The Wall Street Journal

Despite the rhetoric and the photo-ops, the Trinidad Summit of the Americas postponed any real discussion of U.S. policy toward Cuba. In the U.S., the extremist embargo has been a sop to the right-wing and Florida electorate. But in countries like Mexico, Chile and Brazil, the Latin policy of never taking Havana to task for its atrocious human-rights record is a sop to the domestic left.

Ray Boshara, vice president of the New America Foundation, said he was struck by respondents' belief that "focusing on inequality of opportunity, and not so much inequality of outcomes, was most important." This sentiment was shared across all income ...

According to the New America Foundation (original policy paper available here), that cost could reach $24,000 in 2016 -- an 84% increase from today. At the same time, higher deductibles, larger co-payments and greater exclusions from coverage are causing families to bear more out-of-pocket costs. Debt related to health expenses is now one of the leading causes of personal bankruptcy.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said Monday that investors are bound to misunderstand whatever Geithner lays out Tuesday.

“The market’s response? That will be interesting,” she said. The plan will likely be so complicated “that the quick response will probably be wrong.” ...

"A lot depends on how long this current conflict continues," said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator now at Washington's New America Foundation. ...

On the eve of its 50th anniversary, the Cuban Revolution -- or what is left of it -- can contemplate a bewildering paradox that sums up the results of one of Latin America's most daring political feats of all time. Never before has Havana harvested diplomatic successes of the sort it has enjoyed in the last few months. Yet never before has the survival of the regime -- and the Cuban people's acceptance of the domestic sacrifices it demands of them -- been so much in… more

On a more substantive note, Steve Coll of The New Yorker finds that all the focus on economic rescue and stimulus packages shouldn’t obscure some clear ...

Speaking of that infrastructure push, Steve Coll of The New Yorker marvels at how quickly the idea of spending big bucks on infrastructure “has migrated ...

By 2016, the average premiums paid by employers and their workers for family coverage could top $24,000. That amount would put the cost for family health insurance at 45% of median household income, if current trends continue, says a report from the New America Foundation.

One risk facing policy makers is that if the capital injections are seen as a government seal of approval, that could destabilize banks that don't receive investments, causing their customers to jump to other institutions, said Ellen Seidman, a former economic adviser in the Clinton administration.

"It's counterintuitive, but if we've learned one thing from this crisis, it's that we have a hard time predicting the behavior of the smaller savers and investors," said Ms. Seidman, now at the New America Foundation. LINK