Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Len Nichols in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | 'Rally touts 'single-payer' health care'

Communications — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:02:00 -0400

New America in the News:

...Sen. Barack Obama, a Democrat, would create a National Health Insurance Exchange for any individual and business that wants to purchase a private insurance plan or enroll in a new public plan. Subsidies would be provided to families with lower incomes to help make insurance affordable.

While still giving workers the option of retaining their employer-based coverage, Republican candidate John McCain would make tax credits available to help them obtain their own insurance. He also wants to allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines.

Dr. Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, said the Obama proposal would be more likely to succeed in Congress than either Mr. McCain's plan or a single-payer proposal...LINK

Stephen Burd in Pittsburg Post-Gazette | 'Market Doubts Hit Private Student Loans'

Communications — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:29:00 -0500

New America in the News:
Market Doubts Hit Private Student Loans (Pittsburg Post-Gazette)

...Sallie Mae and others are experiencing a growing default rate. The sub-prime mortgage crunch has spilled over into the student loan area, too, with investors less willing to buy loans of different kinds, said Stephen Burd, senior research fellow at New America Foundation, a nonprofit think tank.

"It's just a question of securitization right now," Mr. Burd said. ...

The Geneva Initiative

Articles — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:12:00 -0400

The Geneva Initiative came about soon after the breakdown of official Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations in early 2001. A group of former negotiators and public figures from both sides drafted a model peace agreement to show that there remained wide support among both Israelis and Palestinians for a solution based on two states for two peoples.

The 40-page initiative was signed by a nonofficial group of Palestinians and Israelis that included former Israeli generals, former Palestinian prisoners and former Cabinet ministers from both sides. It builds on previous formal negotiations and reflects what most who have been involved in the Middle East… more