Third Way

Waiting for the court on DOMA and Prop 8

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:39:52 -0400

Waiting for the court on DOMA and Prop 8:

Jonathan Capehart has the scoop on our Third Annual State of Relationship Recognition report. Check it out! http://wapo.st/11TAVbJ

"A broader climate agenda is far more important in the grand scheme of things. Keystone is a battle..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:00:45 -0400

“A broader climate agenda is far more important in the grand scheme of things. Keystone is a battle but climate is the war.”

- Third Way’s Josh Freed, quoted by Bloomberg Businessweek on President Obama’s recent moves on the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Read the full story here, and check out the Third Way Clean Energy Initiatives report on American Shale Gas: Keeping it Affordable, Stable, and Accessible.

Think Twice Before Punishing Egypt

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:52:15 -0400

Deeping authoritarianism. A crackdown on NGOs. An anti-Semitic president. Yes, we have serious concerns about Egypt, but America should not gut its foreign aid to Cairo.

Why?

In our new memo, we make the case that denying aid to Egypt will ultimately hinder U.S. national security interests in the region—as cutting funding would prove to be counterproductive for the region, our allies, and our interests.

READ: Making the Case: Think Twice Before Punishing Egypt

This Is No Way to Run a Jihad

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:12:03 -0400

This Is No Way to Run a Jihad:

“Providing guns and money would cause men to flock to its black banners, but al-Qaida has provided neither. Al-Qaida can try all it likes to adopt the trappings of a corporation. But without resources to provide to its affiliates, Zawahiri is shouting from the sidelines, a CEO in name only, of an organization that has been reduced to a shadow of its former self.”

In a new op-ed, Third Way’s Aki Peritz argues that without the resources to fund and arm terrorists, Ayman al-Zawahiri will have trouble maintaining influence and control of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Follow @AkiPeritz and @ThirdWayNatSec for more on national security and foreign policy.

"We know from history that safety net fixes are most feasible under divided government because no one..."

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:51:56 -0400

“We know from history that safety net fixes are most feasible under divided government because no one party wants to carry the load alone.”

- Third Way’s Jim Kessler, Senior Vice President for Policy, quoted on the need for national commission to address modest fixes to Social Security.

Read the piece here and check our new brief on why It’s Time for a National Commission on Social Security.

A felon who wants to buy a gun shouldn’t get the green...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:35:29 -0400

A felon who wants to buy a gun shouldn’t get the green light. Our latest infographic explains how the Manchin-Toomey background check bill would stop felons in their tracks.

How to end the war on terrorism properly

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:16:19 -0400

How to end the war on terrorism properly:

“The most successful counterterrorism operations involve timely intelligence collection and analysis, and cooperation with local officials, not open-ended military operations involving large deployments of U.S. troops.”

In a new op-ed, Third Way’s Mieke Eoyang and the Cato Institute’s Christopher Preble argue for the repeal of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force as a “clean break” and a shift in the way the United States combats terrorism around the world.

Be sure to also check out previous work from Third Way’s National Security team, including Why We Should Try Terrorists in Federal Courts and What are the Real Lessons of Benghazi?

"Christie is the un-Obama. He doesn’t look like Obama, and he certainly doesn’t act like Obama...."

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:57:26 -0400

“Christie is the un-Obama. He doesn’t look like Obama, and he certainly doesn’t act like Obama. Christie doesn’t trade on being nice. He busts heads. And he speaks Jersey.”

- Bill Schneider, Distinguished Senior Fellow and Resident Scholar at Third Way, discusses whether or not Governor Chris Christie can overcome partisan divide in his newest Reuters Op-Ed.

Read the article here.

Follow Bill @BillSchneiderDC for more on public policy and polling.

Immigration Bill Puts Focus on Red-State Democrats

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:09:24 -0400

Immigration Bill Puts Focus on Red-State Democrats:

“Most Americans, particularly moderates, think immigrants are good people, but also worry that they are a drain on government resources. Moderate Democrats need to emphasize that the Senate bill is fair to taxpayers,” said Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, director of social policy and politics for the center-left organization Third Way. “That includes reminding folks that immigrants earning legalization must pay their own way and won’t be eligible for health care subsidies, Medicare, or Medicaid during that transition.”

For these Democrats, the strategy to win re-election and to legislate depends on considering the nuances of their states first and their party affiliation second.

“The politics of immigration can often be more regionally based than party-driven,” Erickson Hatalsky said. “Southwestern Republicans — like [John] McCain and [Jeff] Flake — have been much more amenable than some Deep South or rural Democrats.”

On Tuesday, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the...

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:20:33 -0400

On Tuesday, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the Mercatus Center, and Third Way held an event entitled “Challenges Facing Social Security,” discussing the future of the program given the latest Trustees’ report. The event featured Social Security Trustee Charles Blahous and a panel discussion moderated by CNNMoney writer Jeanne Sahadi.

Read a re-cap of the event here and be sure to check out our new idea brief on why It’s Time for a National Commission on Social Security.

Our latest infographic illustrates five key ways that the Gang...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:56:27 -0400

Our latest infographic illustrates five key ways that the Gang of 8 immigration bill would fuel American economic growth and make our country a magnet for global talent. The truth is that our current system isn’t optimized for growth—but reform will upgrade our outdated laws and prioritize the workers we need to grow in the 21st century economy.

"For those of us that love political polls and messaging documents, Third Way’s Director of the..."

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:27:55 -0400

“For those of us that love political polls and messaging documents, Third Way’s Director of the Social Policy & Politics Program, Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, has written one of the best message guidance ever seen.”

- Atima Omara-Alwala, Vice President of Young Democrats of America, writing in the Washington Blade.

To check out our guidance on how to talk about marriage to the middle visit: thirdway.org/commitment

"We're playing with fire" by ignoring Social Security

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:18:40 -0400

"We're playing with fire" by ignoring Social Security :

If so many of us are barely saving enough for our retirement years, can we really afford to rely on a smaller Social Security benefit?

That’s the situation Americans are facing in 2033, when Social Security’s trust fund is projected to be exhausted, and retirees will be paid just about 75 percent of their benefit.

To reignite the debate over how to close Social Security’s funding gap, a panel of experts gathered at a Capitol Hill forum on Tuesday and urged lawmakers to “shake off their complacency” and take action now, not years from now.

"… voters have rejected both parties on Social Security. Although Democrats have spent billions..."

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:10:39 -0400

“… voters have rejected both parties on Social Security. Although Democrats have spent billions of dollars over the past decade to bludgeon Republicans for seeking to privatize Social Security and voucherize Medicare, the only age group that Democrats cannot seem to win is senior citizens. In 2012, President Obama lost them by 12 points and congressional Democrats lost them by 11.”

- “It’s Time for a National Commission on Social Security” by David Brown, Gabe Horwitz, Jim Kessler, and David Kendall

Read the paper here.

Third Way’s Matt Bennett, Senior Vice President for Public...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:05:00 -0400

Third Way’s Matt Bennett, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs, sat in as guest host on PoliOptics this week, and took a look behind the scenes of two of the most compelling aspects of American politics.

First, Stuart Connelly provided an amazing new look at Martin Luther King’s March on Washington and his “I Have a Dream” speech. Connelly, the co-author (with Clarence Jones) of “Behind the Dream,” talks about the tense days leading up to the March, with civil rights leaders literally sweating out the final days, hoping that the crowd would show up, that the money would get raised, and that the speeches would get written. On the night before the speech, Connelly explains, his co-author Jones, the road buddy, lawyer and confidant of King, went up to his room to scratch out a draft of the speech. King delivered it verbatim the next day, until prompted to change gears a bit and talk about his dream. The rest, literally, is history.

Matt also talks to Air Force Brigadier General Richard Klumpp. Back in the 90s, when he was still a Major, Rich served as a Military Aide to Vice Presidents Gore and Cheney. Rich pulls back the curtain on those strong silent types who follow the President and Vice President everywhere to ensure the continuity of government, handle the nuclear launch codes, and take care of other security business. Klumpp tells stories from the road, the campaign and transition of 2000, and the differences between Gore and Cheney. After serving as a Military Aide, Klumpp changed seats on Air Force Two and took over as chief pilot for the veep.

Time for US immigration reform? Undocumented migrants were...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:11:07 -0400

Time for US immigration reform?

Undocumented migrants were arrested outside a Barack Obama fundraiser in Chicago on Wednesday as they aired their demands, calling for a halt to deportations.

The group tried to take their fight directly to the US president, calling for immediate action after he declined a similar request to halt deportations earlier this year, saying he is focused on “getting reform passed, and not easing up on enforcement”. However more than 400,000 people were deported from the US last year - a record high.

Next month, the US Senate is expected to begin debating a bill that is heavy on enforcement. The proposal was put together by a group of Republicans and Democrats.

It would put 11 million undocumented migrants on a path towards citizenship but only after border security provisions are met, including the deployment of the National Guard to build a border fence along the US-Mexico border as well as the funding of more than 3,500 customs agents.

Only after such security measures are enforced will undocumented workers have a chance to gain legal status in the US.

Nonetheless migrants have proven to be very supportive of the American economy.

A study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School measured immigrants’ contributions to the government-administered fund that covers hospital care for the elderly.

It found that immigrants generated surpluses ranging from $11bn to $17bn every year between 2002 and 2009. This led to an overall surplus of more than $115bn. During the same period, people born in the US incurred a deficit of $28bn.

Non-citizens contributed most of the surplus from immigrants due to the high proportion of working-age taxpayers in this group.

One group, strongly in favour of immigration reform, the ‘Nuns on the Bus’, have been outspoken on a range of social issues. On Wednesday, they embarked on a national tour to put forward the case for change. On Thursday, they held a rally near Capitol Hill in Washington.

“The current proposal that passed out in the Senate committee is a significant step forward, it deals with all of the key issues … I’ll tell you, we cannot afford to lose this opportunity,” Sister Simone Campbell, the executive director of Network, the Catholic justice group that organised the tour, told Al Jazeera.

“We have got to make sure that comprehensive immigration reform passes, passes soon and well, the basic bill is fine, it will be a significant step forward … and later we can worry about tweaking some details, but we got to accomplish it now.

“Immigration absolutely is a moral issue, because we have a moral responsibility to care for all …. But it is also smart economics, because one out of four businesses in the US is started by an immigrant, and the last time we did immigration reform in 96 the economy grew, because immigrants where then able to fully participate, engage in our society, start businesses, employ people, pay taxes, and be a full participating part of our community,” she added.

So, will migrants’ voices ever be heard in the US? Can a reasonable immigration bill be passed in Congress? And can this be achieved under Obama’s administration?

To discuss this, Inside Story Americas, with presenter Shihab Rattansi, is joined by guests: Uriel Sanchez-Molina, one of the 12 immigrant activists arrested (and later released) on Wednesday; Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, the director of the Social Policy and Politics Program at the Third Way think tank; and Sarahi Uribe, the national campaign coordinator for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

It’s Time for a National Commission on Social Security

Fri, 31 May 2013 11:48:00 -0400

It’s Time for a National Commission on Social Security:

Social Security’s trust fund has 20 years to live, according to the 2013 annual report released this morning by the Social Security Trustees.

In our new idea brief we make the policy and political case that a Social Security fix can only be accomplished through a national commission and that it must happen pre-2016. We also examine effective U.S. commissions and identify the critical lessons for structuring a commission to succeed where Simpson-Bowles fell short.

Heating Up Here’s the good news: the percentage of Americans who...

Wed, 29 May 2013 11:02:27 -0400

Heating Up

Here’s the good news: the percentage of Americans who believe the seriousness of global warming is “generally underestimated” has been going up. It’s now one in three. It had gone down to one in four in 2010, the year of the Tea Party. Here’s the bad news: more people think the problem is “generally exaggerated” (41% in the April Gallup poll).

There’s still a lot of skepticism out there, and it’s mostly among Republicans. Over the past 15 years, more and more Republicans have come to believe that climate change is exaggerated. Only 34% of Republicans felt that way in 1998. Now 64% do.

The gap between the parties on global warming has widened considerably. In 1998, the difference was 11 points. It grew to 32-38% in the early 2000s. Since President Obama took office in 2009, the difference has gotten huge. Republicans are 41-47 points more likely than Democrats to believe the seriousness of global warming is exaggerated.

After the Senate defied public opinion and failed to pass...

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:15:00 -0400

After the Senate defied public opinion and failed to pass background checks, their constituents noticed. Our new infographic illustrates the consequences of the Manchin-Toomey vote on net approval rating: Senators who voted no have seen their ratings plummet, while those who had the courage to vote yes have risen in the eyes of the public.

Furloughing federal workers is bad idea; Reform pensions instead

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:18:47 -0400

Furloughing federal workers is bad idea; Reform pensions instead:

Instead of furloughs for federal employees, Congress should give them more power over their own retirement and save taxpayers’ a trillion dollars in the meantime.