NDN: Week In Review

Getting Specific About Economic Recovery - President-elect Obama and congressional leaders met yesterday to discuss an economic recovery proposal, a package Obama discussed in last weekend's YouTube address.

In his remarks, Obama said:

To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will double renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient. To build a 21st century economy, we must engage contractors across the nation to create jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools. To save not only jobs, but money and lives, we will update and computerize our health care system to cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help reduce health care costs by billions of dollars each year. To make America, and our children, a success in this new global economy, we will build 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries. And to put more money into the pockets of hardworking families, we will provide direct tax relief to 95 percent of American workers.

NDN Globalization Initiative Chair Dr. Robert Shapiro and NDN President Simon Rosenberg have long advocated creating just such a Stimulus for the Long Run and also have proposed a number of the ideas that will feature prominently in such a package, including many of those proposed by NDN Green Project Director Michael Moynihan in Accelerating the Development of a 21st Century Economy: Investing in Clean Infrastructure. Michael also wrote an essay today, Getting the Stimulus Right, in which he makes a number of suggestions for ensuring that the upcoming, record-size stimulus package is a success, including a board to oversee the vast expenditures. For more on NDN’s efforts to accelerate the development of a 21st century economy for America click here, or visit NDN’s Globalization Initiative page.

President-elect Barack Obama's Transition and Spring Training - With less than two weeks before President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, new NDN Fellows and authors of bestseller "Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube & the Future of American Politics" Morley Winograd and Mike Hais have released an important new essay, "It's a Brand New Ballgame: Presidential Transitions in a Civic Era."

As Morely and Mike wrote, "Almost before the echoes of Barack Obama's Grant Park victory speech had died, away pundits and the blogosphere began to keep score about the effectiveness of his transition. In a way, a presidential transition is like a political spring training that gives the incoming manager and his team a chance to prepare and set the tone for what amounts to a four-year long regular season. Every transition presents opportunities for an incoming Administration to put together a game plan to deliver hardball policy ideas to give the new team an early lead in the beginning of the regular season. One danger the new team faces during the transitional pre-season is being suckered by the other side into playing for keeps before opening day. With President-elect Obama’s Cabinet and White House policy team largely in place, and the maneuvering over various economic bailout options mostly behind us, it’s time for some preseason analysis of the management decisions the Obama team has made." To read the full essay, please click here.

In other "Millennial Makeover" news, the paperback edition will be released on March 15, with a new, post-election afterword by Morley and Mike. It will be a must read, so stay tuned for details. We are also very excited that "Millennial Makeover" was named one of the top 10 books of the year by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani.

Big Challenges for the Democrats and the Republicans - In two recent essays, Simon writes about big challenges ahead for President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress and also for the discredited Republicans. For the Democrats, it's a challenge of governing, of addressing incredible complex and difficult problems that will require Progress, Not Motion. For the Republicans, it's very much a political challenge. Drawing on an important essay -- On Obama, Race and the End of the Southern Strategy -- he wrote almost exactly one year ago, Simon revisits the massively discredited GOP approach to a 21st century America whose realities they have ignored or completely failed to understand. In The GOP and Magic Negros and A Long Road Back, Simon makes it clear that Democrats will be in the majority for a very long time unless Republicans get a new playbook.

Weekly 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. This week, she provides comments on U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid's statements on immigration reform on "Meet the Press" and analyzes the impact of Gov. Bill Richardson’s withdrawal of his nomination for U.S. Commerce Secretary on the prospects for immigration reform. She also takes a look at the prominence of immigration as an issue for Hispanics, provides examples of the need for comprehensive immigration reform, and discusses the long road back for the GOP and hate crimes.

New Tools Feature - In a quick New Tools update, "A Ball For All," I take a look at President-elect Obama's decision to host the first-ever Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

With tickets available free or at an affordable price, it is the first official inaugural ball of its kind to be held during a presidential inauguration. A portion of tickets for this event will be set aside for District of Columbia residents. The ball will also feature a robust interactive component, including webcasting and text messaging, to link neighborhoods across the country with the new President and this premier event.

I explain why this is a smart move for Obama, both symbolically and strategically, and predicts that like the text-message VP announcement, this will help Obama down the road as he tries to build broad-based public support for his initiatives. For more new tools talk, check out the new tools section of our blog.

NDN Seeks New CFO - NDN is seeking a CFO with four years 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.

NDN Seeks 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, please refer to the internships page on our Web site or contact jobs@ndn.org for more information.