Category: Uncategorized

Union Voters and Democrats

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Top Democratic and union leaders play host this week to prospective 2012 Congressional candidates, highlighting labor’s status as a critical cog in progressive campaigns. Some observers believe that, in the aftermath of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s efforts to strip the state’s public unions of collective-bargaining rights, labor has found both renewed public sympathy and political momentum.

It’s not clear, however, that such attitudinal shifts will be enough to reverse the steady erosion of union membership, and the voting power that goes with it. That’s the fundamental reality progressives must reckon with as they ponder how to forge electoral majorities.

To offset labor’s declining share of the electorate, Democrats logically must do one of two things: do better among union households or do better among non-union households. As it happens, the key to both is the same – winning more moderate voters.

Read the entire memo

Will Marshall on Why Gingrich Should Quit Now

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Will MarshallWill Marshall explains why Gingrich should leave the race now in Politico’s Arena:

If Newt Gingrich quits the race now, he just may escape with his dignity intact. He can take pride in the fact that his chaotic campaign sparked several times, even if it never caught fire anywhere but South Carolina. Not bad for a guy whose been out of politics for more than a decade, and jumped into the race with no money, no organization and no clear plan to capture the GOP nomination.

The longer he stays in, the greater the risk that his campaign degenerates into an exercise in self-parody. Gingrich, the GOP’s certified Deep Thinker in the race, is now pushing the dumbest gimmick – $2.50 per gallon gas – since Herman Cain’s skeletal 9-9-9 plan.

Read the full article.

Home Economics: Job Picture May Be Improving, But Not Housing Markets

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Why not?

PPI’s Battleground Home Values Index for January 2012 shows home values staying essentially flat in 15 of 16 president battleground states. The one exception was Iowa, where a decline in values was severe enough to drag down the entire index by two points—the lowest level this year. According to our index, the weighted average of median home values in these states is now down a total of 18% since October 2008.

In the Hawkeye state—the one state where prices took a more serious downward turn—median values have fallen sharply from October 2011 ($124,400) to January’s low ($108,500).

While most pundits seem focused on rising gas prices as the reason for the recent drop in the president’s approval ratings, the continuing slump in home prices might offer another explanation. People still don’t quite feel they’ve regained the wealth they’ve lost in the recession.

Continue reading “Home Economics: Job Picture May Be Improving, But Not Housing Markets” →

When Paperwork Attacks! Five Ideas for Smarter Government

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

In the minds of many Americans, “government” is synonymous with “red tape,” “bureaucracy” and “paperwork.”

And no wonder.

According to the government’s own estimates, American people and businesses collectively spent 8.8 billion hours dealing with federal paperwork requirements in 2010. That’s equal to nearly 367 million days and more than one million years.And while this figure is down from 2009, it’s still 1.4 billion hours more than what people and companies spent on government paperwork in 2000.

Make no mistake: Paperwork is absolutely essential to the basic functions of government. It ensures compliance with health and safety regulations and the proper collection of taxes. It’s the only way for the government to gather information about its citizens and determine who is eligible for such crucial programs as Medicare and Social Security. It’s also an important avenue for Americans to get more information about the services and benefits government provides. As a consequence, policymakers should avoid the “meat cleaver” approach to reducing paperwork.

Nevertheless, there’s a difference between “smart” paperwork (paperwork that is as painless and efficient as possible) and plain old red tape. And too much of the latter still exists. The amount of time demanded from companies and citizens for paperwork compliance should be as precious to the government as the tax dollars it collects.

Modern technology can provide more effective, efficient and tree-friendly means for government to communicate with citizens or for companies to comply with regulatory requirements. As an example, allowing the “e-delivery” of just some annual retirement plan documents would conservatively save as much as $60 million in printing costs a year, in addition to 11,600 trees.

Fortunately, the Obama administration recognizes the problems posed by burdensome paperwork, and in January 2011, the president issued an executive order aimed at reviewing and pruning paperwork requirements.

To supplement that effort, this memo offers up five ideas for reforming paperwork—not only to save work and paper, but to improve the effectiveness of how government, people and companies interact with each other so that the public benefits.

Five ideas for a more modern government with less paper and less hassle:

  1. Removing obstacles to small business success. Waive the first year of quarterly tax filing requirements for start-ups and small businesses.
  2. Helping savers make better retirement decisions. Allow default e-delivery of 401(k) statements and retirement plan documents.
  3. Helping taxpayers understand their benefits. Resume delivery of Social Security Statements by email and add a “Medicare Statement.”
  4. Facilitating job creation. Fast-track paperwork reduction efforts with the best potential for job creation and require estimates of economic impact.
  5. Building a more responsive government. Create a “silver scissors” challenge to solicit and reward citizens’ ideas for creative (and effective) paperwork reduction strategies.

Read the entire brief.

Yes, We Can Contain Iran

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

In Foreign Policy, PPI President Will Marshall explains how President Obama is needlessly increasing the risks of a ruinous war by ruling out the possibility of deterring a nuclear Iran.

U.S. President Barack Obama, under pressure from Israel and American conservatives to take a harder line on Iran, keeps insisting that “all options are on the table.” That’s a diplomatic way of saying that the United States is willing to use force to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

To buttress this thinly veiled threat, however, Obama recently took one important option off the table: deterrence. In an interview with the Atlantic, he ruled out “containing” a nuclear Iran in the same way the United States has contained other unfriendly nuclear powers — by threatening the country with massive retaliation if it attacks us or our allies.

This is a significant — and needless — change in U.S. foreign policy. It raises the likelihood of war with Iran, despite Obama’s preference for a diplomatic solution. And launching air strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities would undercut America’s ability to play the long game in Iran by abetting a “Persian Spring” that could eventually topple the Islamic Republic.

Read the entire piece at Foreign Policy.

Election Watch: The Romney-Santorum Fight Continues

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

By my reckoning, Mitt Romney lost his fourth opportunity yesterday to all but end the GOP presidential nominating contest (previously once after New Hampshire, once after Nevada, and once after Michigan). Had he won in Alabama and Mississippi, as much of the commentariat predicted and several polls suggested might happen, he would have banished the “Mitt can’t win in the South” meme, killed off Gingrich’s southern-based campaign, and left Santorum gasping for oxygen. But it was not to be, and now Santorum may have the long-awaited one-on-one contest with Romney as, finally, the “conservative alternative to Mitt” that so many opinion-leaders and voters alike have been seeking for more than a year.

Continue reading “Election Watch: The Romney-Santorum Fight Continues” →

Home Economics: Middle Class Homeowners shouldn’t be a Congressional ATM

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

ATMIn a classic example of a “slippery slope,” Congress once again is looking for easy pickings by increasing guarantee fees (g-fees) that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders to guarantee their mortgage lending. Last December, Congress raised the GSE’s g-fee by 10 basis points for 10 years. The goal was to raise almost $36 billion to pay for the extension of the payroll tax cut. Although this was supposed to be a one-time revenue plug, some lawmakers called for extending the new fees (at a slightly decreased rate) for an eleventh year to pay for restoration and clean up of the Gulf coast.

We understand it’s difficult for Congress to find “pay fors” for important initiatives at a time when Republicans have dug in their heels against tax increases for any purpose, even debt reduction. But treating g-fees as a piggy bank is ill-advised. Here’s why: Raising g-fees will compound the weakness of an already anemic lending environment, discourage home refinancing and lower housing demand.

Continue reading “Home Economics: Middle Class Homeowners shouldn’t be a Congressional ATM” →

Election Watch: The Republican Slog Continues

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Mitt RomneyYesterday’s Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses, stretching across ten states from Vermont to Alaska, did not resolve the GOP presidential nomination contest, but did place Mitt Romney in a position where probably the most he has to lose going forward is time and money.

Romney won four primaries (Vermont, Massachusetts, Virginia and Ohio) and two caucuses (Idaho and Arkansas), and looks sure to win a majority of delegates at stake last night.  According to 538’s Nate Silver, the cumulative delegate totals at this point are 332 for Romney, 139 for Santorum, 75 for Gingrich and 35 for Paul.  1144 are needed to win the nomination.  So Romney is clearly on a pace that will, if continued, carry him to the nomination.

Continue reading “Election Watch: The Republican Slog Continues” →

How Rising Health Costs Slow Wage Growth

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

How Rising Health Costs Slow Wage GrowthMost Americans are painfully aware that their health care premiums are rising faster than other necessities of life. Many also know that their earnings are growing slowly or not at all, despite apparent increases in worker productivity. These problems have been widely reported, but are seldom linked.

Yet they are directly connected. The costs of health benefits has gotten so large in recent years, and has been growing so fast, that they are now contributing to the slowdown in workers’ pay and income growth. In economic terms, more of the productivity generated by each worker is being used to pay their health insurance premiums, so less gets paid out in wages.

This shift in compensation helps to explain a mystery that has puzzled economists for nearly a decade: Why have workers’ wages stagnated as their productivity has been increasing? In theory, the two are supposed to rise in tandem.

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Will Marshall on Wyden-Ryan Medicare Plan

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

PPI President Will Marshall breaks down the merits of the Wyden-Ryan plan for Medicare reform in Politico:

An honest debate over Medicare’s future may be too much to hope for in an election year. But candidates should think twice before staking out positions that could tie their hands in next year’s unavoidable showdown over public debts and Medicare spending.

After all, 50 percent will win and actually have to govern. That’s why it’s a big mistake to allow the leading bipartisan proposal for Medicare reform — the Wyden-Ryan plan — to fall victim to election-year Medagoguery.

It’s the brainchild of Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, a progressive Medicare champion who once led a Gray Panthers chapter in Oregon, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the Budget Committee and darling of tea party conservatives. If this political odd couple can agree on a balanced way to slow the unsustainable growth of Medicare costs, there may be hope for real entitlement reform yet.

Read the full article here.

Mandel Explains Communications Boom to Bloomberg

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

PPI Chief Economic Strategist Michael Mandel explains to Bloomberg why the recent surge in technology industry hiring is only the beginning of a communications-led economic boom:

A surge in technology-industry hiring is helping to spearhead a jobs-market revival as demand swells for computer-software applications and data.

Online help-wanted advertising for computer and mathematical occupations rose 3.4 percent in January from December to the third-highest since the Conference Board began compiling the data in 2005. Vacancies outnumbered job seekers by more than three to one, according to the New York-based research group. Postings on tech-career website Dice.com are 12 percent higher than a year ago, with openings for workers skilled in mobile applications up more than 100 percent.

“This feels like the beginning of another tech-driven jobs boom,” said Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington. “The broad communications sector resisted the downward pull” of the recession and “is going to be a leader in the expansion.”

Read the full article here.

Mandel Speaks on Economic Impact of Communications Sector

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

PPI Chief Economic Strategist Michael Mandel brought forward one very important fact yesterday at the Institute for Policy Innovation’s “Creating the Future” Summit: for the first time, the communications sector will shape the economic recovery and drive future economic policy. At the summit, Mandel explained how the sector drove investment in innovation and added jobs over a period where total net investment dropped 50 percent and millions of jobs across other sectors were lost. Mandel’s recent study on the “App Economy” estimates at least 500,000 jobs have been created since 2007 by the explosion of apps.

Mandel argued that the future importance of the communications sector during the next expansion follows historical trends—in previous downturns the sectors that brought the economy back to life also drove the subsequent expansion. And of all the sectors that could be fueling the next economic boom, communications—a sector whose innovations have transformed how we live and our quality of life—is a good sector to have in this position.

Continue reading “Mandel Speaks on Economic Impact of Communications Sector” →

Will Marshall on Senator Snowe’s Retirement

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

PPI President Will Marshall explains the significance of Senator Snowe’s surprise retirement for Politico’s Arena:

“The decisions by Sen. Olympia Snowe and Rep. David Dreier to quit Congress are part of a broader trend: the ideological “purification” of the Republican Party at all levels. Moderates have become persona non grata in the GOP, with a whopping 71 percent of Republicans now identifying as either very conservative or conservative.

“This explains why the avowedly moderate Jon Huntsman never got traction in the GOP nominating race, and why the erstwhile moderate Mitt Romney is now pretending to be “severely” conservative. The absence of moderates’ restraining hand is evident in Virginia, where the GOP-controlled legislature has passed a bill forcing pregnant women to get ultrasound procedures before they can have an abortion.”

Read the entire article

Home Economics: Housing Values Down, Obama Administration Steps Up, and Bank of America Calls it Quits

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Home SalesThis week in housing was an especially busy one; PPI looks at just a few highlights with Case-Shiller numbers, a new government pilot program on housing and a huge announcement from Bank of America. Let’s get to it.

1. S&P Case-Shiller, the leading Index of national housing values, came out on Monday. The December data continued to highlight what is clearly the biggest drag on a recovery that is trying to find its footing, declining home values.  Case Shiller’s latest numbers showed the composite of the three indices (national, 10 cities, and 20 cities) was down 3.8 percent for the fourth quarter of 2011 and were the lowest numbers for the popular Index since the crisis began in 2006.

In related “Index” news, PPI released the first edition of the “PPI Battleground Home Values Index” last week. The Index looks at home values since the 2008 election in 16 battleground states.

Continue reading “Home Economics: Housing Values Down, Obama Administration Steps Up, and Bank of America Calls it Quits” →

Election Watch: Romney Squeaks By in Michigan

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Mitt RomneyThe Republican presidential nomination contest reached another milestone yesterday with two more major primaries, in Arizona and Michigan.

The delegate “haul” in both states was reduced by half, since they violated the RNC’s calendar rules by holding their primaries before March 1. But since these primaries were the first events to occur after Rick Santorum’s three-state sweep on Feb. 7, and because Santorum had risen rapidly in both national and Michigan polls since then, they became something of an existential threat to the Romney campaign. Indeed, prior to the results the air was full of panic-stricken, if largely anonymous, claims that party leaders would have to recruit a late-entry candidate if Romney failed to win in Michigan, his native state.

Continue reading “Election Watch: Romney Squeaks By in Michigan” →

Will Marshall Explains Why the U.S. Must Lead on Syria

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

CNNPPI President Will Marshall, explains why the U.S. must lead on Syria over at CNN’s Global Public Square:

“Syrians are making an obstinate and brave stand against Bashar al Assad, who is pulling out all stops to crush popular resistance to his regime. They deserve more help from the international community – with America in the lead.”

“The Obama administration sympathizes with the uprising, of course, but its policy toward Syria is defined mainly in the negative. The White House has been emphatically clear about what it won’t do: join in a Libya-style military intervention aimed at toppling Assad. In light of recent history, it’s understandable that Obama wants to extricate the United States from Middle East mayhem, not get stuck in yet another conflict there.”

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