Articles and Op-Eds: 2004

Articles and op-eds by New America fellows and staff are available below. To jump to another year's archives, please use the links at right.

Use Tax Refunds to Help Americans Save

  • By
  • Anne Stuhldreher,
  • Reid Cramer,
  • New America Foundation
December 30, 2004 |

President Bush has put tax and social security reform high on the agenda for his second term. He's highlighted the need to increase retirement savings and called the tax code a complicated mess that hinders the economy. Another fundamental drag on long-term growth is our low personal savings rate, and the tax code doesn't help here either. But there's a simple reform to the tax system that can help millions of Americans increase their savings without changing any laws or spending a dime.

Programs:

Waiting on Political Aftershock

  • By
  • James Pinkerton,
  • New America Foundation
December 30, 2004 |

The death toll from the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, while enormous, is far from the largest by historical standards. Yet the political impact will be huge, because publics around the world today demand accountability for every fatality.

In the past, people could do little more than weep after catastrophes. They were called "Acts of God," and there wasn't much to be done about them, except maybe pray harder, in hopes of avoiding future wrath from the divine.

Programs:

Violent Video Games Serve a Purpose

  • By
  • James Pinkerton,
  • New America Foundation
December 23, 2004 |

What's the perfect stocking-stuffer for Christmas in a time of war?

Why, "Halo 2," of course, although there's nothing angelic about it -- unless, of course, one's idea of heaven is a future generation of killers.

If you've wondered why holiday movie ticket sales are down for the second year in a row, one big factor is that kids are at home playing video games, not trekking to the plex. And "Halo 2," produced by mighty Microsoft, is the biggest stay-at-home lure: It sold 2.4 million units, at $50 a pop, on Nov. 9, its "opening day."

Programs:

Halo 2 and the New Heroism

  • By
  • James Pinkerton,
  • New America Foundation
December 23, 2004 |

"Halo 2" is a summons to an Heroic Age -- although the identity of the new heroes may turn out to surprise us. After all, if technology is changing everything else about our lives, why shouldn't it change heroism, too? Yup, "H2" gives us a lot to think about it, making it the perfect Christmas present for a holiday season that has offered us uncheery tidings of blood, sweat and tears.

Programs:

Calls For Electoral Standards Mount

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
  • and Rob Richie
December 22, 2004 |

The day after Election 2004, retiring NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw indicated the need for strong national standards in how we count the votes. In an unusually serious interview with David Letterman, Brokaw said point blank, "We've gotta fix the election system in this country."

Programs:

Trial Lawyers Finding a Haven Overseas

  • By
  • James Pinkerton,
  • New America Foundation
December 21, 2004 |

Who should make policy for America? Elected officials or unelected judges?

That argument is back, only this time, the legal game has gone global -- and trillions, not billions, of dollars are at stake.

The political history of the past 35 years has seen a backlash against judicial policymaking. That is, after activist courts issued liberal-left decrees on crime, welfare, school busing, abortion and affirmative action, the nation's voters, working mostly through the Republican Party, sought to undo those diktats.

Programs:

Sticking Together

  • By
  • Anne Stuhldreher,
  • New America Foundation
December 21, 2004 |

Veteran antipoverty activist Maurice Lim Miller had never met Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. So when Miller's home phone rang late one night in 2000, he was surprised to find one of America's best-known municipal leaders on the line.

Programs:

America: Restoring Democracy

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
  • and Rob Richie
December 21, 2004 |

The day following Election 2004, retiring NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw indicated the need for strong national standards in how we count the votes. In an unusually serious interview with David Letterman, Brokaw said point blank, "We've gotta fix the election system in this country."

Programs:

Missing Children

  • By
  • Phillip Longman,
  • New America Foundation
December 20, 2004 |

It's happening in rich countries. It's happening in poor countries. It's happening among Christians, Hindus, and especially Muslims. It's a trend that has everything to do with sex, death, money, and power, yet rarely draws a headline. Everywhere in the world, people are having fewer and fewer children.

Programs:

Red-State Sneer

  • By
  • Michael Lind,
  • New America Foundation
December 16, 2004 |

Is the United States turning into the Republic of Gilead? That was the name of the theocratic Christian America that Margaret Atwood imagined in her novel The Handmaid's Tale. Following the November election in the US, a map circulating on the internet showed the blue states of the east and west coasts annexed to Canada, with the red-state portions of the country that had voted Republican labelled "Jesusland."

Programs:
Syndicate content