The New York Times’ Robin Toner asks for the true measure of a presidential candidate. DLC President Bruce Reed tells her it’s in their position papers. Reed:
“In all the talk about authenticity, the most authentic thing to do as a candidate is to say what you will do as president, especially at a time like […]
May, 2007 Archive
Clinton Lays Out Health Care Plan
Published May 25th, 2007 in Helping Families, Ideas to Watch and Ideas We Like.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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Debt adds up to national security deficit
Published May 25th, 2007 in Security, Opportunity, Government Reform, What's the Big Idea? and So You Want to Be President.By Paul Weinstein, for The Politico
The 2008 campaign is already defining itself as a contest over how to solve the problems George W. Bush will leave behind. To the long list of messes the next president will have to mop up, add another: the astonishing growth of America’s budget deficit.
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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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Former Sen. Bob Kerrey, writing in The Wall Street Journal, makes a “liberal” case for continued U.S. intervention in Iraq, dispite the rallying cries of the anti-war Left:
American liberals need to face these truths: The demand for self-government was and remains strong in Iraq despite all our mistakes and the violent efforts of al Qaeda, […]
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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Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson on Thursday laid out his plan for a dramatic shift in the way the U.S. uses energy, proposing to all but end the country’s reliance on oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2040.
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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, D.C. — The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) is pleased to announce that Marc Dunkelman will become Vice President for Strategic Communications and Director of IdeasPrimary.com.
IdeasPrimary.com, which was launched by DLC Chair Harold Ford, Jr., will serve as a platform for New Democrats to publish and share their solutions for solving the challenges facing the […]
The federal government would cover the tab for two years of public college for students from low-income to middle-class families under the College ACCESS Act Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., unveiled today.
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As part of a pledge to make college more affordable, Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama wants to eliminate federal subsidies for banks that provide student loans.
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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. […]
Democratic Leadership Council Will Host 2007 National Conversation in Nashville, Tennessee
Published May 14th, 2007 in Opportunity.Hundreds of elected officials from every region of the country will gather to discuss the most important ideas in the upcoming presidential election.
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Obama Says He’d Roll Back Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest
Published May 14th, 2007 in Opportunity, Helping Families and Ideas to Watch.From The New York Times
If elected president, Senator Barack Obama said Sunday, he would seek to repeal President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and use the money to pay for health care, but he did not suggest he would raise other taxes to pay for expanded services.
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From Newsweek
Last week house speaker Nancy Pelosi and congressman Charles Rangel showed genuine leadership by making a deal with the Bush administration to ease the passage of new trade pacts. But they did so from within a party that is going seriously awry on this issue. Too many Democrats, including most of their presidential candidates, […]
Edwards Unveils a Big Education Plan
Published May 11th, 2007 in Opportunity, Helping Families and Ideas to Watch.The (Raleigh) New and Observer reports today that John Edwards is rolling out an $8 billion initative to make college more accessible and affordable:
The program covers bills for tuition, fees and books during the first year of college for students who complete a college prep or college technology course in high school, refrain from using […]
John Edwards’ Big Ideas Costly
Published May 11th, 2007 in Opportunity, Helping Families, Ending Poverty and Ideas to Watch.From Examiner.com
Presidential candidate John Edwards is offering more policy proposals than any other candidate in the primary and his ideas are winning loud applause from Democratic audiences.
The question is whether other voters will cheer when they see the price tag - more than $125 billion a year.
Edwards is quick to acknowledge his spending on health […]
From the L.A. Times
Led by California, 31 states representing more than 70% of the U.S. population announced Tuesday that they would measure and jointly track greenhouse gas emissions by major industries.
The newly formed Climate Registry is the latest example of states going further than the federal government in taking steps to combat global warming. State […]
Richardson Points to N.H. Plant as Potential Model
Published May 8th, 2007 in Hybrid Economy and Ideas to Watch.From The Santa Fe New Mexican
By Philip Elliott, Associate Press
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) _ Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson traipsed up a mountain of woodchips and called for increased investment in alternate energy sources, such as the wood-burning power plant he toured Sunday.
The Democratic New Mexico governor and former energy secretary said Public Service Company of New […]
