Political Reform Program: Publications, Events and 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

Cracks In the Foundation

Ron Tang — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:47:00 -0400

While Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain appear anxious to move into the White House, none of them have much to say about housing. Yet rarely a day goes by that the headlines don't mention the current housing crisis and its threat to the financial markets and the economy. This has led to a strange disconnect between the presidential campaigns and national reality.

Subprime lending and the ensuing foreclosures are being blamed for the crisis, but the problems and blame go much deeper. The fact is, our nation does not have a housing plan, and has not had one for… more

CA Event: Instant Runoff Voting and Minorities in L.A.

Communications — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/19/2008 - 10:00am

Currently, Los Angeles' local elections run on a wasteful, two-round election system. Last May, only 6 percent of voters turned out for the runoff election for the Los Angeles Community College Districts -- an election that cost taxpayers $5 million, or $40 per voter. For this reason, the LA City Council is seriously considering Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for local elections.

By combining the general and runoff election into 1 single election, IRV will save millions of taxpayer dollars and help raise voter turnout. IRV allows voters to rank their choices, in order of preference (1-2-3). This way, if your first choice cannot win, your vote will go to your next choice.

Please join the New America Foundation/Political Reform Program and the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable for an engaging discussion on political reform and its impact on communities of color.

A Way Out Of the Nader Dilemma

Ron Tang — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

With Ralph Nader in the race, Democrats are fuming and no doubt preparing to use the same legal tricks they used in 2004 to keep Nader off the ballot in many states. Republicans are cackling with glee.

But Republicans shouldn't cackle too loudly. They've also been hurt by the spoiler dilemma.

In fact, the GOP lost control of the U.S. Senate due to Libertarian Party candidates in Montana, Washington, Missouri, Nevada and South Dakota spoiling things for Republicans. And many observers believe that Bill Clinton beat George H.W. Bush in 1992 only because Ross Perot drained away enough votes from Bush.

The… more

Why Tuesday Won't be So Super

Ron Tang — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

With Super Duper Tuesday looming on Feb. 5, the presidential horse race is about to move into its mid-game. At the end of this process, we may end up with the first president in history who is a woman, or an African American, or a former prisoner of war, or a Mormon or an ordained Southern Baptist minister.

Beyond the headlines and election results, when you lift up the hood of our nation's nominating process, you see a pretty gnarly sight. There's nothing simple or easy to understand about it, in fact it has evolved into a complex, chaotic snarl… more

Steven Hill in Newsday | Will Candidates Falter Without Independents?

Communications — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:06:00 -0500

New America in the News:
Without independents, will McCain, Obama falter? (Newsday)
"Certainly, closed primaries are better for those who have a stronger following among party faithful," said Steven Hill, the director of the political reform program for the nonpartisan New America Foundation.

How to Make Primaries Balanced, More Relevant

Ron Tang — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

In the aftermath of Iowa and New Hampshire, many Americans have begun to question the nominating process itself. Are two tiny rural states really the place to kick off an all-important national selection process? According to a survey conducted for the Associated Press and Yahoo News, fewer than 1 in 5 voters favors Iowa and New Hampshire's "favored state" status, and nearly 80 percent would rather see other states get their chance at the front of the line. Officials in those other states fear that if they hold their presidential primary too late in the season, the nominations… more

Steven Hill's NYT Letter to the Editor Regarding Krugman Column, Europe's Social Contract

adminn — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:22:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Paul Krugman calls Europe the "comeback continent" because of its resurging economy, yet repeats another stereotype -- Americans pay less in taxes than Europeans. The situation actually is more complex.

For their taxes, Europeans receive many benefits for which most Americans must pay additional fees and payments out of pocket. Many Americans, if they have health care at all, are paying for escalating premiums and deductibles. Other Americans are saving $100,000 for each of their children's college education, yet European children attend for free or nearly free.

Millions of Americans are scraping to save the amount they will need for retirement beyond Social Security, but the European retirement system is much more generous. Many Americans pay extra for child care, or self-finance their own sick leave or parental leave after a birth, but Europeans receive all of these (and more) from their taxes.

When all these differences are added up, it turns out that many Americans are paying out as much as Europeans -- we just receive a lot less for our money. The "overtaxed European" is another stereotype used to scare Americans away from the European model, so it's unfortunate that Mr. Krugman reinforced that stereotype.

Steven Hill
San Francisco

Stop Imposing 'Captive Speech' on Employees

Articles — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:03:00 -0500

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees not only the freedom to speak but also the freedom not to listen. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that "no one has a right to press even good ideas on an unwilling recipient." Nevertheless, American businesses are increasingly violating the First Amendment freedoms of their employees.

Frito-Lay Inc., one of the world's largest producers of snack foods, is also one of America's worst abusers of employees' right not to listen. It routinely not only compels its employees to listen to anti-union diatribes, on company time and property, but also forces… more

Steven Hill in Financial Times on California Political Reform

Communications — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:08:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Republican candidates are trailing Hillary Clinton in the presidential polls but the revival of a campaign to change the way California allocates its 55 electoral college votes has raised the party's hopes for next year's election.

The California Counts campaign, which has several prominent Republican backers, wants to replace the "winner-takes-all" system for electoral vote allocation with one based on the number of congressional districts won by each candidate.

"It would essentially give away 22 electoral college votes that a Democrat candidate could count on [in California]," said Steven Hill, director of the political reform programme for the New America Foundation, a non-partisan think-tank.

If the proposal is ratified, the number of electoral votes picked up by the Republican candidate could be more than the combined electoral votes of Nevada, Utah and New Mexico. ...

For the complete article, please follow this link.

Republican Power Grab Returns to California

adminn — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 10:34:00 -0500

It's ba-aaaaack! Like the hockey masked assailant in the Friday the 13th movies that refuses to die, the GOP ballot measure designed to ensure that their presidential candidate wins nearly half of California's electoral votes has been revived. And it's got Democratic leaders nervous.

GOP operatives have found a new sugar daddy to bankroll their proposition that would award one electoral vote for each congressional district won by a presidential candidate, instead of giving 100 percent of electoral votes to the candidate that wins the statewide popular vote.

In 2004 John Kerry won all 55 of California's electoral votes, but under this proposal he would… more

How to Revive Redistricting Reform

Articles — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:40:00 -0400

In the movie Groundhog Day, the Bill Murray character, a weatherman who is doomed to repeat the same day over and over, asks a question that haunts redistricting reformers in California: "What would you do if you were stuck in one place and everyday was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?"

With the recent failure of the Legislature to place redistricting reform on the ballot -- for the second year in a row -- reformers are scrambling for a way forward. One way would be to spend millions of dollars to gather signatures on a voter initiative. But… more

Election Security That Works

Articles — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:03:00 -0400

These are anxious times for election security and voting equipment. The system is truly broken, starting at the federal level with a lack of national standards, a chaotic testing regimen, untrustworthy vendors, a revolving door between the industry and government regulators, and a decentralized hodgepodge of election administration from coast to coast.

Into that abyss has stepped Debra Bowen, California’s secretary of state. Many of us have supported her call to make elections more secure, and Bowen came into office with the best of intentions. Yet her staff’s inexperience and misreading of the bigger picture have caused more chaos than necessary… more

Building a Better Presidential Election

Articles — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 08:42:00 -0400

California is used to power grabs, as are other states of electoral significance, like Ohio and Florida. All three states have seen partisan attempts at redistricting reform, which treated them as pawns on the national political chessboard.

Now in California comes the latest power grab, an attempt to manipulate the Electoral College vote to help Republican candidates for president. GOP operatives are seeking to pass a ballot proposition that will award one electoral vote for each congressional district won by presidential candidates, instead of giving 100 percent of electoral votes to the candidate that wins the statewide popular vote.

In… more

Legislators Fiddle While Earth Warms

Articles — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 08:21:00 -0400

Crazy weather patterns have appeared recently in the form of humidity in usually foggy San Francisco, California-like weather in Washington, D.C., torrential downpours and massive flooding in Britain and torrid temperatures in the Mediterranean. These and other episodes such as Hurricane Katrina add more evidence to the scientific studies that say we are at the outset of an era of blowback, environmentally speaking. Human activities have pumped massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the bill has come due.

Governments around the world are trying to figure the way forward, with the European Union leading the way. Recently,… more

Gautam Dutta Named Deputy Director of Political Reform Program

Communications — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:06:00 -0400

(SACRAMENTO, CA, August 1, 2007) — The New America Foundation is pleased to announce the hiring of Gautam Dutta as Deputy Director for the Political Reform Program. Mr. Dutta, a passionate proponent of political reform, will continue his advocacy of New America's signature reforms such as instant runoff voting, proportional voting and redistricting reform."As an attorney, civic leader, and Los Angeles Commissioner, Gautam has the right combination of skills, experience, leadership and passion for political reform that we were looking for in our Deputy Director," says Program Director Steven Hill. “We are thrilled to have him on… more

Hungry for IRV

Political Reform — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:28:00 -0400

Letter to the Editor published in the Los Angeles Daily News, by Linda Suh

IRV - Instant runoff voting, or, as I like to call it, "immediate rescue (for) voting." L.A. currently suffers tremendously from its inefficient election method. For example, only 6 percent of registered voters voted in May.Only 6 percent!

That's like eating only a finger-width slice of grandma's delicious apple pie and throwing the rest away. All of her money she put into the pie - gone. All of her time and hard work - gone.

Instant runoff voting is a winner that saves money, eliminates… more

State Republican Committee dumps winner-take-all policy

Political Reform — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:24:00 -0400

Rebuffing efforts by Mitt Romney loyalists, the Republican State Committee this week changed its policy of committing all the state's delegates to the winner of the presidential primary.

The winner-take-all policy had been championed by Romney backers -- including national committeeman Ron Kaufman -- when it came before a committee established to determine convention rules, according to other committee members. The rules committee approved the policy, 9 to 3.

But the broader state committee -- some of whose members are supporting Senator John McCain and Rudy Giuliani in the presidential primary -- rejected it, 31 to 17, this week, saying it… more

Letter: Improve elections with rank system

Political Reform — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:43:00 -0400

In "Independents don't change system" [Opinion, June 25], Joshua Spivak warns that a third-party presidential candidacy's best hope is to play the spoiler, serving to elect a president who might otherwise have lost had he or she not thrown a hat in the ring. While this is usually the case, the fault lies not with the candidate, but with the system in which he or she runs.

As things are now, it takes a plurality of votes - not a true majority - to rake in a state's electoral votes. This creates a situation where even a candidate who… more

Brown to set out plans to cede powers to parliament

Political Reform — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:35:00 -0400

Gordon Brown will today spell out his plans for reform of the House of Commons as he seeks to restore public trust in the political process.

In his first full statement to the Commons since becoming prime minister, he will reveal his intention to move power away from the government and towards parliament, with proposed measures including giving MPs the right to vote on issues of war and peace.

Mr Brown is expected to relinquish royal prerogatives traditionally exercised by the prime minister - such as the power to declare war without parliamentary approval - and to give MPs… more