Jerry Irvine: All Publications, Events and Press

Spellings Suspends Future Nelnet Payments

Education Policy — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:06:00 -0500

The U.S. Department of Education announced today a settlement with student loan giant Nelnet regarding what the agency’s Inspector General has said are some $1.2 billion in improper taxpayer subsidy claims for a special class of student loans that the company claims are entitled to a government-guaranteed 9.5% annual rate of return. The Department will let Nelnet keep approximately $278 million (23.9%) in previously provided subsidy payments and… more

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Bill That Encourages Saving

Communications — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 18:49:00 -0400

(Sacramento, CA)— Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation to improve the state’s anemic savings rate by giving Californians new opportunities to make the best use of their tax refunds. The bill, inspired by research from the New America Foundation and the Asset Policy Initiative of California, allows Californians to split their refunds into separate accounts (checking and savings, for example), takes effect in the 2007 tax period. The New America Foundation and the Asset Policy Initiative of California played a lead role in working with both the governor and key legislators to develop and promote this innovative approach to increase individual savings.

“Republicans and Democrats understand that financial savings is a realistic and important way to protect California families from hardship and to prepare them for the future,” said Anne Stuhldreher, a Fellow at the New America Foundation. “This bill creates a small change that could make a big difference to the families and individuals who take advantage of it.”

California today suffers from one of America’s highest rates of households living on the brink of financial crisis. The state has the fourth highest rate of asset poverty in America-- defined as households that would fall below the poverty line within three months or less if they suffered a loss of income and were forced to liquidate their assets. AB 2439, sponsored by Assemblymember Johan Klehs (D-Freemont), will help families save more by allowing California tax filers to split their state income tax refund into separate accounts for "money to save" and "money to spend." Research by the New America Foundation shows that many households, even those with low incomes, will divert income windfalls into savings if it is convenient for them to do so.

Community programs have piloted this refund splitting option and found that even low income tax filers will use this “splitting” option to save more. A demonstration program testing how these households would respond to this option shows that about one-third of these tax filers chose to take advantage of refund splitting. According to researchers at the Harvard Business School and the University of Kansas, those that split their refunds deposited $583 on average—47 percent of their refunds—into savings accounts. Under California's new law, when a tax filer learns she’s getting a $600 refund from the state, she can now use her income tax form to direct $300 of it to her IRA, and send the rest to her checking account. She will be able to make these choices before her money is in hand and the spending temptations become hard to resist.

California is the first state to make this change to tax forms. At the federal level, the IRS will also allow refund splitting of federal income tax refunds for the 2007 tax season. The California bill, signed by the governor on July 14, had strong bi-partisan support and won unanimous support in the Legislature.

Middle Eastern Expert Flynt Leverett Joins New America

Communications — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 17:49:00 -0400

WASHINGTON, DC (June 20, 2006) -- The New America Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of Flynt Leverett as a Senior Fellow and Director of the Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of Energy Security Project in New America's American Strategy Program. Dr. Leverett will continue his renowned research and writing on Middle Eastern affairs and will develop a comprehensive, solutions-based strategy to address the rapidly changing nature of the international energy industry.

"As America and the world grapple with an unprecedented level of turmoil in the Middle East where further missteps could unhinge the entire geopolitical order, Flynt Leverett provides clear-headed, innovative analysis and pragmatic policy solutions," said Steve Clemons, Director of the American Strategy Program. Before joining New America, Dr. Leverett was a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Prior to that, he had a distinguished career in government, serving as Senior Director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council, Middle East expert on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, and Senior Analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency.

Dr. Leverett is the author of Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial By Fire and has published articles on the strategic implications of energy market trends, China's energy-driven engagement in the Middle East, Middle Eastern regional security, intelligence reform, and other issues in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, and numerous other publications. He is also a freguent quest on television shows, including, CNN's Capitol Gang and Lou Dobbs Tonight, BBC's The Doha Debates and Hard Talk, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, NPR's Fresh Air, PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. He holds a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

About the American Strategy Program at New America

The purpose of the American Strategy Project is to promote a new American internationalism by updating what is best in America's foreign policy tradition for the 21st century. A foreign policy strategy guided by American internationalism would combine a tough-minded realism about America's interests in the world with a pragmatic idealism about the kind of world order that is best suited to America's democratic way of life.

Winning the Un-War

Communications — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 15:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
06/14/2006 - 12:15pm

In his first book, Charles Pena, Senior Fellow at the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy and Terrorism Analyst for MSNBC, re-examines the U.S. national security strategy, tackling key questions such as: What is the best way to restructure homeland security to prevent future attacks? How should the U.S. dismantle the al Qaeda terrorist network? Should this be a top priority? And how can we construct a foreign policy that will tamper down, rather than assist recruitment for, al Qaeda… more

New America Launches Early Education Reform Initiative

Communications — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 11:36:31 -0400

WASHINGTON, DC (December 13, 2005) – The New America Foundation launched an Early Childhood Initiative today, and released a policy paper calling for fundamental changes in U.S. early education, specifically aimed at expanding and improving services to children in pre-kindergarten through third grade (PK-3). “As Congress begins to consider reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act and the education and training demands of the global economy, maximizing the effectiveness of our early childhood education system takes on greater significance,” stated Michael Dannenberg, Director of New America Foundation’s Education Policy Program. Our nation’s education report card tells a tale of serious deficiencies. Early education—from prekindergarten to 3rd grade—is a critical component of a strong education system. Lack of a coordinated integrated system from prekindergaten through high school has a large and widespread negative impact on our ability to compete in the global market place. "As a society, we pay a high price when our education system fails to give all children a strong start — from lower test scores to higher school drop-out rates, higher crime rates, and more instances of teen pregnancy,” stated Shelley Waters Boots, author of the New America report and former Director of the Early Childhood Education Initiative. “The time is now to raise the profile of this issue and reframe the debate by placing PK-3 at the forefront of education reform discussions.” Over the next 18 months, the New America Foundation will produce several policy papers that will outline in greater detail both innovative policy changes as well as the political factors needed to build a PK-3 early education system in this country. The Initiative will advance the following: · Building a universally accessible, effective full-day pre-kindergarten system. · Providing access to full-day kindergarten programs that nurture children’s learning and connect with the early elementary grades. · Designing a system of aligned curriculum, standards and instructional practices that inspire all children to learn. · Establishing high teacher qualifications and providing adequate compensation to have the best and brightest teaching our youngest students. · Ensuring that programs support children’s needs and engage parents as children’s first and lifelong teachers. · Addressing the financing inequalities in the current PK-3 system to ensure that all children have access to the best education in the world. The first policy paper in this series, “Building a 21st Century Economy: The Case for Investing in Early Childhood Education Reform,” can be downloaded from the New America website. (http://www.newamerica.net/Download_Docs/pdfs/Doc_File_2753_1.pdf)

Three Years Later: American Public Opinion of the Iraq War

Communications — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 09:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
03/15/2006 - 10:00am

On Wednesday March 15, 2006, the New America Foundation hosted a forum about where American and Iraqi public opinion on the war stands three years after hostilities began, and how it's changing. Co-chaired by Steven Kull, the principal investigator of a survey conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), and Anatol Lieven, Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation, and moderated by Jerry Irvine, New America's Director of Communications, the panel served to announce PIPA's findings and… more

New America Releases Tax Reform Plan

Communications — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 04:00:00 -0500

WASHINGTON, DC (December 5, 2005) -- A proposal released today by the New America Foundation calls for dramatic structural change of the U.S. tax system. The innovative plan creates a tax system that is fairer and more efficient than the current system, while also meeting the new challenges and opportunities of a global economy. The plan calls for replacing the payroll tax with a progressive consumption tax; integrating corporate and individual taxes, while taxing all forms of income the same; creating a more transparent approach to tax expenditures; and introducing a new energy tax.

"Our tax code has become exceedingly complex, increasingly regressive, and it creates a significant drain on the economy -- a drain that will only grow worse as we are inevitably forced to increase taxes," stated Maya MacGuineas, Director of New America Foundation's Fiscal Policy Program and author of the tax reform plan. "This plan calls for a fundamental change in how we raise the funds to pay for government, while creating incentives that match our national priorities on issues such as increased savings, global competitiveness and energy conservation."

For the full press release, please see the attached PDF file.