The Wall Street Journal

New America Foundation in Wall Street Journal | "Experts Call for Long-Term Budgets for Entitlements"

Communications — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:03:00 -0400

New America in the News:

A broad coalition of federal budget experts, spanning the ideological spectrum of Washington think tanks from left to right, proposed Monday that Congress and the president set explicit, “sustainable” long-term budgets for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and create a mechanism that would force changes when projected spending exceeds budgeted amounts. . . Among the other participants are scholars from the American Enterprise Institute, Concord Coalition, New America Foundation, Progressive Policy Institute and Urban Institute. The work is supported by several foundations. . .

The Divided Democrats

Ron Tang — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:00:00 -0400

It has been more than five decades since any political party in America has had a brokered convention, and for political junkies a heated battle at the Democratic convention seems like a tantalizing possibility. But for Democrats, a protracted nomination battle, culminating in a convention fight, could undermine the party's hopes of reclaiming the White House this fall.

Since voters in Ohio and Texas breathed new life into Hillary Clinton's campaign, some have argued that the current stalemate will not hurt the party's candidate come November. After all, as several prominent bloggers have argued, wasn't the 1968 Democratic primary battle worse?… more

Watching Sovereign Wealth

Ron Tang — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

When the adjectives most often used to describe you are "secretive," "opaque" and "mysterious," you've got an image problem. Such is the predicament of sovereign wealth funds, the government-controlled investment vehicles, often in authoritarian states, that have become the bane of Western politicians. Yesterday, the European Commission became the latest body to propose transparency guidelines for these funds.

But the good news for sovereign wealth funds is that increased disclosure and transparency may actually be a win-win for everyone. A little openness can go a long way.

Market participants and regulators would benefit by gaining some insight into potential contagion risks and… more

Obama's New Populism

Ron Tang — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

No presidential campaign in this country would be complete without the three Ps of politics -- polls, pundits and populism. The first two Ps are more modern creations. But the populist candidate who claims to speak for the "people" -- against some political straw man such as big business or big government -- has a long history. Political leaders from both sides of the aisle have consistently and unabashedly utilized populist appeals. The run-up to the 2008 election, with John Edwards's missives against corporate power or John McCain's attacks on big government, has largely followed a similar script.

But this year,… more

Maya MacGuineas in Wall Street Journal | 'Path to Surplus Would Be Rocky'

Communications — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:47:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Path to Surplus Would Be Rocky (Wall Street Journal)

While those proposed cuts should be applauded, "clearly in a world of $400 billion deficits it's not going to make a difference," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan Washington organization focused on fiscal-policy issues. "We know and have always known the real money is going to be found in entitlement spending."

Ellen Seidman in Wall Street Journal on Helping Troubled Homeowners

Communications — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:43:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Washington's leaders have been pushing many policy buttons to stem the worsening housing and credit crisis. They've yet to find the off button, however, and that's prompting a search for more-aggressive solutions.

This week's decision by Citigroup Inc. to bail out seven investment entities and bring $49 billion in assets onto its balance sheet effectively killed one of the centerpieces of the Bush administration's approach. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has pushed a giant rescue plan for off-the-books funds saddled with mortgage-backed debt, but banks have mostly done the painful work themselves.

Some other policy moves are getting under way, including a plan to freeze interest rates for some subprime mortgage borrowers and the Federal Reserve's move to offer banks special funding at lower-than-usual rates so they can lend more. The Fed has cut its key short-term rate by a full percentage point since August, and markets expect it to continue.

Still, if those steps fail to calm homeowners and markets, as some investors expect, debate is likely to grow about what levers remain. Some with an interventionist bent are raising proposals amounting to federal bailouts for homeowners facing foreclosure and the revival of New Deal-era programs. Earlier this month, the Mortgage Bankers Association said home foreclosures in the third quarter hit their highest rate since at least 1972. ...

This past week, the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, proposed that the government buy some mortgage-backed securities and create a new agency, the Family Foreclosure Rescue Corp. It would issue new, more affordable fixed-rate mortgages for those facing foreclosure whose homes are worth less than what they owe.

"There will be a louder discussion about do variations on this theme make sense, and could you pull it off?" says Ellen Seidman, a former economic adviser in the Clinton administration now at the New America Foundation. ...

For the complete article, please click here.

BusinessWeek Covers Wireless Debate, and Highlights Advocacy Groups

Communications — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:21:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Even as the wireless industry chants a new gospel about opening mobile-phone networks to outside devices and applications, some of the biggest U.S. carriers are quietly blocking new services that would compete with their own.

Would-be mobile-service providers, ranging from startups to major banks to eBay's (EBAY) PayPal have encountered these roadblocks, erected by the likes of AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless. In some cases, cellular carriers have backed down, but only after inflicting costly delays on the new services.

At issue is a type of mobile text message known as a short code, essentially a shortcut that lets cell-phone users access an array of services—say, getting sports scores or voting for a contestant on American Idol—by punching in five or six digits instead of the usual seven plus area code. ...

The Federal Communications Commission, which has never conducted proceedings or issued rulings concerning short codes, declined to comment for this article. Some industry experts say there's no clear-cut law being violated but suggest that legal precedents set in other areas of telecommunications may be applicable to short codes.

There's no question that this sounds anticompetitive, but that doesn't mean it's illegal," says Michael Salsbury, a partner at law firm Chadbourne & Parke and former general counsel for MCI, the long-distance carrier purchased by Verizon Communications (VZ). "It's definitely improper, because I think from a consumer perspective [a phone company] should have its service compete on the merits of features and cost. It shouldn't be blocking someone else." But, Salsbury adds, if it's still possible to provide a service via text message rather than a short code, then the carriers may be acting within their rights.

The FCC may need to deal with the issue sooner rather than later. On Dec. 11, Public Knowledge and seven other consumer advocacy groups [one being the New America Foundation] filed a petition with the FCC, calling carrier interference in text messaging a threat to free speech. The groups also asked the regulator to ban the practice. The petition cites the September refusal by Verizon Wireless to allow a short code for NARAL Pro-Choice America. Verizon Wireless quickly reversed the decision and apologized. Petitioners also refer to the Rebtel matter. ...

For the complete article, please click here.

Mission Accomplished

Articles — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:30:00 -0500

Perhaps it's time to add the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to that list of things that, like houseguests and fish, can overstay their welcome. The bank now strays so far from its original remit that it risks spoiling the legacy of its earlier successes. The EBRD should quit while ahead, declare victory and be privatized.

At its pinnacle, the EBRD was a triumph of financial statecraft. Established in 1990 with funding from the U.S., the EU and other governments, it provided financing to companies in postcommunist Central and Eastern Europe at a time when the private sector shunned them.… more

Steve Clemons in The Wall Street Journal on Rudy Giuliani's Campaign

Communications — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:51:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani is finding that tough foreign-policy stands are helping him connect with social and religious conservatives…

Those conservatives, a bedrock of the party's base in recent elections, are unhappy with Mr. Giuliani's positions in support of abortion and gay rights, as well as his two divorces. But Mr. Giuliani's positioning himself as a tough leader in the fight against Islamist extremism and threats from Iran, and his staunch support for Israel, have kept many social conservatives in his corner despite their misgivings about his stands on domestic issues. …

Strong backing of Israel, in particular, is important to some religious conservatives, who have developed their own close bonds to the Jewish state and its oversight of Biblical lands.

This support was on display yesterday, when the candidate told a Republican Jewish Coalition gathering here that as president he would be deeply suspicious of land-for-peace talks with the Palestinians. He said neither Americans nor Israelis should negotiate with militant Islamic leaders and organizations that he believes are committed to destroying Western society.

He drew applause while recounting a 1995 episode when he ordered that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat be ejected from a concert for world leaders at Lincoln Center. "The reason I did it was that I knew from my own investigations of Arafat that he was a murderer and a terrorist," Mr. Giuliani said. "This whole idea of holding him on a morally equivalent plane to the prime minister of Israel...was a terrible, terrible mistake." …

Mr. Giuliani may be playing a risky political game by identifying so closely with the personalities and policies promoted by President Bush's administration. Polls show that the American population is increasingly disillusioned with the war in Iraq and that there is little support for a military strike against Iran. Mr. Giuliani's hard-line stance may succeed in helping him shore up support from the Republican base, but, if he is nominated, could undermine his prospects during the general election, analysts say.

"Surrounding yourself with these neoconservative voices isn't sustainable," said Steven Clemons, of the New America Foundation, a centrist Washington-based policy institution. …

For the complete article, please visit The Wall Street Journal online.

Wall Street Journal Quotes Daniel Levy on U.S., Lebanon, Israel

Communications — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:26:00 -0400

New America in the News:

WASHINGTON -- As the Bush administration strives to ward off another summer war in the Middle East, it is being forced to balance the potentially diverging interests of two of its most important allies in the region, Lebanon and Israel.

Both countries are locked in standoffs with Syria over its alleged role in arming and funding militias that threaten their borders and internal security. But Lebanese and Israeli leaders are exploring what may be conflicting strategies to counter the Syrian threat, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials say.

In recent months, Beirut, with Washington's support, has used diplomatic, military and legal means to directly challenge Syria's influence in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, however, is under growing pressure from his military and intelligence services to embrace recent peace overtures made by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Any direct Israeli engagement with Damascus would require at least tacit U.S. support, Arab diplomats say...

How Washington navigates the competing interests of its two allies with respect to Syria could have a major impact on its ability to prevent another major regional clash after last summer's war between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

"If the U.S. decides it's going to the mat to secure Lebanon, then this will have huge implications on the Syrian-Israeli front," says Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator who is now a scholar at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.

"If something blows up between Syria and Israel," he added, it will probably be tied to "events inside Lebanon..."

For the complete article, please visit The Wall Street Journal website.