In the News: Quotes and Media Appearances

Maya MacGuineas in CQ | House Democrats Aim to bring Their War Supplemental

Communications — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:38:00 -0400

New America in the News:
. . . “The Blue Dogs are the heroes of this situation,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “I think the Blue Dogs are really flexing their muscles and showing they’re not going to vote for unpaid new spending programs.” . . . For the entire article, go to CQ.com.

Daniel Levy in USA Today | "Is Israel Better Off After Bush Presidency?"

Communications — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:49:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . Bush's Mideast policy, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and his willingness to stand tough against unfriendly Arab regimes and Islamists have left Israel in a strategically weaker position today than it was eight years ago, says Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator who is now a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank on global and domestic issues. . . .

"At a mass level, people can go doe-eyed when President Bush repeats these nice, warm, embracing platitudes, but in serious assessments of where Israel is at today versus when Bush took office, I think people are a lot more sober and very concerned about the trajectory of where the region is," Levy says. "People are concerned that America is both so much less respected and feared today." . . .

Jeffrey Lewis in New York Times | "Western Experts Monitor China’s Nuclear Sites for Signs of Earthquake Damage"

Communications — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:47:00 -0400

New America in the News:
Full article

. . . Jeffrey G. Lewis, an arms control specialist at the New America Foundation, a nonprofit research group in Washington, said the military buildings that make up Plant 821 were probably unusually strong compared with civilian structures.

“I’d rather have been in the reactor building than a grade school” on Monday when the quake struck, he said. The site’s various plants “were built as military facilities, and so I wouldn’t be surprised if, by and large, they came through pretty well,” he added. . .

CRFB in Chicago Tribune | "Republicans' Fight Against Tax Realities"

Communications — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:08:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . [John McCain] rules out tax increases to cut the deficit, while vowing to get tough on spending. But the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that while his proposals would slow the growth of spending, total outlays would still rise faster than inflation. Result: a larger deficit. . .

Daniel Levy in TIME Magazine | "Hamas Hysteria"

Communications — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:13:00 -0400

New America in the News:
Full article

. . . "If you're not talking to everyone, you're going to be Chalabied every time," says Daniel Levy, an Israeli who has negotiated extensively with Palestinians, referring to Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi who helped mislead the U.S. into war with Iraq. . .

Flynt Leverett and Nir Rosen in IPS News | "Lebanon Crisis Shows Hues of Iraq"

Communications — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:55:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . "This is more and more becoming a Sunni-Shi'a conflict. It really does feel like Iraq," said journalist Nir Rosen in a conference call with analysts and reporters at the New American Foundation.

"Sunni militias, backed by the Future Movement, formed over the last year, and have been a complete failure, perhaps because they were fighting for money. They just disappeared and caused a great sense of betrayal and shock among Sunnis," said Rosen, adding that the perceived victimisation of Sunnis had instigated more radical circles in Tripoli to fight against the "apostate Shi'a", that they appeared "eager to start this battle", according to Rosen. . .

Rosen, who is currently in Beirut and accompanied Shi'a Amal fighters as they battled on the streets, described Hezbollah fighters acting "hand in hand" with the army on the commercial strip of Hamra Street in West Beirut. Most of the targets captured by Hezbollah and their allies were subsequently turned over to the army. "They are not trying to change the demographic balance in Beirut, it is to make a show of force to let rival militias know [Hezbollah] could have a real political coup," said Rosen. "Hezbollah's main concern is to keep weapons; it doesn't have much interest in running things in Lebanon." . . .

"Lebanon, in the post Hariri period, is not in any really meaningful sense a democracy. It is a political order rooted in the distribution of political assets along sectarian lines, and the patterns of distribution are way out of whack with demographic reality, particularly with regard to the Shi'a," said Flynt Leverett, once a senior specialist on the Middle East for the Bush administration's National Security Council.

Leverett described the Lebanese political arena as a "sideshow" when compared to the Bush administration's real strategic interests in the region. Washington champions hollow talk about "democracy" as a bulwark against radical influences, he said, but in reality the policy -- what he called the "height of strategic malpractice" -- only serves as an excuse for the U.S. not to diplomatically engage with the countries it must: Iran and Syria.

"[It was a mistake] to latch on to this so-called March 14th coalition -- Cedar Revolution -- in Lebanon and to decide to use it as a fulcrum for trying to leverage various U.S. policy objectives," said Leverett. "What we have done here is basically what we did in the 1980s. We picked a group of Western-oriented Lebanese political actors whom we liked because they kind of looked like us and talked like us," he said. "We decided to array them against people who have real street cred; the results then were disastrous, and I think the results now are proving to be very bad." . . .

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Event Covered By the Wall Street Journal | 'Vital Signs in Health-Care Debate'

Communications — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:45:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s April 29 event that highlighted the presidential candidates' domestic policy plans appeared in David Wessel’s column in The Wall Street Journal (5/1/08). New America's Health Policy Program Director is quoted in the article.

. . Mr. Nichols says that Sen. McCain's plan to allow people in one state to buy individual insurance in another -- essentially deregulating this part of the insurance market -- amounts to "ideology trumping policy." Rational insurers will attract the healthy with low premiums and boost premiums for those with pre-existing conditions. "Fifty to 75 million Americans will discover what 'actuarially fair' really means," he says. (Sharply higher premiums.) The result, he predicts, will be a rush to Medicare-for-all that Republicans will hate. . .

Mark Schmitt in Financial Times | "Obama Focuses on Battle with McCain"

Communications — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:25:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . "Because of Florida's higher age profile, the state will be difficult for Obama in a general election," says Mark Schmitt, a political analyst at the New America Foundation. "But Obama will also open up other states, such as Colorado, that have a younger age profile, which would probably be beyond Senator Clinton's reach." . . .

Mark Schmitt on Bloggingheads.tv | "The Future with Obama"

Communications — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:30:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Bloggingheads.tv / New York Times

Mark Schmitt of the New America Foundation, left, and Noam Scheiber of The New Republic discuss whether Barack Obama should pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate.

Maya MacGuineas in Conde Nast Portfolio | 'The Problem with Paulson'

Communications — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:27:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . .Paulson did help promulgate reports about the nation’s fiscal woes and tried to revive interest in Bush’s moribund Social Security plan. “He worked with all the stakeholders,” says Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “He talked to everyone.” . . .

Nir Rosen in IPS News | "Bush Tour Diminished by Hezbollah Show of Force"

Communications — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:03:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . "These Sunni militiamen proved a complete failure, and America's proxies in Lebanon barely put up a fight despite their strident anti-Shiite rhetoric," noted Nir Rosen, a regional expert at the New America Foundation who described Hezbollah's offensive as "the death throes of the Bush plan for the 'New Middle East'."

"Now it is clear that Beirut is firmly in the hands of Hezbollah, and nothing the Americans can do will dislodge or weaken this popular movement, just as they cannot weaken the Sadrists in Iraq or Hamas in Gaza," he said. . .

"Confronting the Debt Culture" Conference in the Washington Post | "Let's Make It Cool to Save"

Communications — Sun, 11 May 2008 12:45:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

A coalition of consumer advocates, public policy groups and academics wants to attack our country's dependence on debt by creating a national campaign much like the one used to curb smoking. . .

The organizations leading this effort include the Institute for American Values, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, the New America Foundation, Public Agenda, Demos, the Consumer Federation of America, and the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions. . .

The coalition is holding a conference in Washington tomorrow and Tuesday and has issued a report, "For a New Thrift: Confronting the Debt Culture."

There's no major revelation in the 68-page report. It merely lists the many ways debt has taken down so many people.

Foreclosures, which soared to more than 1 million in 2007, are predicted to affect about 2.5 million households this year. Consumer bankruptcy filings are also up significantly.

Of course, there is the mortgage meltdown. And now auto loan and credit card delinquencies are also rising.

But even before the subprime debacle, many people were struggling with debt. The Federal Reserve recently reported that consumer credit increased by $15.3 billion in March, to $2.56 trillion.

"Millions of families today feel the American dream slipping away," the coalition's report says. "They are losing hope of escaping from the cycle of over-indebtedness, holding a good-paying job, or moving up the income ladder."

So who's at fault for all this indebtedness?

Is it the consumers?

"Clearly, human frailty is part of the story," the report says. "Some people get over their heads in debt because of their own profligacy and irresponsible choices."

Are we are a nation of debtors because it's what's best for the overall economy?

To be sure, the ceaseless temptation to overspend is also part of the story, the coalition leaders say. And just blaming or railing against consumers won't fix our debt problem. We've got to look at the financial institutions, or anti-thrifts, as the coalition calls them. . .

"The anti-thrifts have worked relentlessly to reduce the traditional inhibitions and stigma associated with over-indebtedness," the report says. . .

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in National Journal | "For McCain, a 20 Percent Solution"

Communications — Sat, 10 May 2008 07:00:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . By Holtz-Eakin's estimate, growth in entitlement programs--primarily Medicare and Medicaid--will drive federal spending from today's 20 percent of GDP to almost 26 percent in 2030. Such a large public sector, Holtz-Eakin argues in the paper, would impair economic growth and flexibility, and endanger America's limited-government heritage. The challenge, then, is to stabilize the country's finances at around 20 percent of GDP in 2030. . .

. . . His reform proposals are all debatable, but what is significant about Holtz-Eakin's paper is that it gets the conceptual framework right. "The far more important goal is 2030 rather than five years from now," says Maya MacGuineas, who directs the fiscal policy program at the New America Foundation.

. . . If he made long-term solvency a predominant theme of his candidacy, instead of treating it as a footnote to tax cuts, McCain could touch all of those bases, a nice trick. "There's a chance here for a really dramatic next chapter," MacGuineas says, "a whole reframing of what the challenges are." . . .

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in USA Today | 'GI Benefits Stymie Funding Bill'

Communications — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:31:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . Budget experts outside Congress were even more incensed. David Walker, the former U.S. comptroller general who has said the nation faces $53 trillion in unfunded federal liabilities over the coming century, called it "morally reprehensible." Criticism also came from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the Concord Coalition deficit watchdog group. . .

Len Nichols and Elizabeth Carpenter in BNA | 'Report Says Health Costs Hamper U.S. Firms'

Communications — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:46:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article (subscription only)

Employer health costs put U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage compared with certain trading partners, highlighting the need to separate health coverage from employer financing, according to a report scheduled for release May 7.

The report by the New America Foundation found that, while U.S. manufacturers pay $2.38 per hour for health benefits, five of the country's major trading partners pay an average of $0.96 per hour. The report looked at health care costs in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom compared with the United States.

The results do not indicate that U.S. firms are not competitive overall, but it does mean that "all else being equal, employer health costs make the United States less competitive than it could otherwise be," according to Employer Health Costs in a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms.

U.S. business leaders are aware of the effects high health costs are having on them, Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation and lead author of the report, said. Knowing that they cannot remain competitive if they shift costs to workers or raise prices, they are increasingly pushing major reform efforts. . .

Additional changes are needed, though, to improve outcomes and curb costs, Nichols said. Those changes include market reforms to ensure all people have access to health insurance, as well as improvements in the health care delivery system through comparative effectiveness research, consistent use of best practices, and information technology.

Ending employer-based financing must be accompanied by an improved delivery system because compared to foreign companies, U.S. firms are "still paying a bigger chunk of a bloated bill," Nichols said.

The market reforms would include plans for guaranteed issuance, as well as subsidies to ensure that all those seeking insurance can pay for it, according to Elizabeth Carpenter, a senior program associate for the health policy program.

The New America Foundation describes itself as "a nonprofit public policy institute that was established through the collaborative work of a diverse group of public intellectuals, civic leaders and business executives."

Link to the report:
http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/employer_health_costs_global_economy

Len Nichols in Los Angeles Times | 'Healthcare Costs Pinch Employers'

Communications — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:39:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

U.S. manufacturers who provide health insurance spend an average of $2.38 per worker per hour on healthcare -- more than twice as much as their foreign competitors, an analysis released Tuesday found. . .

But the new analysis suggests that neither lower wages nor higher prices are an option for most companies. Employers can't slash wages fast enough to keep up with rising healthcare costs because of minimum wage laws, union contracts and other factors, said economist Len Nichols, the analysis' author and a policy director for the New America Foundation.

"There's no question that if employers could push this into wages they would," Nichols said. "But every single year, healthcare costs rise faster than productivity and wages," he said. "Thus, they try to push it into prices. But with China and India competing against you, you can't do that." . . .

Nichols found that healthcare costs were outpacing wages and productivity. With stiff global pricing competition, that means healthcare costs have to come out of the bottom line, he said.

"That," he said, helps "explain why so many employers are hyper-focused on health reform this time around compared to 1992-93."

Nichols said his study was prompted by a question from a manufacturer in the Midwest who was shifting his jobs overseas. "My question for you is this," Nichols recalled, "who is going to buy my stuff? If we move jobs overseas, who is going to be able to buy our middle-class stuff."

Link to the analysis: http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/employer_health_costs_global_economy

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in Town Hall | "Will Washington Heed the Wake-Up Call?"

Communications — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:36:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . Traditionally, the Comptroller General (chief accountant) does not speak out about policy, but, given the severity of our fiscal climate, Walker felt compelled to do so. And so he has traveled the country on a “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour,” with the best minds of Washington’s leading conservative and liberal think tanks in tow, to sound the alarm. . . Beyond the leadership of the Government Accountability Office, other organizations on the Tour include the Heritage Foundation, the Brookings Institution, the Committee for Economic Development, the Association for Government Accountants, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, AARP, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and multiple state treasurers and auditors. . .

Len Nichols in MarketWatch | "Health-Care Costs Take Growing Toll on U.S. Employers"

Communications — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:05:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

Len Nichols, a health economist at the New America Foundation, was giving a talk in the Midwest recently when an employer asked him a question that went something like this: I can fight health-care costs by moving jobs overseas, but then who’s going to be able to buy my middle-class goods? As jobs disappear, so does access to affordable health insurance in many cases, and consumers grappling with less income and unstable coverage rightly pinch their pennies.

Nichols recounted this Catch 22-like story in a conference call Tuesday as he detailed a new study from the foundation. It describes how high health-care costs are putting U.S. employers at a significant competitive disadvantage compared with the health-care burden shouldered by other industrialized nations. The problem will get worse unless financing for health coverage starts to shift away from the employer-based model, Nichols said.

Employers are financing the costs partly out of profits, he said. “Fundamentally, they’re looking for relief, and that helps explain why they’re demanding some kind of reform in a serious way from the federal government.”

To be sure, workers do pay part of their employers’ higher health-care costs in lower wages, but that’s more of a long-term phenomenon than many experts have appreciated, Nichols said. “If employers could push this into wages they would, but every single year health-care costs grow faster than productivity,” wages and general inflation. Raising prices isn’t an option because countries such as China and India offer lower-price goods.

He figured if employers bore no burden and health-care costs just came out of workers’ wages, then why would employers continue to move jobs offshore, reduce health benefits’ generosity and increase employee cost-sharing? . . .

Len Nichols in Los Angeles Times | Democratic and Republican Healthcare Plans Offer Clear Choices

Communications — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:05:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Los Angeles Times | Democratic and Republican Healthcare Plans Offer Clear Choices

"McCain is talking about Wild West competition where there are no limits," said economist Len Nichols, who directs the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation and served as an advisor in the Clinton White House.

Len Nichols in Detroit Free Press | 'Healthcare Among Top Issues for Voters'

Communications — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:10:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Full article

. . . Len Nichols of the Washington-based New America Foundation, a public policy institute, said at a panel discussion on health care in Washington last week: "If we could just agree to cover everyone, we could talk about how." . . .

Nichols said the quickest way to get Congress to create a Medicare-like plan for all is to suggest that big employers don't have to offer health insurance. In other words, workers wouldn't stand for it. . .