The Kansas City Star

Rajan Menon in the Kansas City Star | 'Fear of diseases, Competition Drive Global Concerns of U.S. Beef'

Communications — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:34:00 -0400

New America in the News:

With many South Koreans already hostile to Washington over trade policies and the unease over the fact that Korean forces would fall under U.S. command in a war with North Korea, analysts say the country was especially receptive to fears about American beef.

“There’s a sense there that Korea is subordinate. They don’t like the U.S. military presence,” said Rajan Menon of the New America Foundation think tank. “That changes how they see things...” LINK

William Hartung in The Kansas City Star on Contracting and the Iraq War

Communications — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 08:15:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Civilian Corps Plays Big Role in Iraq War. It's the other army. The private one, perhaps 160,000 strong in Iraq alone, armed, sometimes dangerous, often sloppy with tax dollars, and without which U.S. troops would represent a far less formidable force.

The coalition of willing contractors has swallowed more than $100 billion of U.S. spending on the Iraq war. More than 1,000 of its ranks have been killed since the 2003 invasion. Today, there is a U.S.-paid contractor doing everything from manning a machine gun to cleaning toilets for virtually every soldier tromping around the country.

Like never before in modern conflicts, military analysts say, war has become a corporate affair.

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"To some degree, having these companies makes it easier to go to war," said William Hartung, a military analyst at the New America Foundation. "Without massively increasing the size of the (uniformed) force, you couldn't do a conflict like Iraq without these guys..."

William Hartung is Director of the Arms and Security Initiative, a part of New America's American Strategy Program. For the complete article, please visit The Kansas City Star web site.

Michael Dannenberg Comments on MOHELA Deal in Kansas City Star

Communications — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:11:00 -0500

New America in the News:
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Gov. Matt Blunt calls it an innovative way to finance the buildings where the college students of the future will be taught. Skeptics fear it could make it more difficult for those future students to find affordable loans.

But there seems to be agreement on this: Blunt's plan to siphon $350 million from Missouri's student loan agency for campus projects hasn't been done before. And the nation's student loan industry is watching closely as Missouri lawmakers decide whether to ratify it...

The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority was created a generation ago as a way to make student loans more available and affordable in a marketplace where there was greater demand than the private sector could supply...

As private-sector lenders like Sallie Mae and Nelnet are gobbling up other student loan holders, the Missouri plan could allow a way for quasi-governmental loan agencies to satisfy the demands of politicians eager to tap into their cash while still allowing the agencies to survive.

Others, while concurring in the novelty, aren't so sure of the merits.

"I think the MOHELA deal is a harbinger for other states," agreed Michael Dannenberg, director of education policy at the New America Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C.

"But the big problem with the MOHELA deal is it shows governors how student loan assets can be perverted into pet college construction projects instead of programs that increase college affordability or access," Dannenberg said...

For the complete article, please visit The Kansas City Star website.