Political Reform Program

Archives: Political Reform Program Articles and Op-Eds

Measure Could Give One Party a Monopoly

  • By
  • Gautam Dutta,
  • New America Foundation
June 1, 2010 |

What if you opened up your November ballot and discovered that your only two choices for attorney general were both Republicans? Or that your only two choices for lieutenant governor were both Democrats?

If Proposition 14 were already in effect, there's a real possibility that such an outlandish outcome could occur.

Here are the top two reasons to reject Prop. 14, also called the "Top Two" primary. First, Prop. 14 will stifle political competition and debate. Second, Prop. 14 will deprive voters of a full range of candidate choices.

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Term Limits Would Promote Balance on Court

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
May 25, 2010 |

President Barack Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the court will kick off the usual bloodletting across the partisan divide. At 50 years of age, Kagan would be the youngest justice and, since justices are appointed for life, she easily could serve for three decades.

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Building a Balanced Supreme Court

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
May 17, 2010 |

Oftentimes, American-style partisanship results in Republicans and Democrats fighting like two mindless gamecocks in the ring. Well, take your seats, because nothing brings out this combative behavior more than a Supreme Court nomination.

President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court will kick off the usual bloodletting across the partisan divide. At 50 years of age, Kagan would be the youngest justice and, since justices are appointed for life, she easily could serve for more than three decades.

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Greek Crisis Leads to Positive Steps

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
May 14, 2010 |

Contrary to what the doomsayers have been saying, Greece's debt crisis may turn out to be one of the best things to happen to the European Union.

While the situation has been messy, it also has signaled a badly needed wake-up call to Europe about a flaw at the heart of its monetary union. That in turn has resulted in a move toward reforms that have the potential to lead to sensible financial regulation and transparency, as well as to strengthen Europe's union. These reforms include:

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Europe's Answer to Wall Street

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
April 21, 2010 |

A year and a half after an economic earthquake shook the world, the so-called experts are still trying to figure out what happened and how to move forward. In the shadows of that confusion, new economic models are beginning to find traction.

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What the Doomsayers Haven’t Been Telling You About Greece

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
April 15, 2010 |

The recent battle over healthcare reform in the United States, in which the Obama administration was barely able to pass weak reform, is just further proof of how far the US has fallen behind Europe. Yet all the media has been able to obsess over for the last couple of months is – the Greek debt crisis!

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Europe Tax Model Delivers Much More

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
April 15, 2010 |

Most Americans seem to regard April 15 – the day income tax returns are due to the Internal Revenue Service – as a recurring tragedy akin to a biblical plague. Particularly this year, with U.S. government deficits soaring, everyone from the tea baggers to Fox News and Senate Republicans are sounding the alarm about a return to "big government."

Ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani even stated recently that President Barack Obama was moving us toward – gasp – European socialism.

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Inspiration Across the Pond

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
March 29, 2010 |

Europe is going through another one of its occasional bouts of self-doubt and pessimism. The great historian Arnold Toynbee once wrote, “Countries have characters that are as distinctive as those of human beings.” The collection of countries known as Europe has never hidden its gloom very well.

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A More United Europe

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
March 22, 2010 |

Greece's debt situation has pundits taking out their crystal balls trying to divine the future not only of Greece, but also the euro and Europe. Every news outlet from The New York Times to National Public Radio has joined the chorus of gloom and doom. But what all these experts have failed to notice is that Greece's debt crisis may turn out to be one of the best things to have happened to the European Union.

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Returning the Senate to Majority Rule

  • By
  • Steven Hill,
  • New America Foundation
March 18, 2010 |

Standing at the edge of the health care precipice, President Barack Obama has reached a defining point in his presidency. The recent news that Anthem Blue Cross is planning to jack up individual premiums as much as 40 percent is just the latest example of our flailing health care system. Spiraling costs are the greatest long-term threat to our nation. Obama must get this one right, otherwise the nation, as well as his presidency, is in trouble.

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