New America Policy Papers: 2005

Papers and other formal publications from our policy programs are available below. To jump to another year in the archives, please use the links at right.

Digital Future Initiative Final Report

December 15, 2005
Links to PDF versions of the full report (133 pp.), as well as the Executive Summary (11 pp.), are below.

Programs:

Nonpartisan Social Security Reform Plan

  • By
  • Maya MacGuineas,
  • New America Foundation
  • and Jeffrey Liebman, Andrew Samwick
December 14, 2005

The three of us -- former aides to President Clinton, Senator McCain, and President Bush -- did an experiment to see if we could develop a reform plan that we could all support. The Liebman-MacGuineas-Samwick (LMS) plan demonstrates the types of compromises that can help policy makers from across the political spectrum agree on a Social Security reform plan. The plan achieves sustainable solvency through progressive changes to taxes and benefits, introduces mandatory personal accounts, and specifies important details that are often left unaddressed in other reform plans.

Programs:

Building a 21st Century Economy

  • By
  • Shelley Waters Boots,
  • New America Foundation
December 13, 2005

Never before has the connection between our economic growth and our education system been so critical. In the antiquated industrial economy of the past, a country that could efficiently manufacture and produce material goods succeeded. In today’s new knowledge-based economy, a nation’s success is contingent on its citizens’ human capital. As the Council on Competitiveness predicts, “where once we optimized our organizations for efficiency and quality, now we must optimize our entire society for innovation.”

Programs:

New America's Tax Reform Plan

  • By
  • Maya MacGuineas,
  • New America Foundation
December 5, 2005

The tax code is backwards in many ways. It discourages saving, job creation, and economic growth while encouraging consumption, energy dependence, and environmental degradation. It has become less progressive at a time when income inequality is growing and it bestows the largest targeted tax breaks on those who need them least. It has failed to keep up with changes in the global economic environment, harming U.S. competitiveness. It is highly complex, non-transparent, and it does not raise enough money to pay for government spending.

Programs:

Building the Financial Bridge to College

  • By
  • Anne Stuhldreher,
  • New America Foundation
December 1, 2005

California has the opportunity to make 529 accounts more attractive to low- and moderate-income families by providing a match for savings they put towards a college education.

Programs:

Public Assistance Savings Exclusions (PASE)

  • By
  • Anne Stuhldreher,
  • New America Foundation
December 1, 2005

To qualify for major public assistance programs like CalWorks, Food Stamps, and Medicaid, families must be both low-income and asset-poor. “Asset limits” make sense at first glance. The public pocketbook is not limitless and public aid should be directed to those who are truly desperate. However, asset limits can also put low-income families in a precarious position, causing them to deplete – and keep depleted – the part of a family’s financial portfolio that is critical for promoting independence and keeping recipients from returning to public aid.

Programs:

Yes, Poor People Do Save

  • By
  • Anne Stuhldreher,
  • New America Foundation
December 1, 2005

One of the most common myths in economic and poverty policy is that low and moderate-income people can’t or won’t develop financial assets. However, evidence from a wide variety of successful pilot projects from around the U.S. shows that, like wealthy families, low-income families can and do save when appropriate incentives and savings products are in place.

Programs:

Shared Responsibility to Cover California's Children

  • By
  • Cindy Zeldin,
  • Len Nichols,
  • Peter Harbage,
  • New America Foundation
November 10, 2005

Health insurance is the gateway to health and to our health care system, yet over five million Californians are uninsured, about 800,000 of whom are children. Having health insurance facilitates access to affordable care from a network of health care providers and shields families from financial ruin in the case of a catastrophic medical emergency.

Programs:

Ensuring Seamless Insurance Coverage for California's Children

  • By
  • Cindy Zeldin,
  • Len Nichols,
  • Peter Harbage,
  • New America Foundation
November 10, 2005

Recent national research has shown that 85 million people lacked health insurance at some point over a four-year period.1 While some Americans are consistently uninsured, substantial numbers have intermittent coverage. Consider, for example, a family that is currently covered through a parent’s employment-based health insurance. A subsequent job loss could leave that family uninsured until another job with health insurance is secured, the family purchases a non-group health insurance policy, or the family is determined to be eligible for and enrolls in public coverage.

Programs:

Ensuring Health Coverage for California's Immigrant Children

  • By
  • Cindy Zeldin,
  • Len Nichols,
  • Peter Harbage,
  • New America Foundation
November 10, 2005

The New America Foundation is committed to achieving universal health insurance coverage for all people in America. The most promising route to universal coverage is a system that relies on shared responsibility among individuals, employers, and the government. To that end, the New America Foundation has released a series of three papers outlining how to cover all children in California as a first step towards universal coverage. This paper is a component of that series.

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version. 

Programs:
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