Delivering a “major address” on lowering health care costs, Sen. Hillary Clinton laid out a seven-point plan designed to reduce premiums, eliminate inefficiencies, and prevent diseases. One of those points: the expansion of Health Information Technology.
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'Ideas We Like'
A collection of policy prescriptions that can move the debate, and our country, forward.
Clinton Lays Out Health Care Plan
Published May 25th, 2007 in Helping Families, Ideas to Watch and Ideas We Like.Clinton Pushes Pre-Kindergarten Proposal
Published May 23rd, 2007 in Opportunity, Helping Families, Ideas to Watch and Ideas We Like.Hillary Clinton, Tuesday, announced a proposal to provide voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-old children in America. The recommendation closely resembles a plan developed by PPI Fellow Sara Mead in 2004.
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New York’s Bloomberg Orders All Taxi Cabs to Be Hybrid by 2012
Published May 22nd, 2007 in Hybrid Economy and Ideas We Like.New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he has ordered all city taxi cabs to be hybrid vehicles by 2012 as part of his efforts to reduce air pollution. Bloomberg:
These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes. This does a lot less. It’s a lot better for all of us.
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In the face of federal inaction on the subject, two coalitions came together yesterday in New York to address global warming during the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit. First, under a plan developed by the William J. Clinton Foundation, 16 of the world’s largest cities joined with five banks and several other companies and groups […]
Beebe: Graduation rates will set higher ed funding
Published May 16th, 2007 in Opportunity and Ideas We Like.Gov. Mike Beebe has proposed an interesting idea in Arkansas to link state funding for higher education to the ability of schools to retain and graduate students. In a recent article, Gov. Beebe said:
The higher education funding formula is based on number of students. We’re going to change that formula and start rewarding retention and […]
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed legislation that creates a program that will provide paid family leave to eligible employees. The state’s family leave insurance program will offer up to 5 weeks of benefits per year for parents to bond with a new child. Washington is only the second state to enact family leave legislation. […]
From The Daily Breeze
By Gene Maddaus
Rep. Jane Harman urged the consideration of “inconvenient answers” to global climate change Friday, citing the promise of nuclear power and coal in the search for cleaner energy.
Harman, D-El Segundo, made the remarks at an event sponsored by the centrist Democratic Leadership Council at UCLA. The council, which was largely […]
In U.S. Absence, States Take Lead in Student Loan Cases
Published April 27th, 2007 in Helping Families and Ideas We Like.From NY Times
State attorneys general around the country are stepping up their scrutiny of college lending practices in the absence of federal enforcement action, following a pattern that experts say has prevailed in some other major consumer investigations in recent years.
Yesterday the attorneys general of Illinois and Missouri announced that as a result of investigations […]
The American Dream Grant, a performance-based bloc grant, would annually award states money based on the number of students that attend and graduate from their public institutions. Over the next decade, the American Dream Grant would give states more than $150 billion in return for their commitment to maintain current state spending on higher education […]
Many of the incentives given to private companies are legitimate and serve a valuable public purpose. However, deciphering the useful from the wasteful is difficult. In order to diminish unnecessary spending, the federal government should follow the recommendations of Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman to form a bipartisan, binding corporate welfare commission. This commission […]
Under the leadership of Gov. Janet Napolitano, Arizona legislators passed a bill in April 2003 that requires the state’s Administration and Transportation Departments and Arizona’s universities to cut their energy use by 10 percent below 2001-2002 levels by July 2008, and by 15 percent by July 2011. The new law also requires the agencies and […]
Prices at the gasoline pump are not the only energy cost giving Americans heart-burn. It’s also getting more and more expensive to keep the lights on. Soaring costs of natural gas — a fuel increasingly used to generate electricity — coupled with rising demands, have pushed power prices up in recent years. In response, states […]
Data-Driven Government Performance
Published April 19th, 2007 in Government Reform and Ideas We Like.One way to both improve services and allow citizens to better hold officials accountable is to adopt information technology systems that assemble data on key government services. Improving access to information on the quality and efficiency of government services not only allows citizens to better assess performance, it allows elected officials to more readily identify […]
In states and cities around the country, elected officials are looking for budget solutions to counter soaring deficits and shrinking revenues. With crucial services at stake and often new security threats as well, citizens expect officials to make government do more with fewer resources. There is no easy solution, but a number of elected officials […]
In the scramble for budget solutions, policymakers should carefully consider reforms that will help prevent this sort of crisis in the future, while making it easier to contain the fiscal damage that occurs when revenues fall quickly and sharply. To help prevent and solve budget problems related to inaccurate numbers and undisciplined spending, policymakers should […]
Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) challenges public leaders to determine what outcomes citizens most value, prioritize their tax dollars to purchase those results, and rethink the way their departments and agencies go about producing them. The traditional question in cost-based budgeting is: What programs can we cut to keep the budget in balance? Budgeting for Outcomes […]
Complete the Threat and Vulnerability Assessment
Published April 19th, 2007 in Security and Ideas We Like.The 9/11 Commission Report and the Homeland Security Act calls for the Department of Homeland Security to regularly assess the nation’s critical infrastructure risks and vulnerabilities. From these assessments, the government can then set priorities for monitoring progress and disbursing funds. DHS, however, has failed to properly evaluate America’s vulnerabilities. Until security experts have a […]
Since 9/11, citizens of every age and of every background have yearned to do more for America. The government should use this passion and require all Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 to serve his or her country for three months of civilian service. The government should dramatically expand the opportunities to serve […]
Five years into the war on terrorism, Americans still find themselves searching for new ideas and strategies. Using counterinsurgency as a framework for combating terrorism, America should work to win the hearts and minds of the insurgent supporters, target the core jihadists, and support reform and modernization in the Middle East.
See:
Rethinking the War on […]
The federal grant system for homeland security has become riddled with pork and abuse. Currently, homeland security grants are disbursed through a minimum grant formula so that each state receives an allotted amount of money. The Department of Homeland Security should follow the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and provide grants solely on the basis […]
