Pacific Progressive

Quadrennial Defense Review Fails to Match Resources to Priorities

By Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan, Laura Conley

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

Earlier this week the Obama administration released its first Quadrennial Defense Review, or QDR, a congressionally mandated planning and strategy document that is supposed to provide a framework for the military’s force structure and thus shape its annual budgets. The document should recognize the nature of the current threat environment facing the United States and show how the Pentagon plans to develop the force needed to address it. While the 2010 QDR largely accomplished the former objective, it did not achieve the latter. The true measure of the effectiveness of any QDR is whether it ensures that the department’s budget supports its analysis—on this measure the 2010 QDR comes up short.

The QDR does support a number of progressive national security priorities. For example, it points out the necessity of rebalancing the military to address unconventional enemies, the benefits of enhanced relationships and cooperation with our international allies, and the need to be able to fight and win today’s wars while preparing to fight the wars of tomorrow. Significantly, the 2010 QDR abandons the Bush administration’s “Long War” construct that oversimplified the nature of the struggle against violent extremists.

Contagion Nation: A Comparison of Paid Sick Day Policies in 22 Countries

This article was published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research

he sudden emergence of the H1N1 virus and the possibility of an epidemic outbreak on a scale not seen in decades has led to the closings of schools and workplaces around the world. President Obama recently urged workers with flu symptoms to "stay home." But a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that the United States is the only one of 22 rich countries that fails to guarantee sick workers some form of paid sick leave.

The report, "Contagion Nation: A Comparison of Paid Sick Day Policies in 22 Countries," finds that the U.S. is the only country among 22 countries ranked highly in terms of economic and human development that does not guarantee that workers receive paid sick days or paid sick leave. Under current U.S. labor law, employers are not required to provide short-term paid sick days or longer-term paid sick leave.

"Working Americans can't afford to stay home when they're sick because they don't have paid sick days," said Dr. Jody Heymann, Director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy and Professor of Epidemiology at McGill University and lead author of the report. "The lack of paid sick days puts Americans at substantially greater risk of contagious diseases - from the flu, which kills thousands annually, to diarrheal disease, respiratory infections, and the threat of new diseases like the H1N1 flu virus."

Debunking False Energy Claims

By Rebecca Lefton

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

The president reiterated his commitment to comprehensive clean-energy and climate reform in his State of the Union address last week and his budget proposal released on Monday. The bipartisan effort to advance legislation in the Senate remains strong, and Americans continue to strongly support action on global warming.

Yet recent reports from the Heritage Foundation and the Milken Institute—commissioned by the National Association of Manufacturers—are misleading about how these energy reform measures will affect the economy. They are a distraction from the real debate about how to best move forward to secure our economy and national security, and protect our planet from the effects of climate change. Here’s a quick look at what they got wrong.

Milken’s mistake

The Milken Institute’s “Jobs for America: Investments and Policies for Economic Growth and Competitiveness” proposes reducing the U.S. corporate income tax rate to “match” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. Yet many of these countries actually have higher corporate tax rates and providing regulatory certainty would go further toward bringing investment into the United States.

The Debate Over Selling Insurance Across State Lines

By Phil Galewitz, KHN Staff Writer

This article was published by Kaiser Health News.

With health care legislation stalled, Republicans are touting their own remedies, including allowing Americans to buy health coverage across state lines. Currently, consumers can buy policies only from insurers licensed by the states in which they live. 

The Republican idea has actually been incorporated into the Democrats' House and Senate health bills, though in a somewhat different form. And it's expected to be included in any legislation that wins final passage. 

Congressional Republicans have proposed the concept in the past and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., embraced it as part of his 2008 presidential campaign. Advocates - including some insurers and small business groups - say it would give the more than 17 million Americans who buy individual coverage a greater choice of plans and the possibility of lower prices. (The measure does not apply to the 159 million non-elderly Americans who obtain insurance through their employers.) 

But critics -- including consumer watchdog groups and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners -- say the provision would erode many state government consumer protections, leave policyholders with inadequate coverage and could actually lead to higher premiums for some people. 

Here is a short primer on the issue: 

Stand Up for Women's Health Care and Don't Support Candidates Who Won't Stand Up for You

There has been alarming spread of the idea that the government needs to tell women how to manage their reproductive health.  The Stupak Amendment, put forth by Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak is one example.  Others are the proposed amendment to the California Constitution that declares life begins at conception, a move that would outlaw many forms of birth control, jeopardize health care for pregnant women, and eliminate in-vitro fertilization.  Add in the recent murder of Dr. Tiller by domestic terrorist Scott Roeder, the "sting" operation on Planned Parenthood by Lila Rose, and denial of health education for the general public by the Orange County Supervisors as a way to defund Planned Parenthood and you see that there is a war being waged against women.

So why are candidates who espouse these views, like Bart Stupak, still endorsed, supported, and elected?

Because people have become afraid to stand up for their rights.  

Who needs to stand up?

• Anyone who wants to use birth control or decide the number of children they want needs to stand up. The ultimate goal is to eliminate birth control.
• Anyone who doesn't want to run the risk of getting pregnant every time they have intercourse needs to stand up.  This means the boyfriends too, as well as the women.
• Anyone who wants to use fertility treatments or in-vitro fertilization also needs to stand up. This means you too, same sex couples, because you will be cut off from these procedures if you don't.
• Anyone who wants pregnant women to make their own medical decisions.  If people like Bart Stupak have their way, women who find out they have cancer while pregnant will not be able to get treatment because the life of the fetus will take priority over the life of the mother.

What do you need to do?  Force candidates for office to tell you where they stand on these issues.  If they do not support these issues, don't vote for them, don't work for them, don't give them money.  Make sure the other people you know understand where the candidate is so they can spread the word.  

We must have our elected officials stand up for us.  If the candidates will not stand up for our rights, we must not stand up for them.

Health Budget, Healthy Nation

President’s Budget Provides Backdrop to Health Care Reform

By Karen Davenport, Ellen-Marie Whelan

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

The national debate on health care reform is an important backdrop to the president’s fiscal year 2011 budget request, which was submitted to Congress earlier this week. Reforming our nation’s health care system to modernize health care delivery, improve equity and access, and ensure affordable coverage for all Americans has profound implications for our nation’s fiscal future, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services’ short- and long-term responsibilities. Health care reform legislation is currently “on hold” in the wake of the Massachusetts special election, but the president’s budget proposal maintains and builds on his commitment to health care reform.

The budget proposal particularly emphasizes the nation’s long-term fiscal health throughcritical proposals to reduce the budget deficit, including a spending freeze and a range of tax proposals. Health care reform is a third key component of deficit reduction. The budget does not advance a detailed set of health reform proposals, but the administration does use congressional proposals as the basis for estimating that health reform would yield $150 billion over 10 years in deficit-reducing federal savings.

Obama's Respite Care Plan: Part of the Problem, Not a Solution

Howard Gleckman, Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute

This article was published by Kaiser Health News (KHN.)

President Barack Obama wants to increase funding for a government program intended to make it easier for family caregivers to get respite care. These hard-pressed families desperately need the helping hand. But the White House initiative is a symptom of all that is wrong with long-term-care policy in the U.S.

Government assistance for those who suffer from chronic illness is both terribly underfunded and deeply disorganized. There are programs run by Medicaid and Medicare and the federal Administration on Aging. There are programs run by states and similar projects run out of Washington. This is a particular nightmare for those with disabilities who are struggling to stay at home. If you don’t believe me, try to find a local phone number for elder care assistance.

I live in Montgomery County, Md., and a quick look at my phone book shows 18 different numbers for various senior services. If I need help that is not provided though the county, I need to call the state, which requires yet another frustrating search. Over the years, offices on aging and disabilities have tried to create one-stop shopping to make it easier to find help. And Maryland has a pretty good Web site that tries to pull together all these resources in one place. But the various programs go on for screen after screen. Imagine trying to navigate this if you are 75 years old and caring for a spouse with dementia.

Spoonful of Sugar

An Equity Fund to Facilitate a Single, Fair, and Equitable Formula for ESEA Title I, Part A

By Raegen Miller, Cynthia G. Brown

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

Download this memo (pdf)

Report: Bitter Pill, Better Formula: Toward a Single, Fair, and Equitable Formula for ESEA Title I, Part A

Interactive Graphic: Title I Education Spending

It’s never easy for Congress to revise the way a popular federal program is funded, but sometimes a “formula fight” is inevitable. This may be the case for Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—also called Title I-A—which is already overdue for reauthorization. Some actors may relish a fight for its own sake, but there are constructive reasons for Congress to revisit the way Title I-A funds flow. Appropriations for Title I-A have grown by more than 60 percent in real terms since Congress last tackled this challenge in 1994, well before any accountability system tied the use of Title I-A funds to expectations, results, and consequences. It seems right and prudent to consider evidence that the program is shortchanging some schools before making further investments in it.

Current allocation patterns are hard to reconcile with the purpose of the program: to enhance the educational experience for children living in areas of concentrated poverty. Consider, for example, South Carolina’s Greenville County School District, which received $1,700 per low-income child served for fiscal year 2009, while its Calhoun County School District received only $1,266 per low-income child. Calhoun serves a higher concentration of low-income students than Greenville, so it seems clear that the four formulas currently driving Title I-A funds could better target school districts serving concentrations of low-income students. This example illustrates the formulas’ bias against small school districts. Other examples also show a bias toward wealthy states, especially those spending a relatively modest fraction of public revenue on elementary and secondary education.

Dodgey Fair Board Cancels Another Meeting to Discuss Stopping the Sale

The February 9, 2010 meeting of the 32nd DAA Fair Board has been canceled due to a lack of a quorum.  The meeting called for February 2, 2010 was also canceled for lack of a quorum.  The purpose of both the meetings was to discuss and pass a resolution asking Gov. Schwarzenegger to stop the sale.

There has been no new information from either DGS or the Governor's office regarding the outcome of the bid put in by developer Craig Realty, the firm which owns the Citadel outlet center, has built outlet malls and developed Downtown Brea.  The Fairgrounds property was put up for sale after the Fair Board requested that the Governor allow the property to be sold. The Fair Board subsequently formed a private foundation to buy the the property.  

The private foundation appears to have not submitted a bid for the property, but that cannot be said conclusively because documents from all bidders have not been released to the public for inspection.  Kristina Dodge, wife of multi-million dollar donor to the  California Republican Party Larry Dodge, chairs  both the 32nd DAA Fair Board and the private foundation the Fair Board created to buy the property.

Lobbyists Help Smooth the Way for a Tax Break for Foreign Rum Maker

by Marcus Stern, ProPublica

This article was published by ProPublica.

Feb 3: This post has been corrected.

A transfer of billions of dollars in federal aid from public projects in Puerto Rico to one of the world's largest liquor conglomerates over the next 30 years continues to move forward without any objection from Congress.

As a result, money that's now being used to build schools and restore tropical forests in a U.S. territory is being turned into what is essentially a $3 billion tax break for London-based Diageo, whose $20 billion in sales last year were powered by Dom Pérignon, Captain Morgan and other popular brands.

Diageo's windfall at Puerto Rico's expense wouldn't be possible were it not for pricey lobbyists, the complexity of the nation's tax laws and Congress's ability to approve politically embarrassing deals with a sleight of hand that leaves little trace.

On K Street, Diageo has an in-house team of lobbyists that was paid $2.25 million last year. Diageo also has the help of DLA Piper, one of the world's largest legal and lobbying firms, which has an office seven blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Last year, Diageo paid DLA Piper $770,000 to lobby on this and other issues.

Florida Health Insurance "Safety-Net" Plans Falling Short

by Christine Jordan-Sexton

This story is from Kaiser Health News (KHN) and their partner 

TALLAHASSEE - Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, a candidate for U.S. Senate who is critical of President Obama’s ideas on health reform, says the nation should instead adapt a plan he helped to enact: Florida Health Choices. 

A "health-insurance marketplace exists here in Florida," he told a radio station last week, claiming it's "happening right now." 

But Rubio is touting a plan, not a reality. Nearly two years after its passage, Florida Health Choices has yet to insure anyone. 

Rubio's rival for the Republican primary for U.S. Senate from Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist, also touts his plan as a national model. But Cover Florida, as of Nov. 30, had enrolled 5,200 people as of Nov. 30. 
According to some consumer groups, the number of uninsured Floridians -- estimated at around 3.8 million -- has actually grown since Cover Florida went into effect a year ago.

Anyone who is uninsured can enroll in Cover Florida without being turned away, but some uninsured Floridians have said the benefits are too skimpy, while others found the premiums unaffordable. There are no state subsidies; Crist boasts that the program uses no public money. 

The Health Choices program received a $1.5-million appropriation from the state when it was created in 2008. 

Both programs were part of the same bill, aimed at providing more people access to insurance without being a burden to taxpayers. 

State Sen. Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat, said neither Crist nor Rubio can claim success with their health care reform proposals: “All we are seeing from these statewide candidates is bashing any federal reforms and pretending like their programs have done something.” 

Bringing the Health Choices Program to fruition has been the job of a 15 member board of directors, chaired by former state Rep. Aaron Bean, a Republican from Fernandina Beach. The board has held a spate of meetings around the state and contracted with an executive director, an administrative assistant and an attorney. 

Bean has attributed delays in Health Choices getting off the ground to Sunshine Law requirements that prevent board members from having private conversations. In addition, Bean said Crist was slow in making appointments to the board of directors. 

Bean said it takes time to build the infrastructure required to develop a web-based marketplace. It's designed to give participating employers a place to send their workers to get access to a widevariety of health plans, including stripped-down partial plans such as dental-only. 

The Health Choices Board meets in Jacksonville at Shands Hospital on Friday. Members are to discuss the marketing plan and the services that should be included in the web based platform.

Christine Jordan Sexton is co-founder of TallahasseeReporters.com. 

Slimming Down the Defense Budget

By Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Sean Duggan

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

The Obama administration’s newly released fiscal year 2011 defense budget request continues to provide real increases to the historically high level of defense spending that the Bush administration initiated after September 11. The $708 billion budget, which includes the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, represents an increase of nearly 3.4 percent from the FY 2010 baseline budget, or a 1.8 percent real increase over inflation.

The budget does not rebalance the defense budget to meet the national security challenges of the 21st century as the Pentagon should have done as a result of the Quadrennial Defense Review—a planning and strategy document also released on Monday that defines our military’s force structure and thus shapes its upcoming budget plans. The FY 2011 defense budget instead tinkers at the margins of reallocating resources to urgent priorities and fails to scale back or eliminate poorly performing or unnecessary weapons programs that are based on threats from a bygone era.

Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families here at home must receive every dollar needed to keep them well equipped and safe. But the federal government can and should do more to rein in spending on the investment portion of the defense budget, which still includes a number of outdated, over budget weapons systems.

Graphic: HHS Discretionary Spending In President's Proposed 2011 Budget

Christopher Weaver , KHN Staff Writer

This article was published by Kaiser Health News (KHN).

The lion's share - by far - of the Department of Health and Human Services' budget is consumed by Medicare and Medicaid, the towering entitlement programs that cover health care for the elderly/disabled and low-income, respectively. Together, and with additional smaller mandatory spending programs, they make up a whopping $818 billion of the government's $911 billion health bill for 2011.

View Interactive Graphic

Related Story

Obama's Budget Increases Funding for Medical Research That Compares Treatment Options

The rest - $81.2 billion - will go to discretionary spending in President Obama's proposal for the 2011 HHS budget. As usual, the biggest chunk will pay for research at the National Institutes of Health. (The Administration for Children and Families, which runs the welfare program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also soaks up a big portion of the budget.) 

Connecting Muslims and the Media: An Interview with Edina Lekovic

By Sally Steenland

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

Video: A Joining of Faiths at a Mos Def Concert

Listen to this interview (mp3)

Edina Lekovic is the communications director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles. She founded Elev8, an arts-based youth program that has a mission to identify, train, and develop young community leaders. Edina has frequently appeared on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and The History Channel. She was managing editor of Al-Talib and editor-in-chief of the UCLA’s newspaper, The Daily Bruin. She has participated in a number of interfaith conferences and dialogues and is currently a fellow with the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, or AMCLI.

Edina participated in a roundtable meeting with other young leaders at CAP last November as part of our Young Muslim American Voices project.

Edina, you are a young Muslim American who was born in Montenegro and came to the United States with your family when you were a baby. You say that when you were growing up, you felt stuck between cultures. One of your struggles has been to figure out which part of you was Montenegrin, which part was Muslim, and which part was American. Can you talk about that?

think that struggle stayed with me from when I was little until I was in college. I was born Muslim, but my parents came from a country under a communist-socialist dictatorship, so religion was squashed while they were growing up. My parents didn’t know much about Islam other than the fundamentals, which they passed on to my sister and me. Growing up—I think back to high school—I knew I wasn’t allowed to date or drink. But I couldn’t figure out if that was because my Montenegrin culture frowned on it or my family’s Islamic faith frowned on it. I struggled a lot with my parents, trying to have that conversation.

"Pres. Obama Missed the Bus with Respect to Transit Funding"

Patrick Kelly, Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer, Teamsters Local 952, summed up the situation facing local transit systems - there is money to buy equipment but no money to operate equipment.  The comment was made in reference to the recent stimulus package which provided more money for buying equipment than operating the equipment.   Kelly was one of the panelists at the day long Southern California Transit Forum sponsored by OCTA, Teamsters Local 952, the office of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Chapman University and other groups. He started the themes that would be repeated by other speakers:

• Flexible funding is needed in the federal transportation and jobs bills so a transit system can be allowed to move money from only being able to buy equipment to being able to operate the equipment they just bought.
• Cutting the transit system to meet the budget reduces ridership, which means lower revenue from fares and federal funds, which means more cuts, and the cycle repeats in a downward spiral.

At a separate event, Beth Krom, Irvine City Council member and former Mayor, pointed out that "cutting the operations money is one way they kill transit."  She explained that once operations money is cut, it's easier to justify cutting out new public transportation investment because "they can say, 'Look, nobody's riding the transit we have now.' "

Josh Shaw, Executive Director, California Transit Association, explained how the state funding sources, which were set up under Gov. Ronald Reagan, were calibrated to increase with rising sales tax and gasoline prices, and thus give more money for transit.  In January 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating support for public transportation entirely as a way to balance the state's budget.  Shaw also reminded the audience that transit riders are an easy target because Sacramento doesn't hear from them. 

Post-Superbowl Strategies

By David Madland 

Video: NFL Contracts and American Workers

During Super Bowl week most people focus on the game, its matchups, and the hype. And this year these storylines are especially good: Two of the league’s premier quarterbacks—Peyton Manning and Drew Brees—are matched up, with Brees and the upstart Saints representing the city of New Orleans’s potential for rebirth while Manning and the Colts symbolize a model of consistent success.

Yet lurking underneath all the excitement is a disagreement between the players and owners that could potentially cause next year’s football season to be the last for some time. We should care about these negotiations not just because their failure might force a change in our Sunday afternoon rituals, but also because of what those labor negotiations show us about the problems in our economy.

At first glance, it might seem far fetched to claim that a dispute between two groups of the extremely wealthy—National Football League players and owners—is at all relevant to our working lives. But the fact that the players are able to bargain on equal footing with the owners is directly relevant to our economic fate. One of the contributing factors to our current economic situation is that most workers—unlike the NFL players—are not able to negotiate on relatively equal footing with their employers as part of a union. That’s why workers’ wages have stayed flat for decades, instead of rising alongside their companies’ profits.

Low Cost Pet Vaccination Clinic - March 3

Provided by the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association 

Bring your dog or cat to the Bell Tower Regional Community Center for a variety of vaccination services for a fraction of the usual vet cost. Services include rabies, DHLPP, bordatella, FVRCPC, and AVID chipping. OC Animal Care will also be onsite offering animal licensing services.   The clinic will be on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM.

For more information call 949.216.9700.

Anaheim Mayor's TechScholar Program Applications Now Available - Due March 16

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle is pleased to announce the 5^th consecutive Mayor’s TechScholar Program is underway, and high school sophomore or junior level students residing in Anaheim are eligible to win a free laptop computer and up to two years of internet access.

“Rewarding students for their hard-work and determination is always a highlight to my year,” said Mayor Pringle.  “We have been fortunate to remain in contact with several former Mayor’s TechScholar winners, and it is gratifying to know the efforts of the City and the program’s sponsors are directly contributing to the academic success of our young residents.  These students will not only succeed in school and in life, but they will also learn the importance of community involvement.”

College-bound high school students in their sophomore or junior years attending a public or private high school and residing in Anaheim are eligible to apply.  This year’s essay question embraces technology by challenging the students to describe an app idea (mobile or Web-based) that will make Anaheim an even better place.

Applications are available online at www.anaheim.net, and are due March 16, 2010 to their respective high school coordinators.  Student applications are assessed based on need, strong academic promise and completion of an essay. More than 165 students have benefitted from this program since its inception.

Students selected as this year’s winners will be honored on May 18 at an afternoon ceremony hosted by Mayor Pringle, as well as at the Anaheim City Council Meeting that same evening.  The Mayor’s TechScholar Program is sponsored this year by local Anaheim companies, including Time Warner, AT&T, HP, Anaheim Public Utilities, and the Samueli Foundation.

For information on the Mayor’s TechScholar Program please contact Caroline Mayott at (714) 765-5138 orcmayott@anaheim.net.  For media information please contact Ruth Ruiz at (714) 765-5060 or rruiz@anaheim.net.

Video: A Joining of Faiths at a Mos Def Concert

Young Muslim American Voices Interviews Edina Lekovic

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

Edina Lekovic talks about what it means to be a young Muslim in America.

(transcript, mp4, YouTube)

For more information, see:

• Connecting Muslims and the Media an interview of Edina Lekovic by Sally Steenland

The Revenue and Spending Mismatch: How the United States Got into a Sinkhole of Debt

By Michael Linden, Michael Ettlinger

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

Download this memo (pdf)

Only 60 percent of the money spent by the federal government in 2009 was paid for. The other 40 percent was covered by borrowed funds. This is the lowest share of federal spending paid for by revenues—the taxes and fees collected by the federal government—since World War II. The next lowest revenue-to-spending ratio, or RSR, was in 1983 when 74 percent of federal public spending was paid for.

If we leave out Social Security and Medicare—which have dedicated revenue sources— only half of the rest of the federal government’s activities were paid for in 2009. To put that in perspective, the unpaid-for amount of the budget, which is the amount borrowed, was the equivalent of the entire defense budget, Medicaid, veteran’s benefits, and all funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services combined.

It is not surprising that we didn’t pay for much of what we spent in 2009, and that the RSR was therefore so low. Such is to be expected in the midst of the most significant economic downturn since the Great Depression. Revenues drop in any economic downturn as tax liabilities based on personal and corporate income plummet.