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Friday November 20, 2009

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RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioStrengthening United States Fiscal Policy

William A. Galston, November 10, 2009, Senate Budget Committee

Speaking before the Senate Budget Committee, Senior Fellow William Galston discussed how the Untied States’ current fiscal course is unsustainable. The level of deficits, debt, and borrowing from abroad projected for the next decade threatens not only our economic prosperity, but also our currency, global leadership, and national independence, he asserted. Galston recommended that an independent, bi-partisan commission be created to address the challenge of developing a sustainable fiscal policy. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioWhose Stimulus: President Obama’s or the Democratic Congress’?

Thomas E. Mann, August 07, 2009, The Brookings Institution

Many conservative commentators including, Michael Gerson, disdain President Obama’s stimulus bill and have trumpeted its alleged shortcomings. However, the accuracy of these criticisms is far from self-evident; it will be assessed by analysts in the months and years ahead as the bill’s funds are expended and evidence becomes available on their impact on the micro and macro-economy, writes Thomas Mann. Read More

VIDEO

Save to My PortfolioHow Should the Obama Administration Handle Guantánamo Bay Detainees?

Benjamin Wittes, August 05, 2009

The Obama administration is considering two different options for prosecuting Guantánamo Bay detainees in the United States. One option calls for trying detainees in several different federal courts in New York, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. The other idea is to try all such cases at a super-max prison in either Michigan or Kansas. Benjamin Wittes says resolving the many issues associated with Guantánamo Bay presents a challenge for the administration.

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioThe Path to a New Immigration Reform

Darrell M. West, July 21, 2009, Real Clear Politics

The Path to a New Immigration ReformWith the new political landscape, the importance of immigration for the American economy and new policy ideas that address concerns regarding low-skill workers and border security, the ingredients are in place for comprehensive immigration reform. What are required are bold leadership, a new narrative and a commitment to overcome old stereotypes. History does not have to repeat itself on immigration policy, writes Darrell West. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioUnited States Detention Policy: Will Obama Follow Bush or FDR?

Benjamin Wittes and Jack Goldsmith, June 29, 2009, The Washington Post

President Obama seems poised to adopt the Bush administration's unilateral approach to detention. This approach has failed President Bush and it will not serve President Obama any better, write Benjamin Wittes and Jack Goldsmith. The president can still get what he needs on detention, they say, if he works from Congress's bipartisan center, releases more substantial information about the detainees he thinks cannot be set free, and speaks often about the need for stable rules to govern non-criminal detentions. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioDesigning Detention: A Model Law for Terrorist Incapacitation

Benjamin Wittes and Colleen A. Peppard, June 26, 2009, The Brookings Institution

Designing Detention: A Model Law for Terrorist IncapacitationClosing the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay by President Obama's January deadline is pressuring the administration to craft a new system for incarcerating terrorist suspects, possibly through an executive order. Benjamin Wittes and Colleen Peppard suggest instead a model law for terrorist incapacitation. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioSupreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor is Obama’s American Dream

William A. Galston, May 28, 2009, The Brookings Institution

Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor is Obama’s American DreamIn nominating Sonia Sotomayor, the Obama administration must be more than satisfied with the early reaction from a political standpoint, writes William Galston. While Democrats are united and Hispanics are thrilled, those who oppose her must choose their words and tactics carefully so as not to antagonize further the nation’s fastest-growing demographic group. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioThe Supreme Court Confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Benjamin Wittes, May 27, 2009, The Washington Post

Only a few years ago, a Supreme Court nominee like Judge Sonia Sotomayor could expect quick, nearly unanimous confirmation. Yet recent trends in Supreme Court nominations show Sotomayor can expect a highly contentious confirmation. Brookings expert Ben Wittes writes, our system has gone from one in which people like Sotomayor, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito are shoe-ins for confirmation to a system in which they are shoo-ins for confirmation confrontations. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioObama's Guantánamo Blueprint and America's Enemies

Benjamin Wittes, May 21, 2009, The New York Times

Obama's Guantánamo Blueprint and America's EnemiesLast week, President Obama outlined his approach to closing the Guantánamo Bay detention center on the heels of Congress voting overwhelmingly to block the $80 million he requested to close the the prison. The speech was forward-looking, writes Brookings expert Ben Wittes, in that he maintained the need for a preventative detention system created by Congress and overseen by the courts. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioExpanding Health Information Technology in the United States

Darrell M. West, May 20, 2009, The Huffington Post

Armed with $19 billion dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Obama administration hopes to employ health information technology to improve medical treatment, cut costs by reducing errors and redundancies, and empower patients by giving them control over their own medical records. Not an easy task, warns Brookings expert Darrell West, since the federal government will need to address the financial, organization, and technological barriers limiting the utilization of health IT in the US. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioTargeted Killing in U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy and Law

Kenneth Anderson, May 11, 2009, The Brookings Institution, Georgetown University Law Center and the Hoover Institution

American domestic law has long accepted the use of targeted killings as self-defense toward ends of vital national security that do not necessarily fall within the strict terms of armed conflict. However, the legal space for it and the legal rationales on which it has been traditionally justified are in danger of shrinking, writes Kenneth Anderson. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioLooking Forward, Not Backward: Refining American Interrogation Law

Stuart Taylor, Jr. and Benjamin Wittes, May 10, 2009, The Brookings Institution, Georgetown University Law Center and the Hoover Institution

Benjamin Wittes and Stuart Taylor examine how to amend American interrogation laws to balance the need to avoid the past administration's excesses against the need to get intelligence from captured terrorists. They review the post-September 11 evolution of Bush administration policies on interrogation, the experiences of the CIA and the military and the lessons to be learned from those experiences. Read More

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioBetter Rules for Terrorism Trials

Wells C. Bennett and Robert S. Litt , May 08, 2009, The Brookings Institution, Georgetown University Law Center and the Hoover Institution

More than seven years after 9/11, the government’s legal, practical and moral authority to detain suspected terrorists without trial remains a subject of fierce debate. Robert Litt and Wells Bennett say Congress could significantly ameliorate the problem by authorizing the creation of a National Security Bar, a permanent corps of security-cleared lawyers who could represent defendants in terrorism-related cases. Read More

VIDEO

Save to My PortfolioDoes the 100 Day Presidential Benchmark Matter?

Stephen Hess, April 27, 2009

Brookings presidential scholar Stephen Hess discusses the relevance of the 100-day benchmark moment to gauging a president's ability to fit the shoes and the office of his many notable predecessors. The comparisons, he notes, are not easy to make.

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioFrom Campaigning to Governing: Politics and Policymaking in the New Obama Administration

Thomas E. Mann, April 21, 2009, The Brookings Institution

Since taking the oath of office, President Barack Obama has faced a daunting set of immediate policy challenges and has had high expectations for significant changes in politics and policymaking. Nearing President Obama's first hundred days in office, Thomas Mann assesses his achievements and setbacks in a lecture given to the University of Melbourne Law School. Read More

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ExpertMark McClellan

Mark McClellan works on promoting high-quality, innovative and affordable health care. Once commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. McClellan now directs the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform.

ExpertIsabel V. Sawhill

A nationally known budget expert, Isabel Sawhill focuses on domestic poverty and federal fiscal policy. She is also co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings.

TopicEducation

The economic and political well-being of any society requires a well-educated citizenry. Brookings’s work extends beyond the K-12 bookends to include pre-school interventions, higher education and the challenges of education in developing countries.

Policy CenterEngelberg Center for Health Care Reform

The Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform provides practical solutions to achieve high-quality, innovative, affordable health care with particular emphasis on identifying opportunities on the national, state and local levels.

TopicHealth Care

Brookings is committed to producing innovative policy solutions to our nation’s most difficult challenges. The country may face no more important domestic policy challenge than the much-needed reform of our health care system. Through an institution-wide effort, Brookings delivers new ideas and offers policy solutions to improve health care both at home and globally.

Research ProjectBrookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement

The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement monitors displacement problems worldwide, works with governments, regional bodies, international organizations and civil society to create more effective policies and institutional arrangements for Internally Displaed Persons.

Policy CenterCenter on Children and Families

The Center on Children and Families studies policies on the well-being of America's children and their parents and seeks a more effective means of addressing poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity in the United States.

ExpertAmy Liu

Amy Liu is deputy director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. Her policy studies include economic competitiveness, metropolitan growth and development, governance reforms, urban reinvestment, and social equity.

ExpertVanda Felbab-Brown

Vanda Felbab-Brown focuses on the national security implications of illicit economies and strategies for managing them. She is an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

ExpertDomenico Lombardi

As president of the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy, Domenico Lombardi’s work at Brookings focuses on the international financial crisis and the reform of the IMF and the World Bank. He is an expert on G-20 and G8 Summits.

ExpertFederiga Bindi

Federiga Bindi is a leading expert on European political integration. She has a broad experience in government and held a number of posts in international organizations. Bindi currently serves as an advisor to the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Her research focuses on the EU, transatlantic relations; EU states foreign policies, global governance issues.

ExpertSuzanne Maloney

Suzanne Maloney studies Iran, the political economy of the Persian Gulf and Middle East energy policy. A former U.S. State Department policy advisor, she has also counseled private companies on Middle East issues.

ExpertMwangi S. Kimenyi

Mwangi S. Kimenyi is a senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative. He focuses on Africa's development, including institutions for economic growth, the political economy, and private sector development.

ProgramGovernance Studies

Governance Studies explores political institutions of the United States and other democracies to assess how they govern, how their practices compare and how citizens and public servants can advance sound governance.

ExpertTed Gayer

Ted Gayer is the co-director of the Economic Studies program and the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He conducts research on a variety of economic issues, focusing particularly on public finance, environmental and energy economics, housing, and regulatory policy.

Research ProjectLatin America Initiative

The Latin America Initiative provides high-quality, in-depth, and independent research across a range of economic and political issues, and offers policy recommendations aimed at U.S. and Latin American policymakers.