NDN Blog

NDN Weekly: NDN on the Stimulus, The Economy, Climate Change & More

NDN ON THE RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT PLAN

The Super Bowl is over, but this year's biggest political matchup is just getting underway. President Barack Obama’s economic recovery and reinvestment plan is working its way through Congress. Last week, the House passed the bill, and the Senate will take up its version this week. Jake Berliner, Deputy Policy Director of our Globalization Initiative, compiled a must-read primer of NDN’s major work on the recovery and reinvestment plan in this backgrounder. Featured in the backgrounder is a new essay from Michael Moynihan, Director of NDN’s Green Project. In Clearing the Decks for the Next Expansion, Moynihan looked forward to 2012, and laid out a four-step plan to put the economy back on track in the next three years:

We need to act decisively, but intelligently, to put this recession behind us. The stimulus package is not a cure-all, but it will help restore liquidity to the economy. The key here is to pass it quickly rather than haggling over details. The greatest task is probably to revamp and refashion the clumsy TARP program into a multi-pronged policy to restore the health of the financial sector. The government needs to help banks clear their books of non-performing loans.

In another essay, Rob Shapiro, Chair of NDN's Globalization Initiative, suggested a way to stabilize the foundation of our economy. By imposing a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures, and converting distressed mortgages to a 30-year fixed rate of 5.25%, we will keep people in their homes and address one of the underlying flaws causing this crisis.

Despite aggressive courting by the White House, not a single House Republican voted in favor of the bill. In response to this seeming failure of bipartisanship, Simon authored a new essay, The Utter Bankruptcy of Today’s Republican Party. In a new essay posted today on Huffington Post, Simon writes that Michael Steele's acession to the chairmanship of the party is a hopeful sign, but not a sea change for the GOP. For more reading on the subject, see Simon's backgrounder, in which he highlighted some of our earlier writings on the state of the modern conservative movement and the end of the conservative ascendancy.

TASK FORCE ON MIDDLE CLASS WORKING FAMILIES

As all economic indicators point to a continually worsening economic future, Vice President Joe Biden announced a new Task Force on Middle Class Working Families. We released a statement in response to Biden’s announcement:

"For many Americans, the current economic crisis began long before our financial markets weakened and the economy went into recession," said NDN President Simon Rosenberg. "In the years before the recession began, America was in recovery, but the income of a typical family dropped and wages stagnated. Never before had the incomes of Americans not risen during a sustained period of national economic growth. Coming to understand why this unprecedented economic event took place, and crafting a plan to not just create a new era of growth and prosperity, but one that is broad-based, where every day people can once again share in the growth, is one of the most important governing challenges facing America today.

Joe Biden"Making the struggle of every day people the central focus on our national debate has been of NDN's top priorities these last few years," added Rosenberg. "We welcome the Obama Administration's desire to take this issue head on and applaud them for the establishing this new Task Force on the Middle Class and for sending a clear signal of its importance by putting Vice President Biden in charge. We look forward to working with this new task force in these critical months and years ahead."
Click here to read the statement on our blog and peruse links to our economic work on keeping the focus on everyday people.

NDN ON CLIMATE CHANGE

President Obama has already taken great strides toward creating a low-carbon economy for the future. Shapiro has been encouraged by the steps that have been taken, but, in a new essay, he argues that the provision that matters most is putting a price on carbon to steer our economy naturally toward a low-carbon future:

Making people pay more for carbon-intensive energy and the products and services produced with it means that, well, people have to pay more – and people don’t like that, especially in very hard economic times. And the inconvenient truth is, those are only the beginning of the costs to contain climate change, since retrofitting our factories, offices, homes and our power systems for less carbon-intensive and energy-intensive technologies and materials will cost everyone, well, a lot more than the stimulus package. To his credit, President Obama corrected one of his rivals for the nomination who tried to claim that we could beat climate change at little cost. And there is some other good news here: The costs to redo our lives around more climate-friendly fuels and technologies can be spread over two generations – and paying those costs will save much of planet for our grandchildren.

MILLENNIAL ERA UPDATE

NDN Fellows Morley Winograd and Mike Hais are featured in today’s Roll Call, with an op-ed discussing the civic engagement that typifies the Millennial Generation and is embodied by President Obama.

Roll Call LogoRealignments like these occur about every four decades with the coming of age of a new, large, dynamic generation of young Americans whose political participation is enabled by a new communication technology. The most recent makeover stemmed from the emergence of the "civic" Millennial Generation (born between 1982 to 2003) and their use of social networks. Civic generations, like the Millennials and the GI Generation before it, are group-oriented, cooperative, and pragmatic. Their behavior stands in stark contrast to the individualistic and ideological Baby Boomers, who dominated American politics for the previous 40 years.

Click here to read the full essay. If you do not have a subscription to Roll Call, click here to read an earlier version on the NDN Blog.

IMMIGRATION UPDATE

In her weekly immigration update, Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro comments on a New York Times editorial about the streak of racialist extremism exposed by a group seeking to speak for the future of the Republican Party. Her roundup also includes NDN’s note highlighting “The Star Spanglish Banner,” which the New York Times called a “puerile bit of Latino-baiting." She comments on Michael Steele’s position on immigration reform; new senior appointments at the Department of Homeland Security; and how Obama must embrace immigrants.

Zuraya also put together a backgrounder recapping NDN's key work on comprehensive immigration reform, the changing demographic realities of 21st century America and Hispanic electoral trends.

NEW TOOLS UPDATE

In his weekly New Tools feature, Dan Boscov-Ellen pulls together NDN’s influential collection of papers that have helped many progressives manage the transition to a 21st century media and technology environment. He also posts a series of videos of top experts explaining the New Tools to audiences at past NDN events.

NDN CONGRATULATES SENATOR GILLIBRAND

U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand is now U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, representing the people of New York State in the U.S. Senate. Kirsten is an old friend of NDN's, having served on the board of our New York Network before becoming a Member of Congress. We could not be more pleased at this exciting news, and we congratulate her on her new job.

NDN IN THE NEWS

It was a good week for NDN in the media. After NDN broke the story of Chip Saltsman's Other Song on Thursday, our post was featured in Politico and as the feature story on the front page of the The Huffington Post. The story was also picked up by Kos over at DailyKos, and even made it into The New York Times's Sunday editorial.

Along the same lines, Simon was quoted in the Spanish-language paper Terra on immigration reform, and was the lone voice of reason in a Los Angeles Times op-ed by Ira Mehlman on the same topic. His recent essay about the Republican party and race, "Steele, the GOP and Confronting the Southern Strategy," was also featured on the front page of the Huffington Post. Finally, Simon was also quoted in AFP and Red Orbit about how President Obama will use his Web-based campaign organization moving forward. From the AFP piece, entitled "Obama Retools Campaign Machine":

Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a progressive think tank here, likened Organizing for America to former president Bill Clinton's attempt to build a grass roots pressure group on health care reform but agreed that "there really hasn't ever been anything like it before."
"Barack is not like any other candidate," he said. "He comes to Washington with more supporters and more modern tools than anyone in history. Barack is going to reinvent the presidency the way he reinvented the campaign."

Rob was quoted in the Los Angeles Times about cap-and-trade versus a carbon tax, and in the International Herald-Tribune on the stimulus package.

NDN JOBS

CFO - NDN is seeking a CFO with four to five years of experience in financial management to direct and oversee all financial activities of the organization, including preparation of current financial reports and forecasts for economic trends and future growth. For more details, visit our jobs page or contact jobs@ndn.org for more information.

Winter and Spring Interns - NDN is looking for interns to join our staff this winter and spring. If you or someone you know is interested in working at NDN during this exciting time, visit our internships page or contact jobs@ndn.org.

2/3 Roundup: Kabinet Kraziness, Conservative Autopsies, Living with your mother-in-law

Leader: Kabinet Kraziness

- Tom Daschle is fighting his way out of the woods, but will face heavy scrutiny, and it is hard to say whether he will be confirmed by the Senate. He apologized for past issues, and his many allies in Congress are offering their support. And for the record, when he departed the Capitol yesterday, he did so in a car labeled "M. Djebbour Taxi Co."

- Sen. Judd Gregg has accepted the offer to head the Commerce Department, and he'll be replaced by another Republican-- Bonnie Newman, his former chief of staff. CQ Does their homework and discovers Gregg was once opposed to the existence of Commerce, which sets up a strange dynamic, not unlike that when John Bolton was our ambassador to the UN.

- Remember when, a month ago, we were talking about how, if anybody in the Obama cabinet would run into confirmation trouble, it was sure to be Attorney General Eric Holder?  My, doesn't that seem silly now.  Holder was confirmed yesterday on a 75-21 vote.

Politics

- Ed Luce of the FT covers the reinvigoration of the GOP's anti-immigrant posture. British spelling notwithstanding, Simon is quoted: "If most Americans knew what was happening inside their own borders they would be scandalised."

- Simon, writing for the Huffington Post, applauds the Republicans' choice of Michael Steele as their leader, but writes that the GOP still has a long way to go to shed their racialist history. Joan Walsh at Salon agrees, proclaiming Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh the grand poobahs of the Republican Party.

- Sam Tanenhaus at TNR does an autopsy on the conservative movement.  Many defeats carry the seeds of future success.  This is nothing more than brutal, brutal defeat.

Economy

- When is a stimulus package not a stimulus package? When it's an economic recovery and reinvestment package, of course.  Why use one word when four will do?

International

- Chris Hill will be the next ambassador to Iraq.  Hill made his bones as the chief negotiator with North Korea, but seems a strange choice for Iraq, as his experience lies entirely in Europe and Northeast Asia.  Still, he is one of our country's finest diplomats, and it will be good to have him where his skill is so needed.

- A trio of Iraqi bloggers reflect on the elections on the NY Times op-ed page.  It mostly sounds like a fairly blase day. The WaPo has good, close coverage of how the various regions voted.

One More Thing

- During the depression, the droves of unemployed would head to the moviehouse to forget their woes for a few hours.  Now, reports the WSJ, people lose themselves in online games. Does anybody else find this a little depressing and spooky?

- Maybe you feel like the NY Times Magazine already did this, or maybe you can't get enough portraiture of the O-Team.  Either way, Annie Leibovitz's series for Vanity Fair is, of course, terrific.

- Last, President Obama on his mother-in-law moving in with him:



2/2 Roundup: Bipartisanship and Grand Bargains, Salvaging Afghanistan, Biden Alert!

Leader: Bipartisanship and Grand Bargains

- Democratic leaders, including President Obama, have expressed interest in sweeping fiscal reform that would bring government spending into balance with tax revenue. They hope to strike a grand bargain with Republicans to achieve their goals.

- In Obama's first two weeks, bipartisanship has existed in feeling only, as both the House stimulus bill and the Senate SCHIP bill passed along strict party lines. The WaPo reports on how Obama's tactics may change to secure more robust bipartisan support of his goals. Obama will be back on the Hill again today to talk stimulus with our legislature.

- Frank Rich writes in his weekly column about the  Republican Party, which appears to be in full self-destruct mode. With Rush Limbaugh as their de-facto leader, and confidently devoid of ideas on what to do about our ailing economy, it's hard to see the GOP turning it around anytime soon.

- E.J. Dionne also confronts bipartisanship. Will Obama and the Democrats cower before the Republican "No" votes? Or will they stand strong and claim victory, without selling out their stimulus package for meager GOP support?

Politics

- Tom Daschle joined Tim Geithner in the ranks of Obama cabineteers with recent revelations of tax trouble.  It's not clear whether the bad history will interfere with his nomination, but it certainly won't help.

- The LA Times reports on the issues important to Hispanic voters-- apparently, they care about the same issues everybody else does.  Simon is quoted on the political power Latinos will have in coming election cycles: 

"I anticipate a dramatic shift in power toward heavily Latino parts of the United States. Remember: In redistricting, we count people, not citizens."

- It looks like NH Sen. Judd Gregg will be our next Secretary of Commerce, but his departure from the Senate won't necessarily mean 60 Democratic Senators.

- The Republican Party chose Michael Steele, a moderate, African-American Marylander as its next chairman.  Simon has comments on Steele's accession elsewhere on our blog.

Economy

- Eighteen states gave out welfare cash to fewer people in 2008, despite considerably higher unemployment rates than in 2007. This raises questions of how well the revamped welfare system can handle economic downturn.

International

- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appears to have done well in Saturday's elections.  Secular parties outperformed religious parties, though voter turnout was lower than expected across the country.

- Fareed Zakaria sees America making more enemies than friends in Afghanistan, and has a plan to salvage our engagement there. He lays it out in four intensely complicated steps.

One More Thing

- Congratulations to Dave O'Donnell and his Pittsburgh Steelers on their Super Bowl victory yesterday.

- Last, Barack gets sentimental (on SNL) about that all those good moments back before he was president.  Also, Biden alert!

Rush-Watch, Part II

Yesterday, I wrote about how Rush Limbaugh's anachronistic racial views could be his ticket to irrelevance. Today, I came across three radio ads put out by Americans United for Change, a grassroots progressive organization, that set Limbaugh up as a foil to Barack Obama.

The ads urge voters to call their Senators and tell them to vote for the stimulus bill-- "to reject the partisanship and failed economic policies of the past"-- vote against Rush Limbaugh, and side with President Obama. It's a tough position for Rush-- I wouldn't want to be pitted against Obama in any battle right now.

The ads will run starting tomorrow in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Ohio. Jonathan Martin at Politico has an article on the ads.

I have no doubt Limbaugh will continue to discredit himself with racist and otherwise insane remarks. Sooner or later, a leading Republican will have the courage to to denounce him, and then the dominos will begin to fall for Rush.

1/30 Roundup: Bad Bad Bank, Goodbye Crooked Rod, Goodbye Chip

Leader: One Bank Two Bank, Good Bank Bad Bank

- The Obama economic squad is sorting out how the next big bailout for banks will work.  Details are hazy at best, but it looks as though the government will create a "bad bank" to buy all the bad assets off of the big banks. The government, meanwhile, will also offer guarantees against future losses.  Will it work? Who knows.  These are uncharted waters.

- President Obama took banks to task yesterday for frivolously blowing their cash on year-end bonuses when they should have been, you know, lending, or at least bolstering their balance sheets.

- There's an interesting drama bubbling up between Larry Summers and Tim Geithner. Once allies, it's now not entirely clear who's in charge of the American economy, and competition is beginning. Noam Scheiber at TNR has more

Politics

- "Crooked" Rod Blagojevich is no more, after being tossed out by the Illinois State Senate yesterday.  In case you didn't know, the new governor is former Liutennant Governor Pat Quinn. The NY Times followed him around for the day, which is grand fun.

- The Senate approved SCHIP bill yesterday, providing health insurance for millions of low-income children who do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance.  This is the first time our federal government is spending money to cover children and pregnant women who are legal immigrants.

- New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg is a real possibility to end up at the head of Commerce.  This means the Senate could end up with 60 Democrats.

- After being ripped to shreds yesterday (cough), Chip Saltsman has bowed out of the RNC chair's race.  Good riddance.

Economy

- A government  report came out with some indicators on how our economy fared in the fourth quarter.  You probably won't be surprised to learn that it didn't fare very well.  Our GDP shrank at an annual rate of 3.8 percent, though that rate falls to 5.1 percent if you discount growth in inventories.  Still, we did better than the expected 5.5 percent contraction that many economists were expecting.

- Chrystia Freeland at FT profiles George Soros, who now seems more prescient than ever in his prediction of this economic crisis.

International

- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan got into an onstage spat over the Gaza war with Israeli President Shimon Peres at Davos yesterday, and walked out of the conference.  He returned home to a hero's welcome in Turkey.

- The salacious sex life of South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has stirred gossip, debate, and questions across the country.

One More Thing

- Last, number 41 tells a joke that number 42 can't tell (it's about the ugliest woman he's ever seen).  Fortunately, he's got his own.



Rush Limbaugh, Black Presidents, and the Grabbing of Ankles

While Chip Saltsman is torn limb from bloody limb for the racist songs he distributed, another right-wing figure is poised for a hard fall for his own insane racial remarks.

Rush Limbaugh has an unpretty history when it comes to race.  Here is a guy who was pulled off ESPN in 2003 for typically asinine comments about black quarterbacks. And now he's on record hoping that Barack Obama will fail as President, and following that with this quote: 

"We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles... because his father was black"

Watch the full interview here.

Where it gets really mind-blowing, however, is in the GOP's defense of Limbaugh.  Here's Republican congressman Mike Pence defending Limbaugh's remarks on MSNBC:

Norah O'Donnell asks the congressman: Are you so beholden to someone like Rush Limbaugh? Evidently, the answer is yes. As Simon has argued, the Republican Party knows no way to win that doesn't involve the exploitation of racial fear.  

But with a president whose father was black-- an overwhelmingly popular president, take note-- this kind of pathetic, race-based politicking just isn't going to play anymore. Limbaugh, who has a file with our friends at Media Matters that's as deep as anybody's, has undoubtedly been one of the foremost purveyors of intolerance in our society. But his racism is quickly becoming anachronistic. This could be the beginning of the end for Rush.

1/29 Roundup: 244-188, Porkulus, Flinty Chicago Toughness

Leader: 244-188

- The $819 billion stimulus package passed the House yesterday, despite failing to garner a single Republican vote. 11 Democrats also voted against the measure. The President's heavy lobbying in favor of the bill, particularly with GOP congresspeople, appears to have gone for naught, despite the warm reception Obama received during his visit to the Hill earlier this week.

- Bondad at Daily Kos highlights the hypocrisy of the Republican position on this bill. Suddenly, after years of massive deficit spending, the GOP has decided to become the party of fiscal conservatives-- at a time when massive government spending might be the only thing to save our economy. Manuel Roig-Franzia at the WaPo looks at the GOP's case of misshapen identity.

- Perhaps the strangest rider on the stimulus bill is the provision that requires all steel and iron to be purchased from American sources. The Senate version of the bill requires only American services and goods be used throughout. Many American companies are fighting the provision, calling it a war on free trade.

Economy

- International organizations, including the IMF, warn that this year will likely be the worst year for the global economy in about 60 years, and 50 million people are in danger of losing their jobs.

- Wall Street Banks paid out $18.4 billion in bonuses in 2008, and it's possible used some bailout funds to do so. This was the sixth largest bonus total of all time, but the number one most galling total.

- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says a new plan to bail out banks is in the works, and it could cost as much as $2 trillion or $4 trillion, depending on which paper you read.

- The Fed is taking steps to keep distressed homeowners in their homes by allowing borrowers to readjust their mortgages.

Politics

- President Obama had a bevy of congresspeople over to his home last night, reviving the long-dead White House cocktail parties. John Dickerson at Slate thinks the end of the teetotaling era is a welcome change.

- Rush Limbaugh penned a deeply odd Op-Ed for the Wall Street Journal in which he recommends realigning the "porkulus" bill on 54%-46% lines (the electoral divide). "46%-- $414 billion-- will be directed toward tax cuts, as determined by me," he writes. Rush was in the news recently expressing his hope that Obama fails as president. And remember in 2003 when he was pulled off ESPN for overtly racist remarks about black football players?

- Crooked Rod has requested to give a closing argument at his impeachment hearings (despite failing to appear throughout the trial). The Illinois State Senate can't wait.

International

- Yesterday I linked to a NY Times story saying that the new administration would take a tougher line with President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has a few issues with the piece's factuality. David Corn, writing for CQ, looks at the NYT v White House battle. Who's giving us the truth?

One More Thing

- Got your plans for Super Bowl Sunday yet? Looks like the hottest party in town will be up at the Naval Observatory, where Joe Biden will be hosting a VP SB Party.

- The president couldn't believe DC schools were closed yesterday on account of a little snow and ice. When it comes to cold weather, "Folks in DC just don't seem to be able to handle things," he said, and recommended they get a little "Flinty Chicago toughness." Jeane McManus, a former editor at the WaPo has some choice words for the president, including: "So welcome to Washington, President Obama. And thanks for the snow advice. I eagerly await August, to see if you can 'handle' a Washington summer. Remember: It's not the heat. It's the humidity." Here's Barack:



1/28 Roundup: Stimul-Skeptics, $8,000 Internships, Chip the Magic Idiot

Non-Rancorous Partisan RancorLeader: Stimul-skeptics

- President Obama marched up the Hill yesterday, to sell recalcitrant Republican lawmakers on his stimulus plan. By all accounts, the (dis)loyal oppositions was charmed by the President (at least according to their Twitter feeds) but less charmed by the stimulus bill itself, which will go up for a vote in the House today. A few Democrats join in the opposition. A WaPo photo caption captures the mood best: "The Obama stimulus plan was greeted with a rancor-free version of partisan rancor."

- The bill also includes a whole bundle of money for our education system, and another bundle for entitlement programs, as the NY Times reports in its lead stories. David Leonhardt sees both merit and misses in the package.

- Speaking on the more than $300 billion in tax cuts included in the package, NDN's Rob Shapiro says: 

"These tax cuts are not only not stimulative, but we're going to have to pay for them eventually."
Still, Shapiro said it's more important not to let the debate over the stimulus package "degenerate into politics as usual. If the country believes this has turned into a package of special-interest spending and tax provisions, then the efforts to restore confidence will be damaged."

- CQ reports on how Rep. Louise Slaughter went bananas on the slew of amendments submitted to be tacked on to the bill, and winnowed 206 to just 11 deserving of consideration. Good work, Rep. Slaughter.

Economy

- The WaPo reports on the variety of radical options currently under consideration in the Treasury Department to rescue our financial system.  

- Nearly a quarter of a million homes went into foreclosure in California during 2008-- more than over the previous nine years combined.  

International

- Senior administration officials report that President Obama is planning to get serious about Afghanistan, prioritizing war over development.  Hamid Karzai may be seen as more of an obstacle than an asset in this struggle. SecDef Gates agrees with Obama's assessment.

One More Thing

- The WSJ reports that some parents are shelling out thousands of dollars to get internships for their kids. Looking to get your kid a gig at NDN? I think we should talk.

- As Simon wrote earlier, Chip Saltsman of "Barack the Magic Negro" fame has decided who's responsible for the uproar over his bigoted CD: The media. Here's Simon's full take on the episode. Chip the Magic Idiot continues to impress:



NDN Weekly: NDN on the Inauguration, the Stimulus & More

Welcometo the NDN weekly update e-mail! Be sure to check our Web site and our blog for new essays, videos, and other features on politics, the economy, and the world.

NDN ON THIS NEW ERA

Simon on YouTubeBarack Obama took the oath of office last week, and we at NDN applaud him heartily on this great occasion. Simon reflected on this momentous day in two videos and posts. The first video reviewed our argument these past few years that a “new politics” is emerging in America, very different from the politics of days past. In the second video, Simon reflects on how the idea of race is changing in America, and how Obama’s election offers us a chance to redefine what race is in the America of the 21st century. In a third post, Simon makes the case the ethic of this new day might be described as “it's time just to put things right.”

NDN fellows and co-authors of Millenial Makeover Morley Winograd and Mike Hais took the inaugural occasion to urge our president to take advantage of the civic nature of the Millenial Generation, reduce ideological divisions, and bring all Americans together. Through his actions and through his words, Obama can-- and must-- unite this country once again.

NDN ON THE STIMULUS

Just before the inauguration of our new President, the House Leadership introduced its version of the economic recovery package. That day, NDN released this statement:

"President-elect Obama has made clear that this proposal should not only create more jobs, but do so in ways that will help drive the development of a real, 21st century workforce and genuine 21st century economic infrastructure," said Dr. Robert Shapiro, the Chair of NDN’s Globalization Initiative. "Investments in this 21st century economic infrastructure, such as increased broadband access, computers in schools, health information technology and provisions to green the federal government, are critical to increasing demand for the important technologies and skills that will in turn expand the nation’s capacity for innovation and economic growth."

NDN President Simon Rosenberg praised both the recovery package and President-elect Obama’s commitment to use TARP funds to help keep people in their homes.

"For years, NDN has argued that the central economic issue of our time has been the stagnating wages and incomes of everyday Americans, which led directly to the overleveraging of Americans' largest assets: their homes," Rosenberg said. "By pledging to use TARP funds to keep people in their homes, using part of the recovery package to stabilize the housing market, which is the root cause of the financial crisis, and targeting investments to create long-term prosperity, President-elect Barack Obama and the Congress have made a crucial commitment to focus America’s economic strategy on the well-being of everyday people."

"The new prominence of critical investments in clean technology and clean infrastructure in this package rightly shows that clean energy is no longer a marginal topic and now sits at the heart of America’s economic strategy," said Michael Moynihan, the Director of NDN’s Green Project, who has long argued for clean infrastructure investment. "The inclusion of $32 billion in clean technology investments at the center of this package is not only vital to addressing our short term crisis but also has the potential to power the next great wave of prosperity."

For more on NDN’s work promoting economic recovery, please see "A Stimulus for the Long Run," (pdf) an essay penned by Simon and Rob Shapiro, and "Acceleratingthe Development of a 21st Century Economy: Investing in Clean Infrastructure," (pdf) an essay by Michael Moynihan.

IMMIGRATION UPDATE

To find out what's new in the world of immigration reform, be sure to check out Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro's weekly immigration update. After U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid's statements on immigration reform on "Meet the Press" a few weeks ago, she follows his stance on reform during an interview with Spanish-language Univision on Al Punto. She highlights evidence that immigration reform is and will remain a top priority for Hispanics, as well as evidence of bipartisan support for reform. Zuraya comments on the recent GAO study finding that US Citizenship and Immigration Services did not adhere to certain accounting standards when developing its fee schedule, looks back on NDN’s participation in pre-inaugural events, and points to additional reasons why economic recovery and immigration reform go hand in hand.

NEW TOOLS UPDATE

President Barack Obama’s inauguration last week shattered records for U.S. Internet traffic. A full 60% of Americans watched the Inaugural ceremonies, and CNN said it provided 21.3 million video streams that day. In his weekly New Tools feature, Dan Boscov-Ellen takes a look at how the Web is changing our media consumption habits, and discusses the need to invest in our broadband infrastructure to bring more Americans into the 21st century.

NDN IN THE NEWS

NDN Fellows Winograd and Hais provided some context and insight into the generational implications of last week's inauguration in the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, the Palm Beach Post, and the Orlando Sentinel. From the Chronicle:

Morley Winograd, an author and a fellow at NDN, a progressive think tank and advocacy organization, says the Woodstock comparison is entirely appropriate. "This is their moment to demonstrate to America what they think America's future should be like," said Winograd. "They are going to celebrate that and underline it for all of America. Of course, the race relations breakthrough is huge, and the media will be focused on it ... but the generational difference, the moment the generational shift takes place, is also an important story."

Simon was quoted in the Financial Times and the Boston Globe on the challenges facing our new president. From the Globe:

"These are happy times for our politics, but a very tough time for the country," said Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a progressive think tank. "There's both tremendous hope and a great deal of sobriety. People are having both of these feelings at the same time."

Simon was also featured in The Caucus, a blog published by the New York Times, talking about immigration reform.

NDN JOBS

CFO - NDN is seeking a CFO with four to five years of experience in financial management to direct and oversee all financial activities of the organization, including preparation of current financial reports and forecasts for economic trends and future growth. For more details, visit ourjobs page or contact jobs@ndn.orgfor more information.

Winter and Spring Interns- NDN is looking for interns to join our staff this winter and spring. If you or someone you know is interested in working at NDN during this exciting time, visit our internships page or contact jobs@ndn.org.

1/27 Roundup: The Axe, Environmental Thuggery, Antelopes of War

Leader: The Axe

-  American employers announced 55,000 job cuts yesterday, with announcements made by some of the largest and sturdiest companies. Caterpillar was the big kahuna, slashing 20,000 jobs.  Pfizer, Home Depot, Sprint Nextel, and others also cut thousands. 4.6 million Americans are currently jobless, the most since 1982, and the unemployment rate has reached 10 percent in some states. 

- As many as 75,000 jobs were cut worldwide yesterday. As the economy has turned downward, job cuts have spread, beginning in the real estate and financial services sectors, but expanding recently to include manufacturing, retail, and information technology.   

Politics

- President Obama yesterday issued orders directing the EPA to reconsider the ban preventing states from setting their own emissions standards for autos. Senator James Inhofe, usually a friend to states' rights, referred to Obama's action as "environmental thuggery."

- Grover Nordquist once said that "bipartisanship is another name for date rape." John Dickerson at Slate looks at what Obama means by bipartisanship (probably not date rape).

- Rep. Tom Petri (R) isn't wild about the bailout.  Why? Because it doesn't include enough infrastructure spending.  He is, needless to say, alone in his caucus.

International

- In the first serious clash since last week's ceasefire, Palestinian militants set off a bomb near Israel's border with Gaza, killing one soldier.

- Israel has unleashed eight antelopes of war in its northern territories.  The half-ton elands have been charged with chewing up all the tall grass and foliage that impairs sightlines into Lebanon, and could hide guerillas.

One More Thing

- Rush Limbaugh is confident that Barack Obama, the most powerful man in the world, is afraid of him.

-  The White House e-mail system went down for eight hours yesterday, and somehow, business went on.

- Last, Crooked Rod has a great appreciation for turn of the century British poetry, it seems:



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