PBS

Steve Coll on Frontline | Bush's War: Part 2

Communications — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:35:00 -0400

New America in the News:

From the horror of 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq; the truth about WMD to the rise of an insurgency; the scandal of Abu Ghraib to the strategy of the surge -- for seven years, Frontline has revealed the defining stories of the war on terror in meticulous detail, and the political dramas that played out at the highest levels of power and influence. Now, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the full saga unfolds in the two-part FRONTLINE special Bush's War. . .

Frontline's interview with New America Foundation President and CEO Steve Coll appears in the second part of Bush's War.

Patrick Doherty on Nightly Business Report | 'New Hope For Havana Investors'

Communications — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:16:00 -0500

New America in the News:

Fidel Castro's Resignation Gives American Inventors New Hope For Havana (Nightly Business Report/PBS)

Patrick Doherty, New America Foundation: "Fidel Castro has the ability to blame the United States for anything that goes wrong in Cuba but because of our embargo and because of that, we've been able to preserve one of the few remaining communist states by creating ourselves as a scapegoat." more

Maya MacGuineas on Nightly Business Report | Bush's $3.1 Trillion Spending Plan

Communications — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:24:00 -0500

New America in the News:

President Bush's $3.1 Trillion Spending Plan (Nightly Business Report)

...The White House is also proposing $603 billion in savings from Medicare and Medicaid -- cuts Congress has rejected before. None of this is news to budget watchdogs like Maya Macguineas, although she does consider this budget a useful guide for voters weighing election year promises.

MAYA MACGUINEAS: In many ways, this budget paints a picture which shows the next president is going to be kind of stalled in how they get started. One might hope that the first thing that they would do is address the deficit, both short- and long-term challenges.

Len Nichols Discusses Mandates on PBS' Nightly Business Report

Communications — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:28:00 -0500

New America in the News:

New America's Health Policy Director Len Nichols appeared on Nightly Business Report where he discussed mandates. He says mandates are a solution to the "free rider problem."

An audio clip from Nichols' appearance can be played below; for video of the segment, please go to www.pbs.org.

Flynt Leverett in FRONTLINE's Report on Iran

Communications — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:11:00 -0400

New America in the News:

As the United States and Iran are locked in a battle for power and influence across the Middle East -- with the fear of an Iranian nuclear weapon looming in the background -- FRONTLINE gains unprecedented access to Iranian hard-liners shaping government policy, including parliament leader Hamid Reza Hajibabaei, National Security Council member Mohammad Jafari and state newspaper editor Hossein Shariatmadari.

In this report, FRONTLINE examines how U.S. efforts to install democracy in Iraq have served to strengthen Iran's position as an emerging power in the Middle East. ...

New America Foundation Fellow and U.S. National Security Council Middle East Director Flynt Leverett discusses U.S.-Iran relations. For hightlights from Leverett's interview, please follow this link, and watch the entire FRONTLINE program here at PBS.org.

Maya MacGuineas Discusses Spending on Nightly Business Report

Communications — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:43:00 -0400

New America in the News:

GERSH: With the president eager to veto their work, Democrats have little incentive to rush out bills. Analysts say both sides are spoiling for a fight, even though their disagreement comes down to about 2 percent of so-called discretionary spending. Even so, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the differences are real.

SEN. HARRY REID, MAJORITY LEADER: People are out there that are sick, want this medical research to continue. They want it to continue at the rates it has been in the past. People are concerned about the crime in the streets. People are concerned about education, their children being able to be educated. These programs are all being cut back for what? They`re being cut back to give rich people these tax breaks that they don`t need.

GERSH: Budget watchdog Maya Macguineas says this debate is not really about trimming spending.

MAYA MACGUINEAS, COMMITTEE FOR A RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL BUDGET: You`ve got a lot of different priorities. People want to spend, but they want to say hey, it`s the other side that was doing the spending. Everybody wants to spend while calling themselves a fiscal conservative and it just doesn`t really work that way. If you want to spend the money, you have to be willing to say, we`re spending the money and figure out how you`re going to pay for it...

For more on this story from "Nighly Business Report," please visit the PBS web site.

Maya MacGuineas Discusses Fiscal Responsibility on PBS

Communications — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:10:00 -0400

New America in the News:

DARREN GERSH, CORRESPONDENT: The White House has threatened to veto a $50 billion expansion of state health insurance programs for children, calling the bill a step towards government-run health insurance. Both sides now seem to be welcoming a veto battle, setting up what budget watchdog Maya MacGuineas believes will be an ugly showdown this fall.

MAYA MACGUINEAS, PRESIDENT, COMMITTEE FOR A RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL BUDGET: The White House is going to look like they are being perhaps somewhat hypocritical when they spent so much money and now they are not letting Democrats do that. But Democrats really do risk the label of tax and spend that they`ve been trying so hard to shed. At this point, we don`t have any party that is clearly the fiscally responsible party.

GERSH: President Bush has issued the fewest vetoes of any president since Abraham Lincoln, a record he is almost sure to lose in the next year and a half...

This excerpt is from "Nightly Business Report." For the complete show transcript, please follow this link.

PBS Wide Angle Interviews Afshin Molavi on Dubai

Communications — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 04:23:00 -0400

New America in the News:

DALJIT DHALIWAL: Afshin Molavi, welcome to Wide Angle.

AFSHIN MOLAVI: Thank you, Daljit. It's a pleasure to be with you.

DALJIT DHALIWAL: Have you been to Ras Al Khaimah, the tiny Emirate that we feature in our film? What were you impressions?

AFSHIN MOLAVI: Sure. You know, when I was living in Dubai in the late 1990s and throughout my many visits to Dubai since then, Ras Al Khaimah, for many people who live in Dubai, was a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. It was a place to see natural beauty and scenery.

Ras Al Khaimah has one of the most beautiful coastlines along the Persian Gulf and wonderful beaches, and it also has mountains and a desert. So, for us, Ras Al Khaimah was this natural oasis-- to get away from the city. And so, there were also moments when I stood back and I looked at this film and I said, "Oh, no. You know, what is happening to the pristine, you know, beauty of Ras Al Khaimah?"

DALJIT DHALIWAL: You were disappointed then, at the development?

AFSHIN MOLAVI: Well, you know, it gets to the heart of the issue of development. You know, on the other hand, you look at that pristine natural beauty and you say to yourself, you hope that that will be somehow preserved. But on the other hand, the people of Ras Al Khaimah, just like people anywhere in the world, deserve to develop their economy.

They deserve to develop the kind of growth that will benefit their citizens. And, you know, if the lesson of Dubai is learned by anyone in the United Arab Emirates, it is that hotels and shopping malls and big tourist mega complex do attract people. Dubai last year, Daljit, attracted more tourists than India. Think about that for a moment...

For the complete interview transcript, please visit the PBS website.

PBS Interviews Maya MacGuineas on 2008 Budget

Communications — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:30:00 -0400

New America in the News:

PAUL KANGAS: House Democrats passed a budget today that reaches balance, but only if President Bush's tax cuts are allowed to expire in 2011. The $2.9 trillion spending blueprint would eventually yield a surplus. But as Darren Gersh reports, the question of exactly how Democrats would put the budget into the black remains to be answered.

DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: House Democrats promise to spend more money on education, veterans care and national security. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says her party's budget still stems the flow of Federal red ink.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: It does it all in a fiscally sound way, no new deficit spending, pay as you go.

GERSH: Under the spending plan, the first since Democrats took back the House, the deficit will rise from $209 billion this year to $241 billion in fiscal year 2009, then reaching a $153 billion surplus in 2012. Top priorities include adding $50 billion to expand health insurance for children and setting aside another $50 billion to keep the alternative minimum tax from catching more middle class taxpayers next year. Budget analysts give Democrats some credit for sticking with tighter budget rules that require new spending be offset with other cuts or tax increases. But at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Maya Macguineas says the key details are still to come.

MAYA MACGUINEAS, DIRECTOR, COMMITTEE FOR A RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL BUDGET: These budgets have been pretty forward on saying what kind of things they do want to do, where they want to spend more money, that they want to extend middle class tax cuts. They've been willing to get specific on the good stuff, but stayed pretty vague on the hard stuff...

For the complete story, please visit the PBS website.