The Denver Post

Reihan Salam in The Denver Post | 'The Republican Party Gets Ready'

Communications — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:31:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Part of addressing different challenges includes making a pragmatic shift, says Reihan Salam, 28, who is part of the GOP's younger generation and co-author of "Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream."

He contends family values should include kitchen-table economics. Acknowledging global warming isn't an embrace of liberalism, he says, but the first step in discovering solutions. Instead of lambasting entitlement programs or just denying that a problem exists, he adds, Republicans should find a way to make them better, less bureaucratic and more cost-effective. LINK

Len Nichols in The Denver Post on Health Care and Latinos

Communications — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:18:00 -0500

New America in the News:

...About 56 percent of all wage and salary employees ages 21 to 64 had an employer or union-sponsored pension or retirement plan last year, according to a report released this month by the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington, D.C. Overall, about 53 percent of full-time, full-year workers participate in such plans, but the Institute's analysis of 2007 U.S. Census data found non-native Hispanics were less likely to participate than whites, blacks or non-immigrant Hispanics.

Matthew Gnabasik, managing director of Blue Prairie Group, a human resources and investment consulting firm in Chicago, said there is a "generally accepted truism" in the industry that in companies with large Spanish-speaking immigrant populations, participation in retirement savings plans is low. "It's often said that there is a cultural element to that," he said.

Human resources directors, he said, repeatedly tell him that among Spanish-speaking immigrants, those who are working feel a greater responsibility to care for older family members than to invest in a retirement plan. In addition, Gnabasik said, it is difficult to get lower-income workers to participate in a plan.

Burkhart is working to change that. A former English, Spanish and social studies teacher in Denver Public Schools, Burkhart launched Futuro Sólido in 2001 with help from her Colombian-born husband Ferney Colorado, who is also her consultant. Her mission is to help companies tear down the myths and cultural obstacles that keep Spanish-speaking employees from enjoying robust benefits and to help them perform better in the workplace. ...

"Our emphasis is not just on translating accurately, but getting the results the client wants, whether that's understanding and compliance of safety regulation so their workers' compensation claims stay reasonable ... or whether that's having people participate in their 401(k)." ...

In a report released earlier this month in the health care journal Inquiry, researchers found that many Spanish-speaking Latinos are in low-wage jobs that don't offer health insurance plans. For those whose companies offer a plan, the report, entitled, "Why do Latinos Have So Little Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance," found the cost of premiums to be a deterrent. Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the Washington, D.C.-based New America Foundation and a co-author of the report, said a higher priority for them is to be able to send money home.

"In that sense, making sure you have as much cash now is at a premium in that community," he said. Nichols said Burkhart appears to have a niche company; he knows of no other company that is targeting Spanish-speaking immigrants to get them enrolled in employer-sponsored benefits.

For the complete article, please follow this link.

Steven Clemons and Flynt Leverett Discuss Iran in the Denver Post

Communications — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 09:10:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Washington -- I did a guest spot on a Denver talk radio show last week, and was stunned when the program’s hosts turned the topic to Iran.

Talk is cheap. But the hosts were ready -- in fact, sounded downright eager -- to beat the war drums....

My radio hosts are not alone. In neo-conservative quarters here, the trumpets are sounding.

"There are those who see a tyrant regime" and are working to push the U.S. into a "cataclysmic" war, said Steven Clemons, director of the New America Foundation, a think tank that held an all-day conference on Iran’s nuclear ambitions last week....

"The odds that the use of force will be counterproductive are staggeringly high," said Flynt Leverett, who served as a Middle Eastern expert at the White House and the State Department during Bush’s first term....

To read the full article, please visit the Denver Post website.

Time for a Fresh Look at Life Terms on the Supreme Court

Articles — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 02:00:00 -0400

Should U.S. Supreme Court justices serve life terms? This is a question that is raised whenever there is a vacancy on the Court. At 50 years of age, Judge John Roberts, President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, could serve for decades.

Perhaps more than any single factor, this "until death do we part" constitutional requirement has been responsible for bruising confirmation battles. On the partisan chessboard, nailing down one of nine Supreme Court spots is a major victory.

But a survey of judicial appointment practices in other democracies suggests there may be better methods for selecting the U.S. Supreme Court. For… more