Latest Press Releases From New America

Reports from Lebanon and Video Coverage of the New America Foundation's "Briefing on Beirut"

Communications — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:55:00 -0400

On Tuesday, May 13, the New America Foundation hosted an event featuring two journalists reporting from Beirut on the unfolding security and political crisis in Lebanon. Rami Khouri, editor-at-large of the Daily Star, discussed the large scale political and social trends have led to the current crisis. Nir Rosen, a fellow at the New America Foundation, reported live from the streets of Beirut on the tactical gains made by Hezbollah as well as its broader strategy. They were joined by a panel discussion featuring Daniel Levy, former Israeli negotiator and advisor to the Israeli prime minister's office, and current director… more

The Winner of New America Foundation's "Improving the Lives of Children" Essay Contest Will Receive $1000 on May 27

Communications — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:05:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. -- On May 27, the New America Foundation will announce the winner of its inaugural "Improving the Lives of Children" essay contest during a big check ceremony at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. The winner will receive a $1,000 award for college. Victor Reinoso, DC's Deputy Mayor for Education, will help present the award to the winning student. The contest's ten finalists receive recognition and the winning essay will be posted on New America's website www.newamerica.net.

According to David Gray, Director of the Workforce and Family Program at the New America Foundation, "The goal of the 'Improving… more

L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce Endorses Key Election Reform

Communications — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:55:00 -0400

Contact: Mr. Gautam Dutta, Esq. (213.480.0994; dutta@newamerica.net)

Los Angeles CA -- The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has endorsed a critical election reform: Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles, and key labor unions like UNITE HERE have also endorsed IRV.

"Instant Runoff Voting will create more competitive races, increase voter participation and eliminate costly runoff elections," said Gary Toebben, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. "The L.A. Area Chamber strongly urges the City Council and Mayor Villaraigosa to put IRV on the ballot this… more

Andrés Martinez to Direct New America Foundation’s Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program

Communications — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:05:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. – The New America Foundation today announced that Andrés Martinez, former editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times, will become director of the Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program, which seeks to identify and support the next generation of American public policy scholars and writers.

New America provides financial, professional and institutional support for up to 35 fellows each year. Its fellows program seeks out individuals whose research and ideas promise to bring forward exceptionally promising new thinking about the most pressing issues facing the United States.

Mr. Martinez was the editorial page editor of the Los Angeles… more

New Report Shows Impact of Employer Health Care Costs on Global Competition and U.S. Jobs

Communications — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:22:00 -0400

Contact: Elizabeth Carpenter New America Foundation 401-529-9379 (cell) 202-261-6585 (office) carpenter@newamerica.net

Washington, DC -- Rising health care costs undermine the ability of U.S. firms to compete internationally and threaten good American jobs, according to a report released today by the New America Foundation.

The New America report, "Employer Health Costs in a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms," found that U.S. manufacturers spend more than twice as much for health benefits than their foreign trading partners.

"At a time when our nation is thinking seriously about how to stabilize its fiscal future and fix… more

CBO Reports Healthy Americans Act would be Budget-Neutral

Communications — Thu, 01 May 2008 08:47:00 -0400

Contact: Elizabeth Carpenter New America Foundation 401-529-9379 (cell) 202-261-6585 (office)

Len Nichols, Director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, released the following statement in response to the Congressional Budget Office's report that the bipartisan Healthy Americans Act (HAA) would be roughly budget-neutral in its first year, and actually produce budget surpluses in following years.

"The CBO report proves that the U.S. can afford a high-value health system that guarantees every American quality, affordable health coverage and takes care of our nation's most vulnerable. In addition, this analysis serves as further evidence that… more

New America Foundation Praises New, Universal, Portable Retirement Savings Proposal

Communications — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:34:00 -0400

Today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) unveiled a proposal to give California workers access to a low-cost, professionally managed retirement account.

“We applaud Governor Schwarzenegger and Assembly Member De Leon’s bipartisan leadership” said Olivia Calderon, California Legislative Director of New America’s Asset Building Program. “Too many hardworking Californians don’t have access to a work based retirement savings plan. This is an incredible opportunity for California to show the rest of the nation how to use existing tools to help workers build their savings for retirement and other family needs so that they… more

New America Foundation Commends California State Controller John Chiang's Financial Literacy Initiative

Communications — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:47:00 -0400

(Sacramento, California, 04/02/08)-- Today, at his First Annual Financial Literacy Fair, California State Controller John Chiang joined by Assembly Members Ted Lieu (D-Carson), Ted Gaines (R-Roseville), Martin Garrick (R-Carlsbad), Roger Niello (R-Sacramento), reinforced his commitment to advance a statewide financial literacy initiative that promotes access to economic opportunity amongst all Californian consumers.

"We commend the Controller's attention to what is a very important and often unaddressed need, consumer financial education," said Olivia Calderon, California Legislative Director of New America's Asset Building Program. "The Controller's engagement on this issue could go a long way to raise awareness and bring together… more

The Budget Resolution and Education Funding: A Primer

Communications — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:37:00 -0400

Today the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project released "A Primer on the Budget Resolution's Impact on Education Funding," by the project's Research Director Jason Delisle. The primer serves as an insightful guide to this confusing and often partisan process by which federal education funding is determined. Last week the Congressional budget committees adopted the first drafts of the fiscal year 2009 budget resolution, marking the start of the annual Congressional budget process.The proposals head to the full House and Senate for consideration this… more

New America Foundation Recognizes President Bush's Financial Literacy Volunteer Initiative, But Sees Room for Improvement

Communications — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:02:00 -0500

Yesterday the White House launched a new Financial Literacy Volunteer Initiative to help connect struggling homeowners with financial counselors and to provide financial education at-large through a nationwide volunteer corps. New America Foundation's Asset Building Program has long called for the creation of a national Financial Services Corps and has made the idea a central component of its financial education policy agenda at both the federal and state level.

The announcement by the White House is an important first step. "However," said Melissa Koide, Deputy Director of New America's Financial… more

New America Foundation Releases New Report on Public Opinion and Political Culture

Communications — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:09:00 -0500

Today the New America Foundation's Next Social Contract Initiative and Pollster Cliff Zukin released new findings on how public opinion shapes national values and informs the potential for policy reform, particularly in the areas of health care, education, taxes and economic security. The new report, entitled "The American Public and the Next Social Contract: Public Opinion and Political Culture in 2007," is available here.

"The report notes that there is an increasing acceptance of the need for mutual support and an active role for government, coupled with continuedfield.These tensions shed light on the perpetual interplay between the enduring American… more

Stephen Burd of New America Foundation's Higher Ed Watch.Org Blog Receives National Education Reporting Award for Investigating

Communications — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:11:00 -0500

Higher Ed Watch.Org's staff writer and a lead investigator on the 2007 student loan scandals, Stephen Burd, is the winner of a 2007 National Award for Education Reporting, the Education Writers Association announced on Monday. Burd is a Senior Research Fellow with New America Foundation's Education Policy Program and a former Senior Writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education. Burd's two award winning articles from April 2007 appear here on the Higher… more

Google CEO Eric Schmidt Appointed as Chairman of New America Foundation's Board of Directors

Communications — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:16:00 -0500

The New America Foundation, a nonpartisan ten-year-old think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., announced today the appointment of Dr. Eric Schmidt, the chairman and chief executive of Google, Inc., as the new chairman of New America's Board of Directors. Dr. Schmidt, who has been a member of the New America board since the policy institute's founding, will succeed James Fallows, the author and national correspondent of The Atlantic. Fallows will remain on New America's board after the transition, which will take place on June 1st; Fallows was New America's founding board chairman. "New America is… more

Len Nichols and the New America Foundation’s Statement on the Democratic Health Care Reform Debate

Communications — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:38:00 -0500

Len Nichols, Director of New America’s Health Policy Program, stated, “For nearly 17 years I have worked tirelessly to reform our nation’s struggling health system. Today my passion overwhelmed me. I chose an analogy that was wholly inappropriate. I am deeply sorry for any offense that my unfortunate comments may have caused. I made unfortunate comments that do not accurately reflect my bipartisan conviction, political philosophy, or most importantly, my opinions about Senator Obama and his historic campaign for the United States presidency.“

“While I have consulted with seven former and current presidential candidates, I am not affiliated nor a surrogate… more

Len Nichols on Health Care in the State of the Union

Communications — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:38:00 -0500

Len Nichols, Director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, made the following statement today in reaction to the health care proposals outlined in President Bush’s State of the Union address:

“I can think of no quicker path to a single payer health system than what the President proposed last evening. While eliminating the tax preference for employer-provided health insurance may be useful in creating a system of coverage for all Americans, it is by no means a complete package.

To make the President’s proposal successful, it is necessary to implement reforms that would make health insurance markets… more

New America Foundation Commends Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Bank on California Initiative

Communications — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:21:00 -0500

Today, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he would launch a Bank on California initiative to connect lower income un-banked Californians with the financial products and services they need to begin climbing up economic ladder. The program builds on Bank on San Francisco, a citywide effort to bring 10,000 of the city’s estimated 50,000 un-banked residents into the financial mainstream through participating banks’ offerings and marketing of reasonably-priced products and services.

“We applaud Governor Schwarzenegger for recognizing that un-banked Californians are financially vulnerable and should be encouraged to become part of the financial mainstream,” said Olivia Calderon, California Legislative Director of… more

CRFB UPDATE -- Fiscal Stimulus: Do It Right or Don't Do it at All

Communications — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:47:00 -0500

Congress appears poised to move forward with a fiscal stimulus package. In theory, a mixture of monetary and fiscal policy is generally most appropriate to help a slowing economy; in practice however, fiscal policy becomes politicized so easily that it is often ineffective, and is sometimes even counterproductive. Too often in the past, stimulus bills have been poorly timed, poorly targeted, and larded up with unrelated items.

If Congress moves forward with a stimulus package, the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget believes that:

Stimulus should be simple. Short-term stimulus should be the lone focus of any bill. Other economic agendas… more

New America Foundation Commends San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Baby Savings Bond Proposal

Communications — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:26:00 -0500

Today, the New America Foundation Asset Building Program commended San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s innovative proposal to endow every child born in the city with a $500 Baby Savings Bond. The money, which would earn interest over time, would be available when the student graduates from high school, to be used for college costs or towards a first home.

“We applaud this bold, forward-looking proposal. Now that San Francisco has set the stage, we look to California and the rest of the country to offer young Americans the chance to realize their potential and to achieve their dreams,”… more

Clemons, Schmitt on the NH Primaries

Jerry Irvine — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:54:00 -0500

Last night's primaries raise more questions than answers regarding the state of the respective parties and thier candidates. In this short video clip (6 minutes), Schmitt and Clemons offer up New America's unique style of post-partisan analysis.

Mark Shmitt is a Senior Fellow at New America and a veteran of numerous national political campaigns. He cautions against over-analysis in the wake of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Steven Clemons heads the American Strategy Program and is the force behind TheWashingtonNote.com, a leading political blog which has been covering Election… more

New America Welcomes Historic Vote on California Health Reform

Jerry Irvine — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:42:00 -0500

Len Nichols, Director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, made the following statement today after the California Assembly voted to approve health care legislation that would cover all Californians. New America has provided policy and communications advice to Governor Schwarzenegger, his staff, and to Democratic leaders throughout the reform debate. Many of New America’s core health reform principles, including an individual mandate, are included in the proposal:

“Today is an exciting day for Californians, and for all Americans. This historic Assembly vote encourages us to believe that creating a system of coverage for all… more