Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)

Education

Summary: In their Memo to the Next President co-authors Florida State Rep. Loranne Ausley and PPI Policy Analyst Katie McMinn Campbell outline the benefits of high-quality pre-K, including reducing high-school dropout rates, criminal activity, and welfare-dependency.  In the Memo they propose ways for the next administration to work with state programs to expand pre-K, retain talented teachers, and get parents involved early in their children's education.

Summary: Education in urban America isn’t bad—it’s failing, and it is up to the next administration to help fix it. In one installment of its Memos to the Next President series, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) offers bold ideas to address this American crisis. Doug Ross, Superintendent of the University Preparatory Academy in Detroit—argues that it will take the unique bully pulpit of the presidency to spur reform.  Ross discusses how to close the achievement gap between middle-class and low-income students, lays out aggressive reform options that emphasize greater autonomy for individual schools, and abolish tenure as we know it.

Energy

Summary: In their Memo to the Next President,  co-authors Daniel Sosland, Derek Murrow, and Samuel Krasnow outline how government investment in energy efficiency could stimulate the economy. The authors propose measures for the next administration to encourage energy efficient programs and outline how spending on efficiency is cheaper than efforts to increase energy supply.  The Memo also examines how a shift towards efficiency spending will create new jobs at a time when job losses continue to climb.

Summary: In his Memo to the Next President Senator Evan Bayh proposes that the next administration push forward with an international nuclear-fuel bank to develop nuclear power for many countries in monitored facilities. Bayh outlines how the bank would fulfill the need for nuclear power in developing nations, while keeping the process transparent and preventing nations from using energy needs as a smokescreen for weapons development.

Summary: In their Memo to the Next President co-authors Mark Ribbing, PPI Director of Policy Development, and PPI Scholar Bill Magwood call on the next president to begin investing in options that can reduce and recycle nuclear waste. The authors note that benefits of nuclear energy are often outweighed by concerns over the waste produced and examine France's model of "reprocessing," which turns nuclear waste into reusable energy, as a possible solution.

Environment

Summary: In their Memo to the Next President PPI Senior Scholar Jan Mazurek, Ph.D. and PPI Director of the Project on Trade and Global Markets Edward Gresser take a hard look at the current, disjointed state of environmental enforcement and the need for accountability for international agreements.  Mazurek and Gresser advocate for the establishment of a Global Environmental Organization (GEO) to coordinate and oversee international environmental agreements.

Financial Regulation

Summary: The next administration will have a unique opportunity to rewrite the financial regulations that failed to forestall this year's economic meltdown. In his Memo to the Next President Eugene Ludwig, Founder and CEO of Promontory Financial Group, and former Comptroller of the Currency, outlines regulatory changes that the next administration can use to improve U.S. financial-services regulation and put the market back on track - without strangling innovation or growth. 

Government Reform

Summary: One way to address our economic troubles, reduce our deficits, and invest in our future is to get serious about tax policy. In his Memo to the Next President, PPI Scholar Paul Weinstein calls for sweeping tax reforms and offers a three-step plan that includes consolidating existing tax breaks, funding meaningful middle-class tax cuts with a securities-transaction tax, and simplifying business taxation.

Summary: In his Memo to the Next President , Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) Senior Fellow Ed Kilgore outlines how the next administration can translate campaign momentum for government reform into lasting change in Washington. Kilgore calls for an attack on "politics as usual," and encourages the next president to address reform head on by embracing congressional campaign finance and redistricting reform.

Healthcare

Summary: In his Memo to the Next President PPI Scholar David Kendall recommends that the next president issue a 'Mayo Challenge' to strive for patient care standards as good and economical as those of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, beginning with a shift from the current system of managed healthcare to an integrated system.

International Affairs

Summary: PPI President Will Marshall calls on the next president to seize the opportunity to lead NATO's transformation from a North American-European pact into a global alliance of free nations. In his Memo to the Next President Marshall examines how, by opening its doors to Japan, Australia, India, Chile, and a handful of other stable democracies, NATO would augment both its human and financial resources and enhance its political legitimacy to operate on a global stage.

National Security

Summary: In his Memo to the Next President Jim Arkedis, Director of PPI's National Security Project, proposes that the next administration strengthen U.S. defenses by finding the proper balance between military spending and our arsenal of civilian security resources.

Poverty

Summary: In the long term, a well-fed population performs better in school, works more productively, and spends less on health care. In his Memo to the Next President  Joel Berg, The Director of The New York City Coalition Against Hunger, examines how efforts to end hunger would also directly improve the economy faster than Bush's 2008 stimulus package and streamline federal bureaucracy.

Summary: Low-income men have witnessed a two-decade trend of increased unemployment and decreased school enrollment. Far too many adult males have slid into the "underclass" and stayed there -- a phenomenon reflected in broken homes, overflowing prisons, and entire neighborhoods bereft of responsible male role models. In her Memo to the Next President , PPI Policy Analyst Katie Campbell encourages the next administration to expand the policy tool that makes work pay: the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable tax credit that supplements the wages of workers in minimum-wage and low-paying jobs.

Social Security

Summary: In his Memo to the Next President PPI Scholar Bob Pozen examines the increasing strains on Social Security due to demographic changes and increased life expectancy. He calls on the next president to make significant changes in the Social Security system arguing for progressive solutions that tailor benefits to the needs of the recipients, while maintaining purchasing power for all beneficiaries.

Trade

Summary:  In his Memo to the Next President, Edward Gresser, Director of PPI's Trade and Global Markets Project, explains why trade is an effective tool to combat extremism and what the next president needs to do to change our failing trade policy, before it is too late. Gresser traces the failure of past Middle East policies and outlines a plan to stabilize the region by encouraging globalization and waiving tariffs on goods from moderate Middle Eastern nations that denounce terrorism and cooperate in regional peace efforts.

Transportation

Summary: America's infrastructure is in need of significant repairs, but increased demand cannot be met by tax-based government funds alone. In her Memo to the Next President , PPI expert Jessica Milano discusses how an American Investment Bank could raise funds for infrastructure development, promote public-private partnerships, and allocate funds efficiently without being subject to some of the pitfalls of annual budgeting.