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"The FCC in recent years has authorized a threefold increase in commercial spectrum for mobile broadband," the chairman said during a speech to the New America Foundation think tank. "But that increase will not allow us to keep pace with an estimated thirtyfold increase in traffic." ...

"There will be an intense amount of lobbying. It's just going to be a huge fight," said Stephen Burd, a senior fellow for education policy at the nonprofit New America Foundation. Original article

Underscoring the adage that politics makes strange bedfellows, AT&T, Cisco, Free Press, Google, New America Foundation, National Cable and ...

Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke to a crowd convened by the New America Foundation in Washington on Tuesday about the ways technology can help Barack Obama's administration and Congress address two of the biggest challenges ahead: generating short- and long-term economic and job growth that can help pull the nation out of financial turmoil, and restoring public trust in government.

...Combined sovereign wealth reached $3.5 trillion in 2007 -- the largest generator being China, according to the firm. Russia and Kuwait are next. And, according to recent news reports, two other countries with substantial population and/or wealth -- Saudi Arabia and India --are considering setting up sovereign wealth funds.

Senate Budget Would Boost Advance Approps By $4 Billion (CongressDaily PM, subscription only)

If the New America Foundation had hoped to umpire a snarled dispute between Democrats and Republicans on fixing the alternative minimum tax, its hopes were not advanced at a seminar today featuring advocates for both sides. The two parties are at swords' points over whether to hike other taxes in order to offset an estimated $50 billion revenue loss if Congress decides to prevent the AMT from biting some 23 million additional income taxpayers this calendar year.

Senate Budget Chairman Conrad and ranking member Judd Gregg, R-N.H., recently proposed to "create a task force to recommend comprehensive legislation addressing expected shortfalls in the major entitlement programs," such as Medicare and Social Security.

Congressional Democrats are using the budget process to express their longstanding legislative priorities. But they are not guaranteeing all of them will make it into law.

Roughly $150 billion to $160 billion over five years in new spending initiatives are outlined in the House and Senate budget resolutions that conferees will seek to iron out this month.

That is on top of expensive tax breaks assumed in the budget such as a fix for the alternative minimum tax, which would cost $50 billion for this year alone and $1 trillion over the next decade.

Banks and other private student loan providers are gearing up for battles on several fronts, including a fight against a possible congressional overhaul of a major loan program that would force companies to compete for business, and likely shrink their profit margins.