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THINK TANK ROUND-UP: FEDERAL-STATE-MEGA PARTERNSHIP EDITION.
Once again, a foray into the white papers that make our world go round.
- Better than First Class. In addition to tax breaks, the super-rich are getting discounts when the take private jets, according to a report by the Institute for Policy Studies. While a commercial flight pays $2,014 in taxes to fly from New York to Miami, a private jet only pays $236, despite incurring the same cost to air traffic control. The number of private jets has grown slowly but steadily over the past 30 years and according to this report will double in the next ten years.
- Terror and charity. OMB Watch has a comprehensive paper detailing how counter-terror policies have led to civil rights violations in the charitable sphere: "Lack of basic due process rights and use of secret evidence mean there is no protection against unsubstantiated evidence, mistake, or abuse. Organizations are unable to present evidence to an independent review body or hire defense counsel with seized funds. Challenging a designation in federal court is also problematic because the courts do not rule on the merits of Treasury’s evidence." While this issue got a good deal of attention following Treasury's initial crackdown after 9/11, the problems continue to drag on.
- Economic growth for Africa. Last week we heard that the Cato Institute wanted to help Africa by withdrawing all G-8 fiscal aid. This week, the Heritage Foundation outlines a plan for the U.S. government to support African nations by expanding policies favorable to private foreign investment on the continent. The memo lauds the results of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) implemented in 2000. Recognizing Africa's continuing struggle with poverty, the report calls for more U.S. involvement and a possible free trade agreement when AGOA expires in 2015.
- New American Heartland? Brookings issues a fascinating report on the economic growth and transition of "Mountain Megas" in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Urban centers in these states are growing into huge super-regions conducive to job growth and sustainability, as well as the development of new infrastructure. The report suggests its time for a "new federal-state-mega partnership" to help these growing population centers address climate change, immigration, transportation and other regional and national challenges.
-- TAP Staff
Previous Round-Ups: 7/14/2008
COMMENTS (3)
There is an overwhelming problem with the Brookings report (leaving aside their overuse of the adjective "mega," as it could just be me that finds that annoying): The premise is that the Mountain West is the next Heartland, replacing the Midwest. Well, the Midwest itself has not achieved the level of regional integration and Federal partnership that it could, and should, have done over the past few decades.
When the Great Lakes Commission was started - and that was back in the 1950s - its mandate encompassed sustainable and inclusive use of resources in the region. It was the basis of an effective regional organization for sustainable development, but it has never really done that.
And it sounds great to call for Federal partnerships to make regional approaches to sustainable transportation possible in the Mountain West. But I'm still waiting to see serious Federal commitment to sustainable transportation anywhere.
The Brookings report seems to be saying - hey, we've noticed this mega trend, so let's be sure to apply Federal and regional approaches. But the more salient fact is that those approaches are underdeveloped and underfunded. The ideas for them have been around for years, it is the political leaders who have ignored them.
Posted by: Michael A. Shea | July 22, 2008 12:21 PM
Mr. Shea may be right; I'm not up on the subject. But what I can say for sure is that Brookings has ignored the biggest problem the West faces: water. The Colorado River now ends with a whimper just short of Baja California, because it's so heavily siphoned off for irrigation and human use. If the climate is indeed warming, then there will be less snowmelt feeding that river in the future, which means less water available for human use. Without water, no major growth can take place.
Yet Brookings's Executive Summary (which is all I've read) only uses the word "water" once or twice.
Posted by: Linkmeister | July 22, 2008 3:20 PM
The premise is that the Mountain West is the next Heartland, replacing the Midwest. Well, the Midwest itself has not achieved the level of regional integration and Federal partnership that it could, and should, have done over the past few decades.
Posted by: tower defense | April 25, 2009 3:56 AM