Public Citizen
Bush's 2005 Inauguration Celebration: Brought to You
by Corporate America (PDF)
posted 01/19/05
An analysis of Bush's Presidential Inaugural Committee records reveals
that $17.1 million, or 96 percent, of the $17.8 million raised so far
came from corporations or their senior executives, including two
corporations that effectively skirted the $250,000 cap on contributions
by giving multiple checks through subsidiaries.
ACORN
Don't Deport Immigrants from Tsunami-Affected Countries
posted 01/19/05
Tell Homeland Security Secretarty Tom Ridge to extend Temporary
Protective Status (TPS) to immigrants from countries affected by the
tsunami.
Foreign Policy in Focus
Postpone Iraq's Elections
posted 01/19/05
The elections in Iraq scheduled to take place this month need to be
postponed, Anas Shallal says. Elections are needed, but the timing is
wrong, with the insurgency growing with every passing moment and Iraqis
bracing themselves for the worst. Few Iraqis feel safe enough to cast a
vote and fewer still know who the candidates are or what they stand for.
2005 INAUGURATION
Public Citizen
Lobbyists Join Corporate America in "Soft Money"
Funding of the Bush Inauguration
posted 01/19/05
Lobbyists have contributed $400,000 of the $24.9 million collected so
far for President Bush's inauguration -- a total that is $7.1
million more than a week ago. This inauguration is projected to be the
most expensive in the nation's history.
Working For Change
Pomp and Improper Circumstance
posted 01/19/05
Bush's narrow electoral victory does not absolve him of starting an
unjust war.
Working For Change
Inauguration Redemption?
posted 01/19/05
E.J. Dionne, Jr., imagines what Bush might say at his inaugural address
if he decided to change course.
NoMandate.org
American Media Should Balance Inauguration Coverage
posted 01/18/05
In light of the upcoming inauguration, the American press should
report on the concerns of the millions of Americans opposed to
Bush Administration policies, and the reasons for their concerns.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. & CIVIL
RIGHTS
-- Keep up-to-date on
Civil Rights at Moving Ideas' Civil Rights section
Working For Change
Class, Not Race, is Now the Great Dividing Line in
America
posted 01/19/05
Cynthia Tucker writes that now more than ever, we need King's Poor
People's Campaign.
TomPaine.com
Hope And Despair On King Day
posted 01/18/05
The author, Marcellus Andrews, argues that too often liberals forget
that King's legacy stems from solidarity among people -- not government
power.
United for a Fair
Economy
WWKD: What Would King Do?
posted 01/18/05
Mara Voukydis calls on Bush to honor King's legacy by strengthening
opportunities for all Americans.
Code Pink
Commemorate Dr. King (flash)
posted 01/14/05
In honor of the Martin Luther King holiday on January 17, CodePink has
produced an inspiring internet flash movie that reveals just how
out-of-sync the White House is with Dr. King's message of peace and
love.
Working For Change
Prisoners of Hope
posted 01/14/05
WorkingForChange presents a special Cornell West essay on hope and
despair for MLK weekend.
Working For Change
The King We've Lost
posted 01/14/05
Geov Parrish writes on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, and what
we've lost as his historical memory fades.
Poverty and Race
Research Action Council
Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching
posted 01/14/05
This guide provides lessons and articles on how to go beyond a "heroes"
approach to the Civil Rights Movement.
RETIREMENT SECURITY
-- Keep up-to-date
on Retirement Security at Moving Ideas' Retirement Security section
Center for Economic and
Policy Research
Study on Social Security Shortfall's Impact on Senior
Poverty Flawed
posted 01/19/05
A recent Social Security Administration (SSA) study relied on
questionable assumptions to conclude that a projected shortfall in
Social Security in 2042 would double the senior poverty rate from 2 to
4 percent. The flaws are enumerated in this paper.
ChartingTheEconomy.Com
The Bush Administration's New Pension Proposal: A Step
in the Right Direction
posted 01/19/05
It appears the Bush Administration is serious about pension reform and
that's good news. The Administration's plan proposes wide ranging
reforms that if implemented will make corporations more accountable for
the health of their pension plans.
Working For Change
Me Generations
posted 01/19/05
Ellen Goodman comments on Bush's attempt to divide grandparents from
grandchildren to sell his privatization scheme.
Center for Economic and
Policy Research
Social Security Deception Funded With Taxpayers'
Dollars
posted 01/19/05
Using taxpayers' dollars and government employees to deceive the public
is generally prohibited, but lately it seems this has become standard
operating procedure, Mark Weisbrot argues. The latest outrage is the
Bush Administration's conscription of federal employees at the Social
Security Administration in its effort to convince the public that
Social Security is in "crisis."
TomPaine.com
Bush's Crash Test Economics
posted 01/14/05
Brad DeLong, a former Clinton economist says fixing Social Security is
like fixing a tire on a car that has just crashed into a tree.
Working For Change
As a Matter of Fact
posted 01/14/05
Molly Ivins says Bush claims on Social Security should be compared to
claims on WMD.
Economic Policy
Institute
Proposal by the President's Social Security Commission
Whittles Away at Income Support
posted 01/14/05
Lee Price and David Ratner explore how Social Security benefits would
decline for future retirees under President Bush's 2001 Commission on
Social Security proposal, which seeks to fix benefits to current living
standards instead of increasing them to reflect the lifetime earnings
of future workers. The result would be that people at all income levels
would absorb ever larger income losses at retirement, spelling trouble
for many retirees, the disabled and survivors.
EDUCATION
-- Keep up-to-date
on Education at Moving Ideas' Education section
Rethinking Schools
Four More Years -- of Resistance
posted 01/19/05
George W. Bush may still be president of the United States, but he's
still not president of our curriculum.
Rethinking Schools
Testing Errors Plague Industry
posted 01/19/05
Testing companies are making mistakes that affect thousands of kids'
scores -- and it's getting worse.
Rethinking Schools
Testing Tots
posted 01/19/05
Even 4-year-olds are being subjected to inappropriate assessment, and
lots of it, Richard Rothstein says.
Institute for Women's
Policy Research
Gains in Learning, Gaps in Earnings: A Guide to State
and National Data
posted 01/14/05
A new set of reports by the American Association of University Women
(AAUW), prepared in partnership with the Institute for Women's Policy
Research (IWPR), shows that while in some areas women are catching up
to men, substantial progress is still needed in ensuring all women full
access to education. The reports also find that women's educational
gains do not translate into pay equity.
Alliance for Excellent
Education
Statement in Response to President Bush's Speech on
High Schools
posted 01/14/05
The President demonstrated much-needed federal commitment to a severely
underserved population -- America's high school students. The
enhanced programs and higher standards applied to early childhood
education must be extended throughout the K-12 continuum, Cynthia
Sadler says. But the funding shrinks as our students grow older.
Campaign for America's
Future
Bush Cuts College Aid -- Tell Your Story!
posted 01/13/05
Help overturn the $300 million in cuts to college aid made recently by
the Bush administration by sharing your story about the impact of
the cuts on you or people close to you.
DOMESTIC POLICY
Drum Major Institute
for Public Policy
DMI ProgBlog: Home Schooling; Minimum Wage; and more
posted 01/19/05
In this Issue: Home Schooling; The Last Supper; A New Minimum Wage; and
much more.
Institute for Gay and
Lesbian Strategic Studies
Allowing Same-Sex Couples to Marry Would Save the
Federal Government Nearly $1 Billion Per Year
posted 01/19/05
The Congressional Budget Office reported that allowing same-sex couples
to marry would have a positive impact on the federal budget. The report
confirms recent findings from state-level studies conducted by the
Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies (IGLSS) and the
Williams Project at UCLA Law School.
Institute for Gay and
Lesbian Strategic Studies
Will Providing Marriage Rights to Same-Sex Couples
Undermine Heterosexual Marriage? Evidence from Scandinavia and the
Netherlands (PDF)
posted 01/19/05
This report demonstrates that the adoption of same-sex marriage and
same-sex partnership rights in Scandinavia and the Netherlands has not
changed previously-existing trends in marriage, divorce, cohabitation,
or out-of-wedlock childbearing.
Public Citizen
NHTSA Stance on Early Warning Defect Information
Subverts Public Records Law, Would Hamper Highway Safety Efforts
posted 01/19/05
This statement from Joan Claybrook argues that the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA) policy of keeping
critical safety data from the public will harm public safety.
National Research
Center for Women and Families
New Year's Resolutions for the U.S.
posted 01/19/05
If our government was making New Year's resolutions, there would be
many to choose from. Here are three that could make a big difference in
our safety and security, Diana Zuckerman says.
Bazelon Center for
Mental Health Law
Protect Disability Rights in the Courts
posted 01/19/05
Tell Senate Judiciary Committee leaders that you oppose the
confirmation of Terrence Boyle and Bill Pryor because they would
undermine basic protections for people with disabilities.
Food Research Action
Center
FRAC News Digest: Medicaid Cuts, Social Security,
Obesity, and more
posted 01/19/05
In this issue: State Lawmakers Ask Congress Not to Cut Food Stamps,
Medicaid; Social Security Crisis a "Fake"; Widows' and Children's
Benefits Threatened with Privatization; Obesity: Poverty and School
Budget Crunches are Factors; reports from the states; and much more.
Center for Law and
Social Policy
Comments Regarding Changes to the Matching
Requirements in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (PDF)
posted 01/19/05
These comments, sent to the Child Care Bureau, respond to the proposed
changes to the matching requirements in the Child Care and Development
Block Grant. CLASP is concerned that the proposed changes could lead to
reduced accountability and the potential for fraud and misexpenditures.
American Prospect, The
Replicating Rehnquist
posted 01/19/05
George W. Bush wants a committed conservative to join the Supreme
Court. Alexander Wohl lists his likely options.
Working For Change
Muckraker: Party Girl
posted 01/19/05
Amanda Griscom Little looks at Christie Whitman's forthcoming book
assailing the GOP's rightward lurch.
Commonwealth Fund
Washington Health Policy Week: Medicare, Medicaid cuts
and more
posted 01/19/05
In this issue: Gregg Sees Medicare, Medicaid Cuts as Only Way to
Resolve Deficit Problem; Kennedy Unveils 'Medicare for All' Plan;
Study: 'Partnership Program' Shows No Major Impact on Financing
Long-Term Care; and much more.
Ms.
The End of Feminism's Third Wave
posted 01/19/05
What was at first a handy-dandy way to refer to feminism's history and
its present and future potential with a single metaphor has become
shorthand that invites intellectual laziness. Lisa Jervis, the
cofounder of Bitch magazine, says goodbye to the generational divide.
Immigrant Voting
Project
Democracy for All: Restoring Immigrant Voting Rights
(PDF)
posted 01/19/05
This essay, by Ronald Hayduk, examines efforts aimed
at achieving universal suffrage -- restoring immigrant
voting rights -- and argues that that an expansion of immigrant voting
rights could boost possibilities for working-class electoral coalitions
and progressive politics.
National Council of La
Raza
Only Drama Series on Network TV with Latino Lead
Character Debuts
posted 01/18/05
The new show, Johnny Zero, is the only drama with a Latino as the
lead character on the four major television networks - ABC, NBC, CBS,
and FOX.
New America Foundation
Success for Instant Runoff Voting in San Francisco
posted 01/18/05
This past November, in a time of polarized national politics and an
alienated electorate, San Francisco embarked on an important innovation
that points American democracy toward the future. By Steven Hill,
Irvine Senior Fellow with the New America Foundation, and Rob Richie,
executive director of FairVote: the Center for Voting and Democracy.
Feminist Majority
Foundation
Senator Clinton Critical of Bush Policies on
Abstinence and Reproductive Health
posted 01/14/05
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) criticized the Bush
administration for putting too much emphasis on abstinence in the fight
against HIV/AIDS and restricting women's access to reproductive health
services in developing countries in a recent address to the
International Women's Health Coalition.
Century Foundation
Public Opinion Watch: Party Control of House and more
(PDF)
posted 01/14/05
In this issue: Is It All about White People with Kids?; Mr. Popularity;
Show Them the Money: How the Democrats Can Take Back the House; and
much more.
Century Foundation
Breathing Easier? The Report of The Century Foundation
Working Group on Bioterrorism Preparedness
posted 01/14/05
In the final report of the Working Group on Bioterrorism Preparedness,
a group of leading public health policy experts and practitioners
conclude that the new federal funding has resulted in considerable
improvements to the U.S. public health system, but that substantial
vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks remain.
Century Foundation
Due Process Tortured
posted 01/14/05
The United State Senate is about to confirm Alberto Gonzales to become
our next Attorney General. Although the media coverage of Gonzales'
confirmation hearing last week focused on his alarming views on the use
of torture, Tova Andrea Wang says members of the Senate ought also to
be concerned that our next chief law enforcement officer expressed an
extremely troublesome point of view on one of our most fundamental
rights: due process under law.
National Head Start
Association
The Dismantling of Head Start is Already Underway
posted 01/14/05
The Association warned that even more "de facto dismantling" of Head
Start is in the works, with about two thirds of programs expecting to
cut services (such as hours of operations, the length of the school
calendar year and programs for disabled children) and/or staff
(including degreed teachers) during fiscal year 2005.
Working For Change
Shred the Constitution, Win a Promotion
posted 01/14/05
Geov Parrish writes on Michael Chertoff, the new Bush nominee to head
the Department of Homeland Security.
National Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty
NCADP Joins Suit to Protect Connecticut Protestors
posted 01/14/05
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty announced it is
joining a federal lawsuit on behalf of its Connecticut affiliate that
seeks to uphold the First Amendment rights of both pro- and anti-death
penalty demonstrators who plan to protest during Connecticut's first
scheduled execution in more than 40 years.
Feminist Majority
Foundation
Back Up Your Birth Control Day
posted 01/13/05
On March 22, 2005, celebrate Back Up Your Birth Control Day to
increase awareness, access, and education about emergency contraception
(EC).
NoMandate.org
Mainstream Press Should Investigate Prison Scandal
Abuse
posted 01/13/05
Urge mainstream press outlets to investigate how far up the chain
of command abuses at Abu Ghraib were sanctioned.
ECONOMIC POLICY
-- Keep up-to-date at Moving Ideas' Economy section
Oregon Center for
Public Policy
Beware the Snake Oil Salesmen
posted 01/19/05
Watch out Oregon, Charles Sheketoff says, the snake oil salesmen are
rolling into town, with old medicine in a new bottle: "The Price of
Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal
Crisis," by David Osborne and Peter Hutchinson.
TomPaine.com
Trouble At Home: The Housing Bubble
posted 01/19/05
Dean Baker on how the coming collapse of the housing market will hurt
middle and low-income families.
Center for Law and
Social Policy
TANF Spending in 2003
posted 01/19/05
A paper on the national trends and policy implications presented by the
federal TANF data and state-by-state tables of TANF spending and
definitions of terms.
Center for Economic and
Policy Research
Economic Reporting Review: Social Security, Medical
Malpractice, and more
posted 01/19/05
In this issue: Social Security, The Budget, Medical Malpractice, and
much more.
Feminist Majority
Foundation
Labor Department to Delete Gender from Employment
Surveys
posted 01/18/05
If the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has its
way, after July 2005 employers will no longer be required to provide
data on female and male employees in their monthly payroll reports.
Center for Public
Policy Priorities
$64.7 Billion Does Not Fund Current Services
posted 01/18/05
The $64.7 billion in General Revenue that the Texas Comptroller
estimates will be available to fund the 2006-2007 budget is not enough
to fund current services. CPPP explains the significant gap between
revenue and budget demands facing the 79th Legislature.
Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities
The Flawed "Population Plus Inflation" Formula; Why
TABOR's Growth Formula Doesn't Work
posted 01/14/05
Some states are considering strict constitutional limits on spending
based on population growth and changes in consumer prices. Such growth
formulas would sharply reduce public services and hinder state and
local governments' ability to respond to changing circumstances.
Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities
Tax Cuts and Consequences: The States that Cut Taxes
the Most During the 1990s Have Suffered Lately
posted 01/14/05
During the recent state fiscal crisis, the states that had cut taxes
the most during the 1990s faced larger fiscal problems and had worse
economic performance, than the other states that had been more cautious
about tax cuts.
