Cox News Service

Michael Dannenberg in Cox News | 'House Democrats to Vote on Cutting Student Loans'

Communications — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:17:00 -0500

New America in the News:

House Democrats to Vote on Cutting Student Loans (Cox News Service)

...Michael Dannenberg, director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, said the federal government has wasted "billions of dollars" each year on excess lender subsidies. "Financial aid should be helping students, not banks," he said.

J. Galbraith and Economic Growth Forum in Atlanta Journal Constitution

Communications — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:51:00 -0500

New America in the News:

The home foreclosure crisis slamming into the nation's neighborhoods is having the effect of about "one Hurricane Katrina per month," James K. Galbraith, an economist with the University of Texas at Austin, said Friday at a forum examining the credit crisis.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005, nearly 275,000 Gulf Coast residents were forced to move into group shelters, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Economists who recently completed a study for the U.S. Conference of Mayors predicted the number of home foreclosures will hit 1.4 million in 2008.

Foreclosure is the legal process by which property may be sold by a lender to pay off a defaulting borrower's loan. Often, foreclosures drive down prices for entire neighborhoods as homes sit vacant.

When new buyers fail to purchase those empty houses, "the inventory doesn't go away," Galbraith said at the event sponsored by the New America Foundation, a research group. "The houses stay there — and they decay," hurting the value of even occupied homes around them.

This can compound the mortgage slump's economic damage. As home values decrease, Americans may no longer be able to get the home-equity loans that used to help them pay for cars, remodeling projects and more. "A slump in housing could have an effect on our ability to grow — for quite a long time to come," Galbraith said. ...

For more information, please follow this link. James Galbraith spoke at a forum organized by the Economic Growth Program and American Strategy Program with New America Foundation. More information about that forum can be found on the Events Calendar.

Cox News Service Quotes Nir Rosen on Iraqi Refugees, Jordan

Communications — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 11:49:00 -0400

New America in the News:

WASHINGTON - Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Ken Bacon was a lonely voice calling on White House policymakers to consider the possibility of a major refugee crisis as Iraqis sought sanctuary from the war.

For three years, Bacon, president of Refugees International, a Washington-based advocacy group, was proved wrong. In fact, about 300,000 Iraqi refugees returned home after the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled.

The tide began to reverse, however, after Sunni insurgents bombed a Shiite holy shrine 17 months ago in the city of Samarra, triggering a rise in sectarian bloodshed and complicating U.S. efforts in Iraq.

Since then, an estimated 2 million Iraqis have fled the country, and 800,000 more have left their homes for other parts of Iraq...

Most of the 2 million Iraqis who have left the country are in neighboring Jordan or Syria, countries whose social, health and security services threaten to be overwhelmed by the surge in Iraqis.

"Jordan is in a very fragile situation right now," said Nir Rosen, an Iraq expert with the New America Foundation, a Washington research and advocacy outfit...

For the complete article, please visit the Cox News Service website.

Cox News Service Quotes Michael Lind on the President's Autonomy

Communications — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:18:00 -0400

New America in the News:

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales rebuffed calls for his resignation Tuesday as lawmakers demanded answers about the White House's role in the firing of U.S. attorneys across the country...

Also last week, the administration dealt with the fallout from the federal conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff for Vice President Cheney for lying to FBI agents investigating the disclosure of a CIA operative.

The verdict came as the administration scrambled in the wake of reports of squalid conditions at an outpatient facility at Walter Reed Army Medical Center...

At the Washington-based New America Foundation, Michael Lind, author of "Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics," cautioned against overestimating the damage done to the White House.

Lind is a Bush critic who has said the president's handling of Iraq will relegate him to a list of the five worst U.S. presidents.

"I think that they have more power than you might think because their essential strategy was shaped by people like Cheney and (former Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld and others who were veterans of the Nixon administration," Lind said.

As such, he said, they worked to restore presidential power they believe was unfairly weakened in the post-Watergate era.

"It would be a mistake to underestimate the autonomy of the American president, particularly one who does not have to be re-elected," Lind said. "He is very confident, if not stubborn."

"So when they are caught they may try to get the thing off the news cycle as quickly as possible," Lind said. "But that does not mean they are not doing five other things we don't know about that just haven't been exposed yet..."

For the complete article, please visit the Cox News Service website.

Cox News Service Quotes Michael Dannenberg on Financial Aid

Communications — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:45:00 -0500

New America in the News:

WASHINGTON - With the average cost of college soaring 40 percent over the last five years, Democrats are hoping to relieve millions of loan-saddled graduates by halving interest rates on their student loans.

The House will vote Wednesday on a proposal to cut the rate on federally subsidized loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent.

But the bill - expected to be another political victory for the Democrats' 100-hour legislative agenda - is limited in scope.

It focuses only on subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduates and would not take full effect for five years.

In addition, unless the measure is renewed later, the fixed rate of 3.4 percent would only apply to such loans for six months before returning to the original rate...

Michael Dannenberg, director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, said the federal government has wasted "billions of dollars" each year on excess lender subsidies.

"Financial aid should be helping students, not banks," he said...

For the complete article, please visit the Cox News Service website.