamber minimum wage study” (San Jose Business Journal [*requires registration], October 23, 2012); story citing report co-researched by MIRANDA DIETZ (MPP 2012), ZACHARY GOLDMAN (MPP cand. 2013), and LUKE REIDENBACH (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2012/10/23/uc-berkley-poor-data-in-chamber.html
By Lauren Hepler
A new report by the University of California, Berkeley [with research assistance by Miranda Dietz, Zachary Goldman and Luke Reidenbach] on the potential impact of San Jose’s proposed Measure D minimum wage increase casts doubt on a study released by the local Chamber of Commerce saying the wage increase could cost 900-3,100 local jobs.
The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce earlier this month released a study ... commissioned by the California Restaurant Association on the issue, which found that increasing minimum wage from $8 to $10 an hour could cost local businesses $69 million to $76 million. The study was completed by research firm Beacon Economics for a fee of $10,000, according to the San Jose Mercury News....
However,
Instead, Reich finds that if passed by voters on election day, Measure D would increase business operating costs by an average of “less than .25 percent.” He says this cost would be offset by lower employee turnover rates and higher worker productivity.
While maintaining that previous studies indicate that no “disemployment” (read: layoffs) would occur as a result of Measure D, Reich said prices could increase slightly at businesses staffed by minimum wage workers, such as restaurants. He estimates a price increase of .71 percent, or about 25 cents on a $30 meal.
Reich also sides with local advocates of Measure D (read more about their campaign here), who point to economic inequality and already high prices and poverty rates in the area as reasons why wages must be higher.
With more income, Reich says, minimum wage workers will have more spending power and inject more money into the local economy, benefiting both businesses and the government through increased sales tax revenue....
14. “SF District 5 candidate backers flee” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 23, 2012); column citing DAVID LATTERMAN (MPP 2002); http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-District-5-candidate-backers-flee-3972676.php#ixzz2A9331iIY
--Neal J. Riley
With only about two
weeks to go until election day, the race for
supervisor in
“It’s still sort of a
mess,” said political consultant David Latterman, who believes the most likely scenario is
that Olague wins in a squeaker. “
15. “
By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org
When the national health law takes effect on January 1, 2014, some 30 million uninsured people will be able to sign up for subsidized health insurance for the first time. Many will become eligible for Medicaid and others will qualify for federal tax credits.
As challenging as that initial process is expected to be for consumers and state administrators, it won’t end there. As people’s incomes shift, nearly a third of those who sign up for Medicaid in 2014 will become ineligible for the program by the end of the year, according to a study by The Urban Institute. Among those who use federal tax subsidies to buy insurance through a health insurance exchange, more than half will lose their eligibility within a year.
This phenomenon—known as “churn”—already affects millions of Medicaid recipients whose incomes fluctuate. Starting in 2014 as Medicaid eligibility rules change and new federal tax credits become available, the number of people who will be forced to switch health plans is expected to increase. In many cases, members of the same family will lose Medicaid coverage while others remain enrolled.
To mitigate the disruptive effects of churn on families and the health care providers who serve them, some states are easing application and renewal requirements so that Medicaid beneficiaries can maintain coverage for at least 12 months.
In
Presenting at last week’s annual meeting of the National Academy for State Health Policy in Baltimore, Brian Haile, director of Tennessee’s exchange initiative, said the plan is designed to “minimize the times people get a letter from us (saying they’re eligibility has changed) and maximize their focus on keeping health care coverage and staying healthy.” ...
16. “Candidates mum on fiscal cliff” (CNN Wire, October 23, 2012); story citing SEAN WEST (MPP 2006).
By Jeanne Sahadi
Remember the fiscal cliff? ...
The fiscal cliff—which hits in January—includes $7 trillion worth of tax increases and spending cuts. Among them: a reduction in non-defense spending, the expirations of a payroll tax holiday and extended unemployment benefits, and the onset of reimbursement cuts to Medicare doctors.
If Congress fails to avert the cliff, it could throw the economy back into recession next year, economists say.
The
Failure to enact a plan would mean the White House must meet the target by reducing tax expenditures and cutting mandatory and entitlement spending.
“I don’t think [the BPC
framework] will be adopted as such. But it’s a useful sketch of the type of
thing that Congress could pass to avoid the cliff,” said Sean West, the director of
17. “First-Ever Partners
in Primary Care Summit Shares Lessons from the Field” (Targeted News Service,
October 23, 2012); newswire citing TANGERINE
BRIGHAM (MPP 1990).
“Instead of being in our
parallel universes, can we recognize our common aspirations in primary care and
learn from each other?” asked Kevin Grumbach, MD,
kicking off a recent gathering at the
“President Obama said we
need more and better primary care as a fundamental goal of health reform,” Grumbach said.”... We’re here to decide: How do we lead
this national movement, beginning with our work here in the Bay Area?”
Through presentations in
the auditorium and breakout sessions, people shared their successes and
frustrations.
“I do believe the first
few years of health reform will bring a lot of frustration in terms of access,”
said Tangerine Brigham, the city’s
deputy director of health and director of Healthy
18. “SF City College money woes have long history. Faculty influence may have gotten too strong” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 21, 2012); story citing PETER GOLDSTEIN (MPP 1981); http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/SF-City-College-money-woes-have-long-history-3968316.php
--Nanette Asimov
... The system [Chancellor Evan] Dobelle started let certain faculty members—department chairs with their own labor union—for the first time make key decisions that had financial implications, such as who would teach what classes and when, and to influence hiring and tenure decisions.
The deans who formerly made those decisions retired and were not always replaced. As their numbers dwindled, they “could no longer make decisions without the approval of people lower in the structure,” said John Rizzo, the current board president.
The state’s economic
crisis hit just as [Chancellor Don Griffin] took office. Almost immediately,
Mark Robinson, the new
vice chancellor in charge of student services, presented a budget that proposed
layoffs and across-the-board cuts to the many departments in his area.
Robinson wasn’t the only administrator advocating for longer-term budget reductions....
“We cut everyone’s salary for the third year in a row,” said Peter Goldstein, vice chancellor of finance and administration. “We greatly restricted hiring, and we tried to save money through attrition.” ...
19. “Report: Students Carrying More Debt; PA. Has 2nd-Highest Total Nationwide” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 18, 2012); story citing MATTHEW REED (MPP 2007).
By Bill Schackner,
Average debt facing college graduates nationally rose 5 percent to $26,600 last year, with Pennsylvania’s total second highest among the states, according to a new report that found indebtedness varied widely even among schools with similar tuition rates.
The average student loan
debt increase across the country, $1,350, is roughly the same rate of increase
as seen the past few years, according to the report released today from the
Project on Student Debt at The Institute
for College Access and Success in
Two-thirds of the Class of 2011 carried loans, with private debt accounting for a fifth of the dollar total....
The Institute, a nonprofit research and advocacy group promoting college access and affordability, said debt levels are influenced campus-to-campus not only by tuition and fees but by such factors as availability of need-based institutional and government assistance, campus financial aid policies and cost-of-living expenses in a given area.
“I think it’s always striking how much variation there is among the states and colleges and that it’s not just related to tuition,” said Matthew Reed, the report’s principal author. “When students and families are looking at colleges, it’s important to look beyond tuition and fees, or the sticker price of attendance, and to consider net price, the full cost of attendance including tuition and fees plus other costs including room and board, minus average grants and scholarships.”
The Institute said the recession and state budget cuts to public colleges have accelerated debt increases, but federal Pell grant increases and other gains in government and institutional aid have helped offset that trend....
[Another story citing Matthew Reed appeared in the <a
href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/education/report-says-average-student-loan-debt-is-up-to-26500.html?_r=3&ref=education“>New
20. “
--Matthai Kuruvila
Crime in
So on Tuesday, when
Police Chief Howard Jordan delivered a report to the City Council that read in
part, “
Notably missing from
However, she and her staff insisted the plan is still in place.
On Wednesday, Quan’s chief of staff, Anne
“The catchy name is
gone,”
21. “Californians Overwhelmingly Support Recent School Meals Overhaul; Students Say Lunches are Getting Better” (Targeted News Service (USA), October 18, 2012); newswire citing DAVE METZ (MPP 1998).
After being read a short description of the standards, 82 percent of students say they support the changes. In a separate survey, parents reported even stronger approval, with 91 percent expressing support....
“These are blockbuster results that validate the hard work of developing and implementing these updated nutrition standards. Students like the healthier meals, packed with fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. And it’s not just about taste. Healthy meals help students succeed in the classroom and teach them the benefits of a healthy diet. That’s why we say ‘Health Happens in Schools.’ If today’s students eat better and live healthier, we all benefit over the long run, in lower obesity and diabetes rates, reduced health care costs, and improved academic performance,” said Judi Larsen, Program Manager for The California Endowment....
“It is simply not true
that students are rejecting the new school lunches, either because they’re too
small or for any other reason,” said Dave
Metz, a partner at Maslin, Maullin, Metz, &
Associates, the public opinion research agency that conducted the survey on
behalf of The Endowment. “To the contrary, there is overwhelming evidence that
22. “FADING DREAMS;
Hard-up colleges turn to donors; Community campuses face challenges in trying
to follow a path long traveled by four-year universities” (Los Angeles Times,
October 18, 2012); story citing CATHERINE
HAZELTON (MPP 2005).
By Larry Gordon
Many colleges seek
donations for new construction or scholarships.
The school is seeking
donations from alumni and others to restore some of the 570 classes it planned
to cut this academic year. The campaign, launched in April, has received about
$89,400 in donations, and the school is also devoting $106,000 from savings
resulting from some cost cuts, officials said.
The result: 35 classes
are being revived in such high-demand fields as biology, political science and
psychology.
Beyond the effect on
that 30,000-student campus, the effort highlights how community colleges around
the state and nation are increasingly courting donors and reconnecting with
their alumni—tasks often neglected when state funds were more plentiful....
Catherine Hazelton attended PCC in the 1990s and went on to earn a
bachelor’s degree from
“I was really struck by
the idea that classes were being cut at the school I attended, and that this
transformative experience I had may not be available to other students,” said Hazelton, a senior program officer at the
James Irvine Foundation. “It just captured me emotionally and made me want
to give.”
So, with a personal
donation and a grant from the
23. “Liberal v. Liberal. Two progressives, Rob Bonta and Abel Guillen, are squaring off in the 18th Assembly District race” (East Bay Express, October 17, 2012); story citing ABEL GUILLEN (MPP 2001); http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/liberal-v-liberal/Content?oid=3365371
By Steven Tavares
Because of
Both, for example, want to eliminate the two-thirds majority to raise taxes in the state Legislature. Improving education is a top priority, they say, as is reducing crime. How would they increase revenue to the state’s coffers? Enact an oil severance tax....
As for Guillen, his progressive credentials were established early in the primary season. With the Occupy Oakland protesters marching in the streets, Guillen garnered attention when he successfully moved the Peralta Community Colleges District board to approve moving its assets out of major banks and into smaller community-based institutions. His efforts won plaudits from many progressives, especially younger voters.
Guillen’s populist tendencies of
late also have become even more pronounced. During a forum last month in
[Abel Guillen was endorsed by the East Bay Express in the primary election and again in the general election.]
24. “Endorsements Part
II: Vote Bates, Capitelli, and
In
25. “Why Apple won’t
make iPhones and iPads in
the
By Mike Cassidy
Smart piece by All
Things D’s Arik Hesseldahl
about the presidential debate question on manufacturing and why it doesn’t make
sense for Apple to move the assembly of iPads and iPhones back to the
The July 2011 report by the University of California researchers that Hesseldahl referred to is worth a look for anyone who’s interested in this argument — an argument that seems never ending, in political campaigns, at the kitchen table at the local bar (not so much at the local Apple Store).
Hesseldahl noted that the report shows that no more than $10 of the cost of an iPhone or an iPad actually goes to Chinese workers, which is the headline. But wait. There’s more.
What Kenneth L. Kraemer,
of UC-Irvine; Greg Linden, of
UC-Berkeley and Jason Dedrick of
“When we started this, our
whole line of reasoning was, ‘Well, this stuff is getting manufactured in
But in some ways, the
question might be irrelevant. Bringing assembly back to the
26. “GPO Partners with
Treasury Department on Public Access to Digital Collections” (Targeted News
Service, October 17, 2012); newswire citing NANI COLORETTI (MPP 1994).
Over the next year,
additional historical documents within the Treasury’s library collection will
be made available on FDsys, including the Official
Register of the United States: 1829-1861; 1879-1959, a publication with
information about the Federal workforce, including the name of every employee,
their job title, state or country of birth, the location of their post, and
their annual salary....
“Treasury is committed
to answering President Obama’s call to create a more efficient and effective
government through greater transparency, participation, and collaboration,”
said Treasury Acting Assistant Secretary
for Management Nani Coloretti.
“Our partnership with GPO to provide more of Treasury’s valuable library
resources online is an exciting next step in fostering a culture of openness
when interacting with the public.”
27. “On ballots: Has
pro-marijuana camp found way to win over
By Patrik Jonsson, Staff Writer
The
failure of Prop. 19 – a
Yet
judging by three new pot legalization proposals now on ballots in
Instead, pro-legalization groups including the ACLU studied exit polling, conducted their own focus group research, found moderate spokesmen, and tweaked proposals to try to build “trust” with a middle America that has grown steadily more accepting of pot use, yet, as Prop. 19 showed, remains wary of the impact of making the drug legal.
Three weeks ahead of Election Day, it now appears that at least one of those initiatives – Initiative 105 in Washington State – is heading toward passage, with some 57 percent of likely voters now backing the measure, according to a Survey USA poll taken in September....
“I think these campaigns
did learn a lot from the Prop. 19 experience,” says Beau Kilmer, co-director of the RAND
Corporation’s
“There were a lot of meetings after the fact and there’s some serious money [involved], all of which makes it easier to tease out potential liabilities and run a campaign where you’re doing focus groups and you have lots of televised advertisements.” ...
Other results could whittle away support for legalization, contends Mr. Kilmer at RAND. Lower prices – which would be inevitable if pot could be grown legally as an agricultural product – may drive more usage in other states and could seriously reduce expected tax receipts from legal weed sales, all of which may raise federal ire....
28. “Comparing plans? Check the details” (Oregonian, October 14, 2012); column citing JULIETTE CUBANSKI (MPP 1998/MPH 1999).
By Brent Hunsberger
To hear the presidential candidates tell it, Medicare seems either on the cusp of a massive stroke, miraculously on the mend, or undergoing an intense fact-checking colonoscopy.
As if Medicare open enrollment season isn’t taxing enough. This is the period between Oct. 14 and Dec. 7 when people 65 and older can switch providers of their comprehensive health and drug coverage.
Don’t worry, at least not yet. This year’s Medicare open-enrollment season promises much less drama than the 2012 election....
Seniors who spend a lot on prescription drugs will save a bit more, courtesy of the Affordable Care Act. Some plans have even cut monthly premiums....
With so many new baby boomers turning 65—more than 1 million a year nationally—providers are pricing premiums more attractively. They know that once they get a customer, they’re likely to keep that customer a long time, said Juliette Cubanski, associate director of Kaiser Family Foundation’s Medicare policy program....
29. “Broaden the base. Don’t touch the rates” (The Reality-Based Community, October 13, 2012); blog citing ERIC PATASHNIK (MPP 1989).
By Harold Pollack
Governor Romney has proposed cutting federal income tax rates by 20 percent, and paying for this by removing various loopholes and deductions. The math doesn’t add up, which is a problem. Even if the revenue numbers did work, “broaden the base, lower the rates” provides a seductive but poor guide to tax policy....
... Today’s marginal tax rates are lower than they were a quarter-century ago. Moreover, even if one managed to broaden the tax base, various loopholes and deductions for individuals and corporations would find their way back into the tax code. That’s exactly what happened to the 1986 tax reform. It was well-crafted as a piece of static policy. It was not well-designed to mobilize friendly constituencies or to construct institutional defenses that would make that worthy law politically sustainable.
Perhaps a transparent dollar cap on deductions-the most interesting policy idea Romney has proposed-would work better. Yet as Eric Patashnik’s terrific book Reforms at Risk: What happens after major policy changes are enacted makes clear, the overall approach pursued in 1986 politically unravelled. The most likely outcome today would be to lower the rates, and then to gradually allow new tax breaks into the code, balloon the deficit, and frame political debate around the idea that marginal tax rates must be as low as possible....
30. “Oct 12 letters to the editor: Support Guillen for Assembly” (Oakland Tribune, October 12, 2012); Letter to Editor citing ABEL GUILLEN (MPP 2001); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21753875?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
... Bonta wants to leave his City Council seat only months after winning it. I am always a little suspicious of politicians who too eagerly jump from one post to another. It seems like their ambition is bigger than their desire to serve the public who elected them....
My vote goes to Abel Guillen.
I think he is a very community-spirited man who will serve
I will always appreciate
the commitment he showed to our youngest
I wholeheartedly endorse Abel Guillen. I will vote for him Nov. 6 and encourage my friends and family to do the same.
Angie Watson-Hajjem
31. “Software Calculates City-Specific Carbon Footprint” (Morning Edition, National Public Radio, October 11, 2012); interview with KEVIN GURNEY (MPP 1996).
... CHRISTOPHER JOYCE: One way to measure greenhouse gases is simply to capture them at the source. You put an instrument on a smokestack, for example. But cities are full of cars, buses, factories and homes. They all use fuel or electricity but no one really knows how much carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, comes from each. Ecologist Kevin Gurney says he can find out.
KEVIN GURNEY: If a molecule of CO2 is coming from the surface due to the combustion of fossil fuel, I want to know about it.
CHRISTOPHER JOYCE: A lot
of mayors want to know too. Hundreds have pledged to reduce their city’s
greenhouse gas emissions, but current measurements from satellites and
monitoring stations mostly lump together emissions sources for a whole city or
county. At
KEVIN GURNEY: We look at the landscape as if you were in an airplane, and look down at everything that’s burning fossil fuel.
CHRISTOPHER JOYCE: What
he does is collect piles of information about a city’s energy diet—from
utilities, transportation departments, air-pollution
monitors. When he analyzed
KEVIN GURNEY: We can actually see, through CO2, people waking up, leaving their homes, getting in their cars, going to work. They move from sector to sector.
CHRISTOPHER JOYCE: And
the emissions level moves with them. Gurney
calls his toolkit Hestia after the Greek goddess of the hearth and home. In
The Hestia program is
described in the journal Environmental
Science and Technology. Gurney
says besides
32. “Friends of Northern Lake tout ‘action’ at meeting” (St. Albans Messenger (VT), October 11, 2012); story citing KARI DOLAN (MPP 1990).
By Jessie Forand; Messenger Staff Writer
SWANTON - Action was the theme of Wednesday nights’ annual meeting of the Friends of Northern Lake Champlain’s (FNLC) annual meeting....
Kari Dolan, of [the Agency of Natural Resources], said that Tropical Storm Irene damages last year showed the state has a level of vulnerability. She said that Act 138—dealing with flood planning—would determine new ways to work with communities to improve water quality challenges as well.
The tasks at hand, Dolan continued, included asking what will be done, determining the magnitude of the costs involved, who will do the work, and from where the money will come.
A planned series of state meetings, consultations, and workshops to be held throughout the state offer the public the opportunity for more input and to learn more.
“Whoever wants to talk to me, I’m willing to listen,” she said....
33. “Legislation, money may be needed for health law” (The Lowell Sun, October 11, 2012); story citing KEVIN BEAGAN (MPP/MPH 1988).
By Matt Murphy – State House News Service
The state’s effort to control health care costs depends in part on encouraging providers and insurers to move away from the standard fee-for-service care delivery system and towards an integrated risk-bearing organization model with better coordination between primary care and other providers. Critics of the fee-for-service system say its financial incentives favor an overuse of testing and procedures.
The well-attended briefing Wednesday morning featured updates from a panel of administration officials, including [Health and Human Services Secretary Judy Ann] Bigby, [Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay] Gonzalez, Medicaid Director Julian Harris, Health Insurance Connector Authority Director Glen Shor, Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Barbara Anthony, Division of Health Care Finance and Policy Director Aron Boros, Deputy Insurance Commissioner Kevin Beagan, Mental Health Commissioner Marcia Fowler, and Maydad Cohen, from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development....
Beagan, noting insurers paid out $56 million in June to subscribers for failure to meet medical loss spending goals, said DOI has a third information session scheduled for Friday as the state tries to implement a new certification process to high risk-bearing providers that strikes the right balance between over- and under-regulation....
34. “Affirmative action back before the Supreme Court. As the justices deliberate Fisher v University of Texas, I hope they hear that affirmative action is working for a fairer America” (Guardian [UK], October 10, 2012); op-ed by VIJAY DAS (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/10/affirmative-action-before-supreme-court
--Vijay Das guardian.co.uk
... [Abigail] Fisher
contends that the
The facts tell a
different story. The university makes only limited use of race in its admission
decisions. Most undergraduates are admitted through a state law that guarantees
the top 10% of state high school graduates entrance to a state university.
Fisher did not qualify.
This use of race complies with the court’s rulings. The landmark Grutter decision gives universities the freedom to consider race as one factor for admission in order to promote diversity and recruit under-represented minorities. With a rapidly growing minority population and a globalizing economy, the university has a legitimate interest to fulfil: recruiting a highly-qualified and representative student body and to prepare all of their students for a global workforce....
Opponents argue that
considering race in admissions is no longer necessary. Yet, even though Barack
Obama now lives at
Instead of employing diversity
tactics that don’t work, let’s reconsider race in admissions as
35. “
By Amanda Covarrubias
A proposal to lay off
nearly half the police force in the High Sierra town of
The Mammoth Lakes Town Council proposal calls for eliminating 13 municipal positions, including seven of 17 sworn officers, as part of an effort to pay a settlement reached with a developer on a breach-of-contract judgment.
Facing a judgment far
larger than its annual budget, the resort town of 7,500 permanent residents
filed for bankruptcy June 2.
The town is already
developing strategies to mitigate the loss of sworn officers with volunteers
and a police reserve program,
36. “Presidential campaigns target new citizen voters” (The Associated Press, October 9, 2012); story by GARANCE BURKE (MPP 2005/MJ 2004); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21730245/va-ex-rep-goode-may-pose-risk-romney?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press
In
In
“The trick with politics is to get to people early, so what you want to do is make sure that your party gets in on the ground floor of any new citizen’s thinking,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. “So instead of meeting people at the docks like the political machines of a century ago, political parties and campaigns are meeting potential voters right after they take the oath.” ...
In
South Carolina Gov.
Nikki Haley, who is Indian-American, has campaigned for Romney multiple times
in northern
“That part of
37. “Jobs, the Economy, and the Presidential Race” (Forum, KQED public radio, October 8, 2012); program featuring MICHAEL LINDEN (MPP 2007); Listen to the program
President Obama had one welcome bright spot in a week when challenger Mitt Romney was widely considered to have won their first debate: the jobs report. The nation’s unemployment rate is at the lowest level since the month Obama took office, according to the latest Labor Department report. We’ll talk about the state of the economy and the two candidates’ economic plans.
Guests:
-
- Michael Linden, director of tax and budget policy at the Center for American Progress
- Tammy Frisby, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at
38. “Monterey Downs to create jobs” (Monterey County Herald, October 8, 2012); story citing JAMES EDISON (MPP/JD 1997).
By Virginia Hennessey
The proposed Monterey
Downs development would bring between 1,400 and 1,800 non-equestrian,
non-construction jobs to
Monterey Downs managing partner Brian Boudreau said the estimates do not include at least 1,200 jobs that are expected to come with the project’s horse-training and racetrack operation. The study also excluded 500 daily construction jobs expected to be created over a 10-year period.
Countering oft-repeated assertions that the jobs will be low-paying, Boudreau said that although Willdan Financial Services is still calculating the average pay of most of the jobs, even the lowest-paid, non-management restaurant workers would make between $19,000 and $55,000 a year, not including tips.
The estimates are for full-time equivalent jobs, so actual positions could be higher. Among the totals, consultant James Edison estimated 189 in retail; 640 in offices; 800 in two hotel-convention centers; 67 in restaurants; 23 for the theater; 14 at the tennis-swim center; and 75 in a possible cultural museum highlighting the history of Fort Ord or jazz in Monterey County....
39. “NERC budget does not clarify its legal authority, priorities, key electricity group says” (Inside F.E.R.C., October 8, 2012); story citing ALLEN MOSHER (MPP 1978).
By Martin Coyne
The $52.25 million FY-13 budget for the North American Electric Reliability Corp. fails to adequately define the organization’s responsibilities or priorities, the Edison Electric Institute said last month.
“While EEI appreciates that the 2013 budget provides for a lesser increase than the 2012 budget increase, EEI believes that NERC’s proposed 2013 business plan and budget does not represent sufficient progress in defining the scope of NERC’s responsibilities or prioritizing its functions,” the investor-owned utility trade group said in September 28 comments to FERC (RR12-13)....
Meanwhile, the American Public Power Association, which represents municipally owned utilities, was generally supportive of the NERC budget plan....
While NERC is making strides in its compliance and enforcement activities to focus on the most significant violations of reliability standards, the ERO’s process for setting those standards is still too cumbersome, allowed Allen Mosher, policy analysis director at APPA.
Still, “NERC will be reassessing in 2013 what are the outer limits of Section 215,” Mosher added.
40. “President Obama gets chastized over wind turbine energy” (Portland Examiner, October 7, 2012); editorial citing ROB GRAMLICH (MPP 1995).
President Obama was criticized during a debate with Governor Mitt Romney for investing $16.4 billion, in solar and wind turbine energy technology and providing tax breaks. Many trade professionals argue both sides of of the issue.
Wind technology is based on sufficient amounts of wind to propel the windmills which determine the speed and energy output. If little or no wind happens then little or no energy is created....
The advantage of windmills is that its resource is non-depletable, produces little or no pollution, and is independent of the rising fuels costs....
According to the Small Wind Turbine Industry, other disadvantages are the high cost of the windmills and reliability....
With variable amounts of stored energy produced from windmills, Darren Brady, VP of EnerNOC, and Rob Gramlich, VP of American Wind Energy Association, suggest that technology that consumes energy be improved to use less energy and have economy energy stages that predict down-time....
41. “Rachel Maddow Show for October 5, 2012” (MSNBC, October 5, 2012); story citing HARLEY FRAZIS (MPP 1981/PhD).
RACHEL MADDOW, HOST: ...Today, the unemployment rate dropped from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent. It didn’t drop for any of the bad reasons that the unemployment rate sometimes drops. It dropped for the good reasons. It was actually a pretty good jobs report which, of course, to the right is terrible news.
So they have chosen to not believe the new jobs numbers. The first place this blew up today was on Twitter.
The former CEO of
General Electric, Jack Welch ... tweeted, quote, “Unbelievable jobs numbers.
These
Jack Welch accusing the Obama campaign of manipulating—I mean, accusing the White House of manipulating this month’s jobs data so it would look better for the president....
[Video Clips]
ERIC BOLLING, FOX NEWS: Let me do this. Guys, pull up the full screen, something we found out today. We did our home work a little bit. The Bureau of Labor statistics full screen if you can show that.
There are at least two. Harley Frazis and Stephen Phillips that work at the Bureau of Labor Statistics currently who both have been donors to the Obama campaign....
JARED BERNSTEIN, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities: ... [BLS] is a venerable institution. You know, they’ve been putting out reports for well over 50 years and there’s never been any allegation or any substance to a claim like that at all.
In fact, I was trying to remember there was something and it was back in 2008. The Bureau of Labor Statistics mistakenly released a report 25 seconds early and, boy, heads rolled and they had to do a whole investigation of the data release procedure.
I mean, this is an agency that, where statistical integrity is above all. If I took you through some of the procedures, the encryption, the discipline—I mean, when they have meetings they put paper over the windows. Janitors aren’t allowed to empty their waste baskets until the reports are released.
So if you are going to make an allegation like Jack Welch made, you better have some really solid evidence. He had not even un-solid evidence. He had nothing....
42. “Forum Weighs School-Funding Measures: 2 Propositions on Ballot Called ‘Confusing’ for Voters” (Press Democrat, October 5, 2012); story citing EDGAR CABRAL (MPP 2005).
By Kerry Benefield/ The Press Democrat
Two competing tax
measures that backers promise will fortify flagging education funding in
Representatives from the Public Policy Institute of California and the California Legislative Analyst’s Office gave an overview of Proposition 30, which is backed by Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Teachers Association, and Proposition 38, which is supported by civil rights attorney Molly Munger and the California State PTA.
The two propositions on the Nov. 6 ballot have vied for voter attention and support while battling for similar voting bases....
Officials on Thursday said that both propositions require 50 percent plus one vote to succeed, but that if both pass, the proposition with the most votes will be enacted.
Still others believe that if both pass, elements of the secondary proposition could also be enacted.
“The real answer? It goes to court,” said Edgar Cabral, an analyst with the Legislative Analyst’s Office....
43. “Senate Fails to
Override Port Authority Bill Veto” (Herald News (
By Michael Linhorst, State House Bureau
Six Republican state
senators ... voted in March to allow greater public oversight of the Port
Authority of New York and
Without any Republican votes, the Senate failed to override the veto....
The bill tried to increase transparency in the Port Authority by mandating independent audits of the agency and requiring it to hold at least 10 public hearings anytime it wants to increase a fare, toll or other charge....
Christie had argued that the legislation’s reforms should apply to a number of other agencies in addition to the Port Authority, including the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
Democrats countered that
under Christie’s suggested changes, the reforms could no longer apply to the Port
Authority itself. The agency is only subject to state laws if identical
legislation is passed in both
State Sen. Robert Gordon, D-
The bill came as the Port Authority was taking heat for regularly increasing its fees.
The most recent increase, on Monday, boosted PATH tickets by 25 cents, or 12.5 percent, to $2.25. Bridge and tunnel tolls are scheduled to increase 75 cents in December, with automatic increases set to kick in each of the next three years....
44. Piedmont/Montclair letters to the editor: “Like public services? Renew parcel tax” (Contra Costa Times, October 4, 2012); Letter to Editor by ABE FRIEDMAN (MPP/JD 1998); http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21697934?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
... When I think about
Abe Friedman, former Piedmont Mayor,
45. “Prop. 36: Yes, because it improves ‘three strikes’ law” (San Diego Union Tribune, October 3, 2012); op-ed by VIJAY DAS (MPP cand. 2013); http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/03/prop-36-yes-because-it-improves-three-strikes-law/?page=1#article
By Vijay Das
... After working
alongside law enforcement and gang-prevention workers in South Los Angeles, I
know the
Gov. Brown’s
well-intended prison realignment fails to address the reason we are only now
second to
Das is a graduate student at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. He spent his summer conducting research for a Washington-based organization that offers criminal justice recommendations for the nation’s governors.
46. “Perspectives: Animal Nation. Paul Staley says it isn’t just elephants and donkeys going to the polls on election day” (KQED Public Radio, October 2, 2012); commentary by PAUL STALEY (MPP 1980); Listen to this Perspective
By Paul
Staley
It seems that every four years we find ourselves at the same crossroads, facing a choice that is at once both significant and distressingly familiar: Do we vote for the donkeys or the elephants? ...
But our traditional party symbols may not be the best expression of what we are saying when we vote. A choice between an animal best known for stubbornness on one hand, and one with a reputation for exceptional memory on the other, overlooks other animal-like traits that we possess....
Some narratives about the election would lend support to a more biological reframing of the contest. According to one view, we are choosing between producers and parasites. But upon further inspection, this description doesn’t work as well as its advocates might hope. Remember, bacteria break down larger organisms into smaller components, and after all, isn’t that what private equity companies do? ...
Paul Staley works for housing
non-profit. He lives in
47. “Pass on Ross Mirkarimi vote? Not so fast” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 2, 2012); story citing DAVID LATTERMAN (MPP 2002); http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Pass-on-Ross-Mirkarimi-vote-Not-so-fast-3910868.php#ixzz28A5DtUxX
--John Coté
As much as some may want to, it may not be that simple for a supervisor to duck the upcoming vote on whether suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi should be removed from office.
The issue has been swirling for months, particularly after Supervisor Christina Olague said she may have to recuse herself when reporters questioned her in June about whether she had spoken to Mayor Ed Lee about seeking Mirkarimi’s ouster....
Any recusal helps Mirkarimi try to keep his job. Lee needs votes from at least nine of 11 supervisors for removal. If one or more supervisors are recused, the mayor still needs nine votes. The recusal of three supervisors from the vote would guarantee the sheriff would be reinstated.
But getting to that point would be extremely difficult, not to mention the political pitfalls from avoiding a high-stakes vote, political observers said.
“For anyone to recuse themselves at all, it won’t be taken kindly by the
electorate,” said David Latterman, a political consultant and lecturer at the
48. “S.F. cracks down on camping in RVs” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 2, 2012); column citing CARMEN CHU (MPP 2003); http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/S-F-cracks-down-on-camping-in-RVs-3910865.php#ixzz28ACkVYFq
--C.W. Nevius, Chronicle Columnist
On one hand it is easy to sympathize with the owners of motor homes who live on the city’s streets....
Unfortunately, RVs line
the curb along Oak and Fell streets next to
Finding a park for motor
home owners might be a good idea—some city staffers have floated the idea of a
test location on
Supervisor Carmen Chu, who sponsored the bill with Supervisor Malia Cohen, says the issues are scarce parking and illegal storage of recreational vehicles. But she knows that the most controversial part of the legislation means people who live in RVs must find another solution.
“Traditionally, vehicularly housed individuals have been very difficult to get into city services,” she said. “We are hoping that this will get these people to them.” ...
49. “Letters to the editor on wind subsidy, political books, Johnson’s words” (Wichita Eagle, October 1, 2012); Letter to Editor citing ANAT SHENKER-OSORIO (MPP 2005).
New metaphors
I’d love for folks to read two books that were released this election year.
“Don’t Buy It,” by Anat Shenker-Osorio, examines the conceptual metaphors we use to discuss the economy. She advocates using the metaphor “the economy is a constructed object.” If we discuss the economy as a bus, then it makes sense to choose a caring and safe driver who makes sure everyone is on board before moving forward. This metaphor reflects actual aspects of the economy, namely that it was created by people, that it goes off track without competent guidance, and that it requires continual maintenance....
GRADY KALLENBACH,
50. “GSA Tests Innovative Building Technologies, Aims for Savings” (Targeted News Service, September 27, 2012); newswire citing DOROTHY ROBYN (MPP 1978/PhD 1983).
“This innovative program is another example of GSA leading the way for the federal government,” said Dorothy Robyn, Commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service. “By testing the effectiveness of these technologies, GSA is finding new ways that federal buildings across the nation can save both energy and taxpayer dollars.” ...
The Responsive Lighting study evaluated the performance of new workstation-specific lighting systems.... Results showed energy savings that ranged from approximately 27 to 63 percent over baseline conditions depending on the work space’s normal use. Lighting accounts for 39 percent of electricity costs in office buildings.
The Plug Load Control study evaluated advanced power strips (APS) in eight GSA buildings in the MidAtlantic region. These power strips save energy by controlling plug-in devices according to a schedule or based on a given device crossing a power threshold. Results showed the APS’ schedule based capability to be highly effective, reducing plug loads at workstations by 26 percent, and nearly 50 percent in kitchens and printer rooms. This technology could significantly reduce costs, as plug-loads account for roughly 25 percent of total....
51. “Size, not weight, matters in cars” (Washington Times, September 27, 2012); Letter to Editor by LUKE TONACHEL (MPP 2004).
Recently announced new
fuel-efficiency standards will preserve driver safety in addition to saving
Americans money at the pump, reducing our dependence on oil and decreasing
harmful carbon pollution. The
Vehicle size is what matters when it comes to safety. In 2008, federal regulators first implemented size-based standards and rejected a weight-based system. Size, they found, is the critical factor for designing vehicles with needed crumple zones and strategically placed, high-strength materials that protect drivers and passengers. Simply adding weight does not necessarily improve safety. Conversely, removing weight while maintaining size can make a safe car use less gas.
Under the current and new fuel efficiency standards, automakers are encouraged to maintain the size of vehicles in their fleets and add fuel-saving engines and transmissions, and strong, lightweight structures that cut fuel consumption but keep cars safe. Bottom line: Increased fuel efficiency and safe passenger vehicles can go hand in hand.
LUKE TONACHEL,
52. “Options weighed for rapid bus lanes” (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 23, 2012); story citing WENDY STERN (MPP 1974).
By Tom Fontaine
Developing rapid bus
service between Downtown and
“If you add a bus lane, you could reduce transit times. But taking away a parking lane (to make room for the extra bus lane) could hurt the economy and affect residents,” said Darryl C. Phillips, a Pittsburgh-based traffic engineer from the firm Parsons Brinckerhoff.
The engineering firm,
Port Authority and dozens of community groups are looking for ways to shorten
commute times and spur development between the city’s two biggest commercial
and cultural centers, with possible connections into the Hill District and
Wendy Stern, assistant general manager at Port Authority, said, “We have some very real constraints, from the width of streets in some areas to financial constraints. We have to figure out how to work through them.” ...
53. “County’s Big Cities Short on Funding Pensions All fail at coming close to recommended 80% covered by investments” (U-T San Diego (CA), September 23, 2012); analysis citing TRACY GORDON (MPP 1996/PhD 2001).
By Matt Clark, U-T
None of the pension plans of San Diego County’s largest cities have funding levels reaching the 80 percent minimum pension experts commonly recommend, a review of the plans’ financial documents shows.
The review found some of the plans have as little as 51.8 percent of their projected future retirement payouts covered by investments, and none have funded levels greater than 69.2 percent. All told, the 11 cities project owing $3.3 billion more than is covered by their investments....
The city’s annual required pension contribution topped $256 million in fiscal 2012, or 22.7 percent of its budget for general city services. The pension cost has strained the city’s budget for services, including library and recreation center hours and police and fire protection.
Similar pension
obligations have contributed to the recent bankruptcies of
Determining what other agencies may declare bankruptcy is a challenge municipal finance experts are currently undertaking, said Tracy Gordon, an expert in state and local government finances at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
“Trying to assess any government’s fiscal position in terms of one silver bullet that tells you the fiscal health of a local government, there really isn’t one,” Gordon said. “There are a number factors and pensions are just only one of them.” ...
54. “Compton bond ratings suspended” (Compton Bulletin, September 19, 2012); story citing LISA SCHROEER (MPP 2005).
By Chris Frost, Bulletin Staff Writer
The dilemma began on Thursday, Dec 1, 2011, when Mayor Eric J. Perrodin sent a letter to State Controller John Chiang alleging waste, fraud and abuse of public money in the city, which prompted Audit Firm Mayer Hoffman McCann to walk away from the 2010-2011 single audit report and issue a disclaimer of opinion, which means the firm did not feel it could release an opinion on Compton’s financial position due to a lack of evidence regarding the allegations made by the mayor....
The disclaimer of
opinion landed
The city must complete an independent audit no later than 90 days after being placed on CreditWatch....
“They want to know where we are in regards to the audit,” he said. Duffey read a statement released by Standard and Poor’s Analyst Lisa Schroeer.
“We understand that management is working to get the 2010-2011 audit reevaluated and have the allegations of fraud and abuse addressed,” Duffey said. “Standard and Poor’s may reinstate the city’s ratings after public release and analysis of financial statements, in the opinion of an independent auditor, fairly represent the financial position of the city.” ...
55. “Abt Associates holds a discussion on ‘The Intersection of Housing Policy and Health: Policy Options to Improve health for Vulnerable Populations’” (The Washington Daybook, September 12, 2012); event featuring CAROL WILKINS (MPP 1983).
LOCATION: National Press
Club, 14th and F Streets NW, Murrow,
PARTICIPANTS: Principal Deputy Assistant HHS Secretary Donald Moulds; Federal Housing Administration Commissioner and Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing Carol Galante; HUD Senior Adviser to the Deputy Secretary Estelle Richman; Bill Kelly, executive director of Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future; Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Ann O’Hara, co-founder and associate director of Technical Assistance Collaborative; Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors; Barbara Sard, vice president for housing policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Carol Wilkins, expert and consultant on supportive housing and health; Jill Khadduri, principal associate and senior fellow at Abt Associates; and Jennifer Ho, deputy director at the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness....
56. “Wind power
direction in question—Stronger, lighter materials offer more potential for
BY Tux Turkel - The
The trend toward “turbine scaling” means wind power can make economic sense at lower elevations and in places that don’t have the highest wind speeds, said Mark Bolinger of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory....
Bolinger spoke during the first day of the American Wind Energy Association’s regional summit, which drew about 400 people to the Portland Marriott at Sable Oaks....
His optimistic outlook
on demand in
Rob Gramlich, the association’s senior vice president for public policy, said the industry is lobbying Congress with this message: The tax breaks won’t be needed forever but are vital now to save 37,000 jobs. To finance projects and lock down permits, developers need 18 months of certainty on taxes, he said.
That message is getting through, Gramlich said. Last month, the Senate’s Finance Committee passed a package to extend the credit and a related provision for projects that start construction by the end of 2013. The industry’s hope now is that, after the election Nov. 6, a lame-duck Congress will extend the credit as part of a broad package of tax issues....
57. “Weak jobs report made worse by leaner government payrolls - With fewer than 100,000 new jobs, August dampened hopes for a rebounding jobs market. One big culprit: governments are not hiring like they used to” (The Miami Herald, September 7, 2012); analysis citing TRACY GORDON (MPP 1996/2001).
By Douglas Hanks
... The national employment numbers would have been a bit better if not for August’s continued dip in government hiring. Private employers added 103,000 jobs, while public employers lost 7,000 jobs. That’s part of a long-running trend in the recovery. Private employers have added jobs for the last 22 months, but government employers have added jobs only twice in the same stretch....
All recent recoveries saw public hiring boosting employment at this period in the economic cycle. Downturns at the start of the 1990s and 2000s saw government employment up between 4 and 8 percent across the country by this point, roughly 54 months after the start of the recession, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution. The severe double-dip recession at the start of the 1980s saw government jobs take a dive, too, but public payrolls had recovered their losses by now.
But in this recession,
government payrolls across the
Tracy Gordon, the Brookings fellow who wrote the analysis, said the severity of this recession is to blame for the extended loss in government jobs — particularly the plunge in real estate values. “What’s unusual is this reduction in property taxes,’’ she said.
And while past recessions saw governments at all level make up for lost revenue by increasing taxes and fees, there was less of that this time, Gordon said.
“Despite being hit by a bigger meteor, they relied less on that typical response” of tax increases, she said....
58. “Close Encounters with Homo Sapiens’ Closest Kin” (The New York Times, September 5, 2012); blog citing DUANE SILVERSTEIN (MPP 1980); http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/close-encounters-with-homo-sapiens-closest-kin/
By Andrew C. Revkin – Dot Earth
A mother gorilla and her baby in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda. (Photo: Duane Silverstein)
In recent months I’ve become familiar with the work of the nonprofit group Seacology, which scours the world for opportunities to conserve island ecosystems and cultures. Investments are made in infrastructure—from solar panels to school equipment or medical clinics—in return for community commitments to protect environmental assets. Duane Silverstein, the group’s executive director since 1999, recently sent a Dot Earth “postcard” following a visit to two different projects in sub-Saharan Africa working to conserve Homo sapiens’ primate kin, chimpanzees and gorillas:
I recently returned from
The Ngamba
Chimp Sanctuary provides 98 acres of protected habitat for 42 chimps who were
orphaned and in many cases terribly abused by human beings. Providing sanctuary
to such abused animals is the least we can do for our closest relatives in the
animal kingdom. The sanctuary is headed by Lilly Ajarova,
the executive director, and Dr. Joshua Rukundu, the
chief veterinarian. Both of these incredibly competent and dedicated people
hail from
59. “Health Plan Takes Shape—Two Bills Sent to Governor Define Minimum Benefits under Federal Overhaul” (San Jose Mercury News, September 2, 2012); story citing CARY SANDERS (MPP 2002).
By Emily Bazar,
State lawmakers last week sent two bills to the governor that identify the services health insurance plans must cover starting in 2014 for individuals and small businesses.
The measures—SB 951 by state Sen. Ed Hernandez D-West Covina, and AB 1453 by Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel—define what are called “essential health benefits” under the federal health care overhaul and will fundamentally transform the kind of insurance Californians will buy....
The federal government has required that essential health benefits include services within 10 broad categories, such as “maternity and newborn care” and “prescription drugs.”
It gave states the flexibility to refine those broad categories by choosing an existing health care plan as a benchmark come 2014. In essence, the benefits and services in that benchmark plan will make up the state’s essential health benefits....
Health advocates expressed support for the essential health benefits package but say some critical services will remain uncovered.
“We’re really excited to
see the addition of mental health and substance abuse treatment. Those are
services that have been left out” in the past, said
But while vision and dental benefits for children will be covered, the federal guidelines don’t require that coverage for adults, she said. “We didn’t get everything we wanted, but it’s a very good first step,” she said....
60. “Hard to Grin While Bearing Cuts in Medicaid Dental Coverage” (The New York Times, August 29, 2012); story citing SHELLY GEHSHAN (MPP 1985).
By Abby Goodnough
At the same time, there
are shortages of dentists in many poor and rural communities, according to the
‘‘It’s penny-wise and pound-foolish,’’ said Shelly Gehshan, the director of the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign. ‘‘Rather than an $80 extraction or a $300 filling, states are spending much more on emergency room visits that can’t fix the problem.’’
Citing safety concerns,
dental associations have fought efforts to allow dental therapists—midlevel
providers with more training than hygienists but less than dentists—to do
common procedures like filling cavities and pulling teeth. Currently, only
But Ms. Gehshan said other states would embrace the idea, partly because more than five million children will become eligible for dental coverage under the federal law. There are not enough dentists for them, she said, adding that research has found dental therapists to be ‘‘safe and effective.’’
‘‘There needs to be more rungs in the ladder,’’ Ms. Gehshan said. ‘‘The associations have taken a fearful defensive posture, but this can really be a win-win situation for dentists.’’...
61. “Experts weigh in on medical school’s job, economic effects” (Austin American-Statesman, August 24, 2012); story citing JOE CORTRIGHT (MPP 1980).
By Mary Ann Roser, American-Statesman Staff
Is a forecast of 15,000
jobs and $2 billion in economic activity a year too sunny for a medical school,
teaching hospital and research facility in
State Sen. Kirk Watson
has touted those numbers for much of the past year and spotlighted them at a
news conference Thursday, releasing a six-page report prepared by Jon Hockenyos, president of an economic analysis and consulting
firm in
But economic development
experts said having a medical school, teaching hospital and research center is
no guarantee that
Joe Cortright, president of Portland,
Ore.-based Impresa, which specializes in regional
economic analysis, innovation and industry clusters, thinks the public should
take the numbers Watson trumpets with a heavy dose of skepticism. Most of the
nation’s largest cities have a medical school, teaching hospital and research
facility, but only nine areas have sparked enough economic growth to become
biotechnology/life-science hubs, he said. They are
“These nine areas account for more than three-fifths of all (National Institutes of Health) spending on research and for slightly less than two-thirds of all biotechnology-related patents,” a 2002 report he co-wrote says.
“
1. “Caution Urged on ‘Value Added’ Reviews - Scholars say districts must be more careful” (Education Week, October 31, 2012); story citing JESSE ROTHSTEIN.
By Sarah D. Sparks
Top researchers studying new “value added” or “growth index” models for measuring a teacher’s contribution to student achievement completely agree on only one thing: These methods should be used in staff-evaluation systems with more care than they have been so far.
That area of agreement emerged in an Aug. 9 meeting that drew together a who’s who of a dozen of the nation’s top education researchers on value-added methods—in areas from education to economics—to build, if not consensus, at least familiarity within a disparate research community for value-added systems. The U.S. Department of Education’s research agency, which organized the forum, last week released the proceedings of the meeting, as well as individual briefs from each of the experts....
One influential study by Jesse Rothstein, a public policy and economics professor at the
“[Value-added measures] will deteriorate—will become less reliable and less closely tied to true effectiveness—if they are used for high-stakes individual decisions,” Mr. Rothstein wrote in a brief for the meeting. “How much will teachers change their content coverage, neglect nontested subjects and topics, lobby for the right students, teach test-taking strategies, and cheat outright? ... We simply don’t know.” ...
2. “Smell the Truth Blog: Dutch ‘
By David Downs
The new government of The Netherlands has snuffed out plans to ban foreigners from visiting Dutch coffee shops where they can purchase quasi-legal cannabis....
The
Independent reports today that: “The new government has scrapped plans for
a national “weed pass” that would have been available only to residents, and
would have effectively banned tourists from
Pot is technically illegal in The Netherlands,
but a policy of tolerance to personal possession and sale of small amounts of
cannabis has made
3. “
By Christopher Haugh
I am a proud alumnus of the
I graduated this past May after receiving a world-class education at a reasonable price. I took classes with exceptional professors and got to know students from all races, socio-economic backgrounds, and places of origin. Today, my fellow graduates are productive Californians working as teachers, bankers, poets, researchers, and engineers—all enriching this vast state’s culture and economy.
But my alma mater, and
Over the last four years, state funding for the UC system has been slashed by $900 million dollars—or 27 percent of its total budget. This systematic state divestment has already caused fee spikes, classes to be cut, and thousands of workers to be laid off. Students now rely on massive loans or take six-years to complete a four-year degree. Others will never finish....
Amongst a series of ballot measures this year, Proposition 30 alone will begin to put our university system back on track. Also known as the “School and Local Public Safety Protection Act,” Prop 30 can staunch the budgetary bleeding and start the process of saving public higher education....
According to a recent study by the
For every dollar of budget funding the state puts into the UC system, it receives a net return of $4.50 in tax dollars and savings on social services. That’s double the return on Californians who earn a high school diploma. In the aggregate, the state receives $12 billion from UC and CSU graduates each year....
[The UC-Berkeley study is “
4. “Are The Rich Taxed Enough?” (NPR Online, October 30, 2012); debate featuring ROBERT REICH; Listen to the Debate
By NPR staff
... In this Oxford-style debate from Intelligence
Squared
FOR THE MOTION
Glenn Hubbard is dean of
Arthur Laffer ... earned the distinction as “The Father of Supply-Side Economics.” Laffer was a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board from 1981 to 1989 and served as chief economist in the Office of Management and Budget from 1970 to 1972.
AGAINST THE MOTION
Robert Reich argues against the motion. (Photo by Samuel LaHoz)
Robert
Reich is chancellor’s professor of public policy at the University of
California, Berkeley. Reich was secretary of labor in the
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, directs the company’s research and consulting activities....
5. “Romney’s Latest Lie, His Former Lies, and Why We Must Not Put Liars in the White House” (Huffington Post, October 30, 2012); blog by ROBERT REICH; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/romney-campaign-lies_b_2045745.html
By Robert Reich
Over the weekend, Romney debuted an ad in
In fact, Chrysler is retaining and expanding its
Jeep production in North America, including in
Responding to the ad, Chrysler emphasized in a
blog post that it has “no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models
out of North America to
This is only the most recent in a stream of lies from Romney. Remember his contention that the President planned to “rob” Medicare of $716 billion when in fact the money would come from reduced payments to providers who were overcharging—thereby extending the life of Medicare? (Ryan’s plan includes the same $716 billion of savings but gets it from turning Medicare into a voucher and shifting rising health-care costs on to seniors.) ...
There are two lessons here. First, lies financed by deep pockets are hard to refute, but they must be refuted. Otherwise, there is no accountability in our democracy.
Second, anyone who tells or countenances such lies cannot be trusted to hold the highest office in our land, because he has no compunctions about feeding false information to the public....
6. “Mitt Romney’s Question-Mark Economy” (Huffington Post, October 24, 2012); commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/mitt-romney-economic-uncertainty_b_2008532.html
By Robert Reich
As we close in on Election Day, the questions about what Mitt Romney would do if elected grow even larger. Rarely before in American history has a candidate for president campaigned on such a blank slate.
Yet, paradoxically, not a day goes by that we don’t hear Romney, or some other exponent of the GOP, claim that businesses aren’t creating more jobs because they’re uncertain about the future. And the source of that uncertainty, they say, is President Obama—especially his Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the Dodd-Frank Act, and uncertainties surrounding Obama’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthy.
In fact, Romney has created far more uncertainty. He offers a virtual question mark of an economy....
Average Americans, meanwhile, face more economic uncertainty from the possibility of a Romney-Ryan administration than they have had in their lifetimes. Not only has Romney thrown the future of Obamacare into doubt, but Americans have no idea what would happen under his administration to Medicare, Medicaid, college aid, Pell grants, food stamps, unemployment insurance, and many other programs Americans rely on. All would have to be sliced or diced, but Romney won’t tell us how or by how much.
ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of
Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of Labor in the
7. “Letter to the Editor: Safe and Fruitful DNA Innovation” (Wall Street Journal [*requires registration], October 23, 2012); Letter to Editor by STEPHEN MAURER; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443749204578052811387862922.html?KEYWORDS=Berkeley
... In 2009, the European trade group International Association-Synthetic Biology announced a strong antiterrorism standard that requires human experts to examine incoming customer orders for biological weapons threats. Like most industry standards, the proposal was contentious....
Strangely, the only entity that doesn’t endorse
human screeners these days is the
Scientists organize communities to gain power
over nature. So it is only right for those communities to debate and
occasionally limit how this power is used. This doesn’t mean that the rest of
us must take those solutions on faith or that government regulators should stop
asking whether communities have done enough. The
Stephen M. Maurer
8. “The Subversion of Direct Democracy” (Huffington Post, October 23, 2012); blog by ROY ULRICH; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roy-ulrich/voting-california_b_1989765.html
Roy Ulrich
Lecturer,
... The major complaint I hear about the initiative process is that it is dominated by those very interests it was originally designed to overcome. For one thing, proponents write them as a wish list. Unlike the legislative process, which involves hearings, debates and compromise, drafters of initiatives often write extreme measures representing their own agenda in the hopes of boosting profits, raising their own political profile, or for simple ego gratification.
In the upcoming statewide election on November 6, three examples of what might be called “the billionaire ballot” come to mind: ....
Still, reforming this out-of-control system will be difficult. First, there are widely-divergent views of how best to do it. And there are powerful forces in this state opposed to any tinkering with the initiative process. One of these forces is the political consultants who rake in billions on high profile campaigns and think the system is just fine as is. They are part of what Fred Silva of the Public Policy Institute of California calls “the initiative industrial complex.” So I’m not optimistic about attempts to fix the system....
In the end, I remain fearful of too much direct democracy. Think for a moment: Just how much of the Bill of Rights would we be left with if the person handing out the flyers calling for the abolition of Congress and citizen voting by phone got his wish?
The writer is a lecturer at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley and a policy analyst at Demos, a New York-based think tank.
9. “The Final Presidential Debate” (Forum, KQED public radio, October 23, 2012); program featuring commentary by HENRY BRADY; Listen to the program
(Joe
Raedle/Getty Images)
President
Obama and challenger Mitt Romney met on Monday night for the third and final
debate, this time on foreign policy. Moderator Bob Schieffer
of CBS News picked topics including
- Carla Marinucci, political writer for The San Francisco Chronicle
- Henry Brady, professor of political science and public policy and dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley
- Shanto Iyengar, professor of communication and political science
at
HENRY BRADY: The first debate didn’t so much change people’s minds, as bring them back to what they fundamentally think....
The Democratic campaign is urging people to vote early, but we already know that the early vote tends Democratic, and it might be fool’s gold in the end, because the later vote—and the absentee vote which are counted last—tends to favor Republicans....
10. “Desegregation and (Un)Equal Opportunity: Rucker Johnson at TEDxMiamiUniversity” (TEDxTalks, October 22, 2012); video featuring RUCKER JOHNSON; view the video
Rucker Johnson is an Associate Professor in the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley; a Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research; and a Research Affiliate of the National Poverty Center and the Institute for Research on Poverty. His research considers the role of poverty and inequality in affecting life chances. He has focused on such topics as the long-run impacts of child neighborhood and school quality on socioeconomic success and later-life health; the determinants of intergenerational mobility; the societal consequences of incarceration; effects of maternal employment patterns on child well-being; the socioeconomic determinants of health disparities over the life course; and the effects of growing up poor and poor infant health on childhood cognition, educational attainment, adult health and economic status....
11. “Op-Ed: Finances bleeding
--David L. Kirp
To educators from around the globe, the
... Instead of supporting these universities, lawmakers have inflicted cut after cut—$1.6 billion, a third of the CSU budget, has been lopped off in the past decade. This year’s budget reduces state funding by $650 more million, and further cuts could be in store....
Expanding access to higher education is the classic example of doing well by doing good. If the voters pass Proposition 30, the tax initiative backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the trustees have pledged that CSU tuition will be reduced by 9.1 percent. But if the voters say no, CSU will lose an additional quarter of a billion dollars in state support, reducing state funding to its lowest level in 17 years and triggering a midyear tuition increase of $300. Meantime, because of the budget uncertainty, every CSU applicant for fall 2013 is being waitlisted....
Says Ashley Miller, a recent Cal State Fullerton graduate: “We’re going to be the future of the country. If they raise (the cost of going to college), this country will go nowhere.”
These students appreciate what’s at stake. Do the voters?
David L. Kirp a
professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, is the author of “Kids First: Five Big Ideas
for Transforming Children’s Lives and
12. “Big money in play in Oakland school board campaigns” (Oakland Tribune, October 18, 2012); story citing HENRY BRADY; http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_21801931/big-money-play-oakland-school-board-campaigns?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
By Katy Murphy –
Great
Oakland Public Schools has a campaign office in
The teachers union brought back its PAC after a 20-year hiatus and plans to spend $20,000 on its three candidates. A school reform-minded group, Great Oakland Public Schools, has amassed a whopping $123,000. Most of that money came from two individual donors, including the San Francisco-based venture capitalist and philanthropist Arthur Rock, who gave $49,000....
Henry Brady, dean of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, said it’s not surprising to see different groups or wealthy individuals investing in these races. The polarization of the American political system, he said, is “now getting all the way down to local politics.” In addition to old debates about textbooks and curriculum, he said, districts are grappling with another layer of division: sharply different views on school board governance and the role of publicly-funded, independently run charter schools.
“I think there’s a big ideological fight out there right now with how schools should be controlled,” he said....
David Kakishiba, an
Brady, who co-authored a book this year about campaign contributions, “The Unheavenly Chorus: Unequal Political Voice and the Broken Promise of American Democracy,” said that’s one argument. Some say there’s not enough money in politics—that if there were more, citizens would be better informed.
What’s worrisome, Brady said, is that the money fueling campaigns and influencing policy is coming, increasingly, from the very wealthy. It’s not always clear that those donors have the best interest of everyone else at heart, he said....
13. “How Obama Can Smoke Out Mitt: Call for Breaking Up the Biggest Banks, and Resurrecting Glass-Steagall” (Huffington Post, October 18, 2012); blog by ROBERT REICH; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/obama-glass-steagall_b_1983777.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012
By Robert Reich
President Obama should propose that the nation’s biggest banks be broken up and their size capped, and that the Glass-Steagall Act be resurrected.
It’s good policy, and it would smoke out Mitt Romney as being of, by, and for Wall Street—and not on the side of average Americans....
Mitt Romney, private equity manager and financier—well within the top one-tenth of 1 percent, collecting more than $20 million a year yet paying 14 percent in taxes because of tax preferences for capital gains and for private-equity—is the avatar for all that’s happened.
Just like the rest of the Street, Romney used other peoples’ money to make big bets, leveraging like mad, pumping and then dumping companies regardless of the human costs.
Worse, Romney wants to cut taxes even further on the top 1 percent—giving them them lion’s share of a $4.7 trillion tax cut—while shredding safety nets the rest of us rely on.
And he wants to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act that goes some way to preventing the worst excesses of the Street.
And this man has an almost 50-50 chance of becoming president? ...
14. “The Greener the Economy, the Greater the Economy” (Huffington Post, October 17, 2012); blog citing study lead-authored by DAN KAMMEN; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-wagner/the-greener-the-economy-t_b_1968908.html
By Neil Wagner
... There has been an ugly rumor floating around that sustainable energy is bad business. Witness the recent U.S. Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates in which Republican nominees Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan implied that over half the green companies receiving federal stimulus dollars have gone bankrupt (actually three out of 28), or that the funds simply amounted to “green pork.” That’s not likely. As the AP points out, the stimulus helped create both public- and private-sector jobs....
The Energy Collective reports that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa P. Jackson counts 200,000 American jobs in the air pollution control industry since 2003, and over 1.7 million American environmental technology jobs since 2008.
A study [led by Dan Kammen at] University of California Berkeley says that “investing in renewable energy such as solar, wind and the use of municipal and agricultural waste for fuel would produce more American jobs than a comparable investment in the fossil fuel energy sources in place today.” ...
[Title of the UC Berkeley study is: “Putting Renewables to Work: How Many Jobs Can the Clean Energy Industry Generate?” by Dan Kammen, Kamal Kapadia and Matthias Fripp (2004).]
15. “‘Pivots’ key to Romney, Obama debate” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 16, 2012); column citing JENNIFER GRANHOLM; http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Pivots-key-to-Romney-Obama-debate-3951481.php
--Joe Garofoli
Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says response time is critical. (Brant Ward, The Chronicle / SF)
A key moment to watch for in Tuesday’s presidential town-hall-style debate will be how each candidate “pivots.” ...
“That pivot point and how long it takes before you get to that pivot is absolutely critical,” said former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, host of Current TV’s “The War Room” and a visiting professor at UC Berkeley who helped Vice President Joe Biden prepare for his 2008 debate with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
“If you don’t answer any of those incoming Scuds, then those are charges that are left unanswered. And that was part of the problem the president had” in the first debate with GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Granholm said.
“You can’t just allow everything to go. But you have to choose your battles because you only have so much real estate to be able to communicate. So if you’re spending all of your time attacking or responding, then you’re not communicating with the people,” she said. “It’s that middle part—the talk to the people part—that’s most important.” ...
16. “Solyndra Sues Chinese Solar Competitors” (KQED Radio News, October 15, 2012); interview with DAN KAMMEN; http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/10/15/109565/solyndra_sues_chinese_solar_competitors?category=bay+area
MINA KIM, host: The failed Fremont-based solar
company Solyndra is suing
Dan Kammen directs the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at U.C. Berkeley. And Professor Kammen, the lawsuit accuses companies Suntech, Trina and YingLi of price fixing, conspiring to monopolize the market. Do you think Solyndra’s arguments hold water?
DANIEL KAMMEN: It’s certainly the case that Chinese companies have been aggressively pricing solar panels at as low of a cost as possible given the differences in wages between the U.S. and China, and a clear Chinese mission to become a major player in the clean tech industry. Whether it was an effort to drive specific companies out of business or not is going to be a hard one to prove....
KIM: That is my next question,
I was curious what affect the case’s outcome could have on the growth of the
KAMMEN:
Well, I think we’re all concerned. In particular, even if you take Solyndra out of the equation, I am very concerned because
we’re seeing a number of other very innovative companies that are also in
potential trouble. There are some in
17. “Blog: Memo to the President: Your Next Debate” (Huffington Post, October 15, 2012); commentary by ROBERT REICH;
By Robert Reich
... Emphasize these five points:
1. Not only is the economy is improving, but there’s no reason to trust Romney’s claim he would improve it more quickly. He’s given no specifics about how he’d pay for his massive tax cut for the wealthy, or what he’d replace ObamaCare with, or how he’d regulate Wall Street if he repeals Dodd-Frank. His record to date has flip-flopped on every major issue. Why should Americans trust his assertions?...
4. Romney views
18. “Drummond:
By Tammerlin Drummond
...
Californians could have dropped the “medicinal” facade in 2010 by passing Prop. 19, the marijuana legalization measure. But it failed.
It appears that voters were happy to let the medical marijuana law operate as de-facto legalization but were unwilling to come right out and support legalization.
“It seems that
19. “California’s renewable-energy plans may hinge on presidential race” (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 14, 2012); story citing DAN KAMMEN and study led by DOUG HENTON (MPP 1975) and coauthored by JESSIE OETTTINGER (MPP 2011); http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/14/4910372/californias-renewable-energy-plans.html
By Evan Halper,
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- On 7,300 isolated acres in eastern Kern County, a plan for dozens of wind turbines 20 stories high to generate enough electricity for tens of thousands of homes may hinge on who is elected president.
Millions of dollars have been spent laying the
groundwork. Permits are in order, contractors are lined up, government
planners are on board. But like many other green energy efforts in
For Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, such aid represents government run amok, allowing bureaucrats to pick winners and losers in renewable energy rather than letting the free market sort them out....
The prospect of a Romney victory in November is a
source of consternation among players large and small in
Nearly 170,000 Californians have jobs tied to the green economy, which includes alternative energy production, conservation and pollution reduction, according to a study [led by Doug Henton, and coauthored by Jessie Oettinger] by the Bay Area think tank Next 10.
“To get large-scale projects off the ground
requires a safe-looking investment environment,” said Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable
and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the
20. “Op-Ed: Economic recovery hinges on election” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 2012); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Economic-recovery-hinges-on-election-3944813.php
--Robert Reich
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says we’re not doing well enough, and he’s right. But the prescriptions he’s offering - more tax cuts for the rich and for big companies—would be a disaster. And the cuts he proposes in public investments like education and infrastructure, and safety nets like Medicare and Medicaid, would take money out of the pockets of people who not only desperately need it but whose spending is critically necessary....
The concentration of income and wealth at the top has robbed the vast middle class of the purchasing power it needs to generate a full recovery—something that was masked by borrowing against rising home values but can no longer be denied.
Unless or until this structural problem is dealt with, we won’t ever be back to normal. At the very least, if Obama is re-elected and has a cooperative Congress, he’ll have an opportunity to deal with it. If Romney is elected, he’ll make the structural problem worse.
© 2012 Robert Reich Robert B. Reich, chancellor’s
professor
of public policy at UC Berkeley and
former
21. “Fulbright NEXUS 2012-2013 Scholars Research Climate Change Adaptation” (Targeted News Service, October 13, 2012); newswire citing DAN KAMMEN.
The lead scholar for the 2012-2013 group, Dr. Daniel Kammen, is a Professor and Founding Director of the
Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the
22. “Debate preparation like boot camp” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 11, 2012); column citing JENNIFER GRANHOLM; http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Debate-preparation-like-boot-camp-3938012.php
--Joe Garofoli
Jennifer Granholm, former
With Democrats counting on Vice President Joe Biden to come through with a strong performance in Thursday’s vice presidential debate, some supporters are wondering what was behind President Obama’s self-described “bad night” in last week’s presidential face-off, which resulted in a slide in the polls.
They wonder whether Obama would have been more amped up if someone a bit more electric than Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry had played the role of Mitt Romney during the president’s debate prep.
Few people know the intensity of presidential-level debate preparation—or Biden’s soft spots—better than visiting UC Berkeley professor and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who played the part of Sarah Palin in prepping Biden for their vice presidential debate four years ago.
A lot was riding then on Granholm’s
coaching. Much like that 2008 debate, which drew higher ratings than any of the
three presidential showdowns that year, Thursday’s contest between Biden and
GOP Rep. Paul Ryan of
On Thursday, Granholm expects Biden to be more emotional than he was four years ago, especially after Obama’s “painful” performance a week ago.
“This debate, more than the last one, gives him a chance to be emotional on behalf of real people,” she said. “It will motivate him.”
23. “Obama turns to San Francisco rally, reaches out to Latinos, as polls show tightening race” (Contra Costa Times, October 9, 2012); analysis citing HENRY BRADY; http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_21726783/obama-way-sf-announces-cesar-chavez-monument
By Josh Richman
With new polls showing the damage accumulating
from last week’s debate, President Obama took refuge in
The latest poll, conducted Thursday through Sunday by Pew Research, shows Obama trailing Romney by four points among likely voters—a huge swing from mid-September, when he led Romney in the same poll by eight points. The new Pew poll found Romney has made sizable gains over the past month among women voters, white non-Hispanics and those younger than 50.
But both [UC San Diego’s Samuel] Popkin and UC Berkeley political science professor Henry Brady, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy, said Obama’s next debate performance might be helped by last week’s news that the nation’s unemployment rate has dropped to 7.8 percent....
24. “Environment expectations low in US election” (Deutsche Welle, October 8, 2012); analysis citing DAN KAMMEN; http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16245416,00.html
By Holly Fox
Fracking could be vote-clincher in the swing states. (AP photo)
... According to the Pew Research Council, those who say that the environment is a “top priority” for the president and Congress this year dropped to 43 percent this January from 57 percent in January 2007. The economy, jobs and the budget deficit top the list.
“This election by both candidates is being framed
around the
“I have a plan to create 12 million new jobs,”
Romney told the audience at the Republican National Convention in August. “First,
by 2020,
That kind of talk might sway voters fatigued by years of relatively high unemployment, but it doesn’t hold up as sound long-term environmental policy, according to Kammen.
“Romney has indicated really little or no interest in being a clean-energy leader. He’s really said that more natural gas in particular and more business as usual are the primary parts of his ticket.” ...
But for some, Obama’s term has been disappointing. According to Kammen, “there have been few successes” for environmental policy under Obama.
The few bright spots, Kammen said, include pushing through new vehicle efficiency standards and pollution standards. But these measures were meant to be part of a bigger environmental package, he said, including a comprehensive energy and climate change plan.
For Kammen the biggest setback was the foundering of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, also known as the Waxman-Markey bill. The bill would have established a cap-and-trade program limiting greenhouse gas emissions. It passed the House of Representatives, but never came up for a vote in the Senate, effectively killing it....
25. “Blog: Mr. President: Next Debate, Make Moral Choice Clear” (Huffington Post, October 8, 2012); blog by JENNIFER GRANHOLM; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-m-granholm/mr-president-next-debate_b_1949803.html
Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm,
Former governor of
... Every one of the president’s
most moving speeches—the speeches where he inspired and lifted our country
up—had one thing in common. Speeches like his 2004 convention speech,
the speech on race and the speech in
Yes, they talked about issues, but the issues were an outgrowth from the call to our character.
So, with respect, Mr. President, when you walk on stage in the next debate I would like to hear you say that the choice is not just about whose tax plan you like or who has the better health care strategy. It’s much more fundamental than that. This is a choice about our national character.
Perhaps you can say this:
“Like Governor Romney, I love this nation. You, Governor, believe in the individual and in freedom. So do I. And I also believe that in order for the individual to exercise that freedom fully, in order for the individual to be personally responsible and successful, in order for that to happen, together we have to lay a certain foundation....
Say it at the start of the debate: “This election involves a moral choice. As an American family, will we force autistic children to simply be on their own? Will we force Uncle Ron, with a history of heart disease to go uninsured? We. Will. Not. “
Say it strong, Mr. President. Say, “I’m determined, in this family, that all of the children will be fed, and have shelter. In our family, we insist that we honor those who have brought us along—the elders in our home, the veterans who have served us -- and we make sure they don’t have to worry about health care or social security. Compassion as strength, not as softness. In our larger family, we take care of our own. That’s who we are; that’s what we do. This is a moral issue.” ...
Originally aired on The War Room with Jennifer Granholm. The War Room airs weeknights at 10 p.m. EST on Current TV....
26. “Jobless drop unlikely to sway voters” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 5, 2012); analysis citing HENRY BRADY; http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Jobless-drop-unlikely-to-sway-voters-3924192.php
--Joe Garofoli
Friday’s Labor Department report showing unemployment dropping below 8 percent for the first time since President Obama took office provides welcome political relief for his re-election campaign.
Mostly, [September’s 7.8 percent unemployment] number robs Republicans and Romney of a talking point that they’ve hammered for three years: that the “unemployment rate has been at or above 8 percent for 43 consecutive months” ....
“The Republicans have been beating (Obama) over
the head with the fact that it has not gone under 8 percent,” said Henry Brady, dean of the
“So it’s a point in favor for Obama, and he needs it after that performance at the debate the other day,” Brady said.
While the overall unemployment number dropped after the economy added 114,000 new jobs, Brady said, “Let’s be honest—that’s not a stupendous number.” ...
27. “Letter to the Editor: Says Murphy committed
to
I agree with Robert Reich’s (chancellor’s professor of public policy, University of California at Berkeley) recent Huffington Post article that “the biggest underlying problem America faces (is) the unprecedented concentration of wealth and power at the very top that’s undermining our economy and destroying our democracy.” ...
Corporations are not people, and money is not free speech. People are born and corporations are legal entities created by government. Shouldn’t every individual have an equal voice? Should those with the most money have the loudest voices?
The result is that the wealthiest in this country are trying to buy this election, as is Linda McMahon....
While Reich was writing about Mitt Romney, Linda McMahon’s positions in the senatorial race are similar to the Romney/Ryan economic plans: more tax cuts for the wealthy, paid for by reductions to programs supporting the neediest in our society.
Chris Murphy has been supporting the middle class for the past six years as our congressman. His positions on jobs and the economy, on education, on health care, on the Dodd/Frank bill, are aimed at benefitting the 99 percent.
If you are also part of the 99 percent and want to be heard, please join me and vote for Chris Murphy.
Bill Cohen,
28. “Can the
By Richard D.Kahlenberg
... Applying business school principles to the education of young children, [Mayor Rahm] Emanuel and his wealthy supporters favor firing teachers based heavily on student test score results and deregulating education by expanding the number of charter schools. But while much of the press equates standing up to unions with education reform, key reforms that unions opposed have not worked out as planned. Although 88 percent of charters are nonunion, giving principals in those schools the flexibility that reformers prize, the most comprehensive study of charter schools (backed by pro-charter foundations), concluded that charters are about twice as likely to underperform regular public schools as to outperform them....
[
Oct. 7 Henry Brady and Robert Reich were featured on the panel, “TAX REVOLT 2.0 - Who Will Pay for the Society We Want?” – broadcast on KQED public radio; http://www.kqed.org/a/radiospecials/R201210071500
Oct. 10 Henry Brady was featured on the panel, “Public Education at the Brink: November’s Ballot Initiatives and California’s Future,” sponsored by the Graduate School of Education, Policy Analysis for California Education, Goldman School of Public Policy.
Oct. 17 Dan Kammen gave the keynote speech, “Implementing a Low-Carbon Sustainable Energy System” at the 2012 annual conference of the Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders, co-hosted by the Energy Biosciences Institute, at the CITRIS Center, UC Berkeley.
Oct. 18-19 Dan Kammen was featured speaker at the 2012 Berkeley Energy Resources Collaborative Innovation Expo & Symposium.
Oct. 24 Dan Kammen moderated a panel of experts discussing “Cutting Edge: Energy” – on the latest advances in wind, wave, solar and biofuel technologies, a lecture series presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
To view a complete list
of GSPP videos, visit our Events Archive at: http://gspp.berkeley.edu/events/webcasts
Recent events viewable on UC Webcast: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/events.php?group=The+Richard+%26+Rhoda+Goldman+School+of+Public+Policy
If you would like further information
about any of the above, or hard copies of cited articles, we’d be happy to
provide them.
We are always delighted to receive your material for inclusion in the Digest. Please email the editor at wong23@berkeley.edu .
Sincerely,
Annette Doornbos
Director of External Relations and Development