New Politics

Clare Giesen Speaks to American University's WE LEAD Program

Women and Politics Institute
Saturday, October 29, 2:00pm

Join NDN Staffer Clare Giesen  who will speak before American University's Women & Politics Institute, which works to increase the number of women working in politics and running for office.  Other speakers include Sui Lang Panohe of the Young Women Leaders Board, Carolyn Pierce of NJI Media, Lisa Spies of LS Group, and Melissa Sullivan of American University.

Location

American University
Butler Auditorium
Washington, DC
United States

You and NDN

NDN has had an exciting year.  Despite a tough economy and rancorous national politics, our work – from clean energy to economic policy to a 21st century border to the promise of the Millennial generation– continues to influence and shape the debate.

Your support makes the work of the NDN/NPI team, and our collaborators, possible.

This week we kicked off our end of the year fundraising drive. For those of you who haven’t done so already, I hope you will click here to continue your support of NDN.

As the Director of Development, I’ve seen our ideas and arguments wind their way through our own government and with leaders around the world.   We’ve conducted dozens of events with hundreds of thought leaders and elected officials taking fresh approaches to challenging problems.  We are among the most highly visible think tanks on television, pushing bold ideas into the larger discourse.  While NDN may be a modest organization in some ways, its impact has been anything but modest in the last few years. 

At a time of growing frustration with Washington, we’re excited to be advancing strategies and approaches which offer a better day for our country. And that’s why I hope you will join NDN today. 

NDN’s work is needed now more than ever.  With your membership contribution of $25, $50, $100, NDN can continue to be on the cutting edge of the debates facing our country. 

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NDN Senior Advisor Alicia Menendez on MSNBC's "The Power Panel" on 7/15/2011

NDN Senior Advisor Alicia Menendez on MSNBC on 7/15/2011 regarding Gov. Rick Perry.

The Meaningless Mantra of "Border Security"

The Wall Street Journal put out an amazing op-ed  on the intellectual emptiness of the phrase "border security."

The piece really highlights the disconnect between what is said, about the violence, security and the reality of the current situation on the border.

The author does an excellent job of placing the idea of "border security" in a more historical context:

Does a secure border mean one in which no one is able to cross between the legal entry ports? The most secure border in modern history was probably the Cold War border between East and West Germany. To keep their people from leaving-logistically much easier than keeping others from entering-the East Germans built more than 700 watchtowers, sprinkled more than a million antipersonnel mines, created a deep no-man's zone of barbed wire and electric fencing, and deployed nearly 50 guards per square mile with shoot-to-kill orders. Even so about 1,000 people each year somehow managed to find a way across.

The author then notes that the idea of "Operational Control," another buzz word tossed around by the Department of Homeland Security lacks actionable goals.

Would a secure border then be one over which the U.S. government exercises "operational control"? This is the term of art used by the Border Patrol, and it essentially means that border agents have the capacity to detect and respond to most, if not all, illegal crossings. By that measure, about 700 miles of the border with Mexico are currently deemed to be under control.

Expanding that zone of control is surely a sensible policy to pursue. But at what cost? Without successful deployment of remote sensing technologies, it would take tens of thousands more agents on top of the record 20,000 already deployed to bring operational control to the U.S. borders. Technology was expected to cut those manpower needs dramatically, but the so-called Secure Border Initiative has cost taxpayers nearly a billion dollars so far and has yet to demonstrate even a workable pilot system.

Then goes on to note that the border for all intents and purposes is more secure now then it has ever been before.

Perhaps a secure border is simply one in which enforcement capabilities are bolstering deterrence and dissuading more and more people from attempting illegal crossings. By that standard, the border is more secure than it has ever been at any time in American history. The one number the Border Patrol collects with absolute confidence is the apprehensions it makes each year of illegal border crossers. The smaller that number, the better, because it shows a decline in those attempting illegal crossings.

Last year, the number of apprehensions at the border with Mexico was 540,000, the lowest since the early 1970s, half the level of 2005, and just one-third the figure of a decade ago. Much of this decline is certainly due to a weak economy and higher U.S. unemployment, though it is noteworthy that in the last deep recession (1981-82) there was only a slight dropoff in apprehensions, and the total number remained close to one million annually.

There is much more to be read here. I highly recommend reading this thoughtful piece from beginning to end.

Immigration Polling Roundup

In order to give a more accurate understanding of the publics opinion on Immigration I am going to start compiling and releasing a compendium of polling on the issue at the end of every month.

This particular batch is a fairly comprehensive collection of polls released over the month of May, please feel free to let me know if I missed anything.

There has been much written about the public support for the Arizona law, however much of that support can be linked to the tremendous appetite for doing just about anything to fix the current broken immigration system.

As much support as there has been for the law, there is even more support for a federal plan with a pathway to citizenship. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Poll released May 21:

80% of a nationwide polling sample support creating a program that would allow illegal immigrants already living in the United States for a number of years to stay here and apply to legally remain in this country permanently if they had a job and paid back taxes.

While people support the Arizona law, they are even more supportive of overhauling Immigration on the federal level.

Don't believe it, take the time to read the full compendium of polling data here. You will find polling on an assortment of immigration issues, including SB1070, sending the National Guard to the border and  comprehensive immigration reform.

CNN/Opinion Research Poll May 21

Political Ramificatons of SB1070

Michael Gerson's op-ed in the Washington Post today is chock full of all sorts of goodness. I have pulled out some highlights below, the full op-ed can be seen here:

He starts with this:

Has the Republican Party become, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently charged, the "anti-immigrant party"?

Then moves on to this:

.....it would be absurd to deny that the Republican ideological coalition includes elements that are anti-immigrant -- those who believe that Hispanics, particularly Mexicans, are a threat to American culture and identity. When Arizona Republican Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth calls for a moratorium on legal immigration from Mexico, when then-Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) refers to Miami as a "Third World country," when state Rep. Russell Pearce (R), one of the authors of the Arizona immigration law, says Mexicans' and Central Americans' "way of doing business" is different, Latinos can reasonably assume that they are unwelcome in certain Republican circles.

Then this which, I personally quite enjoyed:

Sen. John McCain, a long-term supporter of humane, comprehensive immigration reform, has run a commercial feeding fears of "drug and human smuggling, home invasions, murder" by illegal immigrants.

Never mind that the level of illegal immigration is down in Arizona or that skyrocketing crime rates along the border are a myth. McCain's tag line -- "Complete the danged fence" -- will rank as one of the most humiliating capitulations in modern political history.

Then makes this excellent point:

Republicans have now sent three clear signals to Hispanic voters:

California's Proposition 187, which was passed in 1994 and attempted to deny illegal immigrants health care and public education before being struck down in court; the immigration debate of 2006, dominated by strident Republican opponents of reform; and now the Arizona immigration law. According to a 2008 study by the Pew Hispanic Center, 49 percent of Hispanics said that Democrats had more concern for people of their background; 7 percent believed this was true of Republicans. Since the Arizona controversy, this gap can only have grown. In a matter of months, Hispanic voters in Arizona have gone from being among the most pro-GOP in the nation to being among the most hostile.

And ends with some good demographic information which  really contextualizes the political ramifications of SB1070. Also it allows me to work in a shameless plug for the New Politics Institute report Hispanics Rising 2010 which also highlights the Republican parties move further and further to the right on the immigration issue:

Immigration issues are emotional and complex. But this must be recognized for what it is: political suicide. Consider that Hispanics make up 40 percent of the K-12 students in Arizona, 44 percent in Texas, 47 percent in California, 54 percent in New Mexico. Whatever temporary gains Republicans might make feeding resentment of this demographic shift, the party identified with that resentment will eventually be voted into singularity. In a matter of decades, the Republican Party could cease to be a national party.

Finally, in case you missed it, Sen. John McCain is a big old flip flopper on immigration. The two videos below show  Sen. McCain's before and after transformation on the issue. Wait till the end of the first video to see him speak eloquently on immigration:

If you believe that the only answer to our immigration problems is to build a bigger wall then i would argue that you are not truly aware of the conditions of the human heart.

Fast forward to now and we see in the second video, that his once principled stance has been reduced to this trite soundbite:

Complete the danged fence.

Simon Rosenberg on the "Politics of Intolerance"

See video

Fri, Sept 11 - In this short video, Simon discusses Joe Wilson and the politics of intolerance, and what we are likely to see from the right as the southern strategy becomes less and less viable and acceptable.

Watch, Attend Simon's Monthly Presentation "The New Dawn," Thursday 8-27 at 12:15 PM

On August 27th at 12:15 pm, you're invited to have lunch at NDN while Simon Rosenberg presents his famous and enormously worthwhile presentation "The Dawn of a New Politics." If you plan to join us at NDN, please RSVP. If you can't have lunch at NDN, have lunch with NDN by tuning in at 12:15 for our live webcast.

Once a month over lunch you can see Simon's presentation "The Dawn of a New Politics," either in person here at NDN or live online. This engaging presentation makes a big argument about how politics is changing in America today, and offers ideas and strategies for how progressives can replicate our 20th century success in this new and dynamic century. Simon constantly updates his slides to include the latest in media, demography and politics.

Check out these recent essays from Simon to preview some of his arguments in the Dawn of a New Politics:

Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century, from Demos' Open Left Project
Obama: No Realist He, which held the front page of Huffington Post for over 24 hours
Making the Case for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Why We Need it Now
The 50 Year Strategy, published in Mother Jones Magazine
On Obama, Race and the End of the Southern Strategy
The Long Road Back

Simon has delivered his presentation "Dawn of a New Politics" all across the country over the past several years: At the DNC in Denver, twice for the House Democratic Caucus, on the Google campus, and recently before members and staff of the DSCC and DAGA, among many other gatherings.

TODAY: Simon Rosenberg Presents The New Dawn

Please join us Thursday, August 27, at 12:15pm for a presentation of "Dawn of a New Politics" by Simon Rosenberg.

This engaging presentation makes a big argument on how politics is changing in America today, and offers ideas and strategies for how progressives can replicate our 20th century success in this new and dynamic century.

Simon has delivered his presentation "Dawn of a New Politics" all across the country over the past several years: At the DNC in Denver, twice for the House Democratic Caucus, on the Google campus, and recently before members and staff of the DSCC and DAGA, among many other gatherings.

We cordially invite you to join us-- either here in our event space, or via Web cast-- to watch and engage with this revamped presentation.

If you plan to have lunch and watch the presentation at NDN, please RSVP.

If you can't have lunch at NDN, have lunch with NDN by watching live online here.

Location

NDN
729 15th St., NW
Washington , DC 20005
United States

Simon Rosenberg Presents: The New Dawn

Please join us Thursday, July 23, at 12:15pm for a presentation of "Dawn of a New Politics" by Simon Rosenberg.

This engaging presentation makes a big argument on how politics is changing in America today, and offers ideas and strategies for how progressives can replicate our 20th century success in this new and dynamic century.

Simon has delivered his presentation "Dawn of a New Politics" all across the country over the past several years: At the DNC in Denver, twice for the House Democratic Caucus, on the Google campus, and recently before members and staff of the DSCC and DAGA, among many other gatherings.

We cordially invite you to join us-- either here in our event space, or via Web cast-- to watch and engage with this revamped presentation.

If you plan on coming to the presentation, please RSVP.

Follow this link to watch the Web cast.

Location

NDN
729 15th St., NW
Washington , DC 20005
United States
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