New America in the News: 2007

Energy experts with Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc. are busy crafting their first proposal aimed at winning a piece of an ambitious $5 billion plan to reduce global warming by retrofitting energy-wasting buildings in 16 of the world's largest cities.

Step one: Houston, one of the country's most polluted cities, where more than 270 buildings could see upgrades.

As China’s influence continues to grow around the globe, many in Washington have expressed concern over whether this positively or negatively impacts the United States’ diplomatic efforts in regional flashpoints ranging from Iran to North Korea. The New York Times did an article highlighting the growing credibility gap the U.S. is experiencing due to lack of engagement. The following is an excerpt from it on China’s new global role:

Iraq has ordered $100 million worth of light military equipment from China for its police force, contending the United States was unable to provide the material and is too slow to deliver arms shipments, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday [Oct. 3, 2007]....

The capabilities of Iraqi security forces are pivotal to the U.S. exit strategy in Iraq, with the creation of a viable police force critical to reconciliation. Talabani said only one in five Iraqi police officers is armed and called for faster weapons delivery from the United States to beef up Iraq's fledgling army.

Scott Jagow: A bill being introduced in Congress this morning might breathe new life into an old idea: Savings accounts for children…

Sarah Gardner: The idea is simple: give every American newborn $500 in a tax-free savings account. At age 18, kids can use it for college -- or they can sock it away until later for a first home or retirement.

Supporter Ray Boshara at the New America Foundation says more than a third of children grow up in households without investments.

DAN ABRAMS: Joining me now, Steve Clemons, Senior Director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think-tank… Are you telling me that there is a real possibility of war with Iran on the horizon?

Elisabeth Sifton praises Steve Coll's book Ghost Wars, along with other books that helped stir public debate about America being at war.

TODD: So did Ahmadinejad emerge from the U.N. with the upper hand?

AFSHIN MOLAVI, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: It may look like he snubbed his nose at the United Nations and got away with it. But it also just may be a short-term tactical victory, which may not contain the elements for a long-term victory for Iran...

Afshin Molavi is a Fellow with New America. For the complete transcript from "The Situation Room," please visit CNN's website.

In recent weeks, presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton discussed her approach to saving Social Security. Maya MacGuineas, Director of the Fiscal Policy Program at New America, comments on the issue of Social Security:

"No one could argue that a return to fiscal discipline isn't a step in the right direction, but that alone isn't sufficient" to restore solvency to Social Security, said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Why have health care costs risen faster than inflation?

Simply put: government interference. Forty years of reform, including Medicare, Medicaid, and HMOs, have "insulated" recipients from the consequences of their actions ("The Cure," Dr. David Gratz). How? Paul Ginsberg (Center for Studying Health System Change) and Len Nichols (New America Foundation) have studied the situation, and conclude that, when someone else pays the bill, people use more...