FEATURED ARTICLES

Middle Class Q and A
From: DRUM MAJOR INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY
A call to the presidential candidates to talk about what they would do for America's squeezed middle class in their October 13 debate.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5916

Presidential Candidate Questionnaire Results: Housing and Community Development
From: NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION
The Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards campaigns answer eight questions about housing and community development.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5891  

September's Job Growth Weaker than Expected
From: ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE
The nation's payrolls expanded by a less-than-expected 96,000 in September and unemployment was unchanged, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5901

DOMESTIC SOCIAL

Memo to Members: Low Income Housing News
From: NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION
In this issue: Advocates Object to Voter Suppression Provisions in Senate VA-HUD Approps Bill, West Virginia Advocates Discuss Voucher Threats, Families, and much more.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5898  

Census Expert Suggests Allowing Data Users to Decide Where Prisoners Should be Counted
From: PRISON POLICY INITIATIVE
Peter Wagner
One Census expert suggests a compromise solution to where prisoners should be counted: collect both home and prison addresses and let the data users decide how to use the data.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5919  

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay Trying to Chill Complaints
From: PUBLIC CITIZEN
Public Citizen calls upon House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to stop his new effort to intimidate members of Congress and the public from scrutinizing his ethical lapses.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5897  

ACORN News
From: ACORN
In this issue: Proposed Community Reinvestment Act Changes Threaten Fair Lending Progress, Ohio Files Voting Rights Lawsuit, Radio Station KNON and ACORN Uncover Dallas Section 8 Scandal, and much more.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5903  

Legal Advocates Challenge Missouri Voter Practices
From: BAZELON CENTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW
Legal advocates filed suit against the State of Missouri to end the practice of barring people from voting or registering to vote because they have been placed under court-ordered guardianship.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5876  

Large Families Face Higher Rent Burdens and Fewer Housing Opportunities Under New HUD Rent Rules
From: CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES
Will Fischer, Barbara Sard, and Tara O'Neill
New "Fair Market Rents" HUD put into effect on October 1 will lead to sharp cuts in housing assistance for families with three or more children.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5887  

Unemployment Insurance Does Not Explain Why TANF Caseloads are Falling as Poverty and Need are Rising
From: CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES
Shawn Fremstad, Sharon Parrott, and Arloc Sherman This analysis shows that contrary to recent claims by HHS, unemployment insurance is not serving as an effective safety net for the rising number of poor single-mother families.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5888  

HHS Again Touts Decline in Welfare Caseloads Despite Recent Increase in Poverty
From: CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that caseloads in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program fell below 2 million during the first quarter of 2004. Earlier this year, shortly before the Census Bureau released data showing a marked rise in child poverty in the United States in 2003, HHS issued a similar press release that trumpeted TANF caseload declines in 2003.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5904  

Self-Sufficiency and Safety
From: CENTER FOR IMPACT RESEARCH
A report that makes the case for onsite domestic violence services at employment services agencies.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5884  

Addressing Domestic Violence as a Barrier to Work
From: CENTER FOR IMPACT RESEARCH
A new report about building collaborations between domestic violence service providers and employment services agencies.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5885  

Sentencing Reform for Nonviolent Offenses: Benefits and Estimated Savings for Illinois
From: CENTER FOR IMPACT RESEARCH
Lise McKean and Susan Shapiro
This report examines alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenses, including the potential cost savings and the social benefits of sentencing nonviolent drug offenders to mandated substance abuse treatment and intensive community supervision instead of prison.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5910  

Litigation Success on the Issue of Recoupment of Child Support Overpayments
From: CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY
Paula Roberts This memo discusses the ramifications of the recent court decision in Gamble v. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5913  

State Policy Regarding Pass-Through and Disregard of Current Month's Child Support Collected for Families Receiving TANF-funded Cash Assistance
From: CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY
Paula Roberts and Michelle Vinson
This chart lists all 50 states' and the District of Columbia's child support pass-through and income disregard policies as of August 31, 2004.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5914  

The Opportunities for Service Integration Under Current Law
From: CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY
Mark Greenberg and Jennifer L. Noyes
This article identifies barriers to social services integration.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5915  

Democracy Dispatches
From: DEMOS
In this issue: Struggles to Secure the Vote Continue in Florida, Minnesota Voter Registration Forms Run Short, Questions Over Missing Voting Machines in Louisiana, and much more.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5886

DOMESTIC ECONOMIC

State-Level Ballot Measures in November 2004 with Significant Fiscal Implications
From: CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES
Nicholas Johnson and David H. Bradley
On November 2, voters in a number of states will consider ballot measures with significant fiscal implications. This short analysis reviews those measures and provides links to detailed state-level analyses of many of the measures.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5889  

Temporary Provisions in the Corporate Tax Bill Mask its Likely Long-Term Impact on the Deficit
From: CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES
Joel Friedman
Despite an official cost estimate that shows the corporate tax bill to be deficit neutral, the measure would to lead to higher deficits in the future if its temporary provisions are extended and the cost of these extensions are not offset - a likely scenario in the absence of pay-as-you-go rules.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5905  

New Congressional Budget Office Report Shows Fourth Year of Deficit Growth, Despite Economic Recovery
From: CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES
Richard Kogan and Robert Greenstein
New CBO data show the deficit grew to $415 billion in 2004, marking the first time since World War II that the deficit has grown for four straight years, and the first time since before the Depression that the deficit has continued to grow this far into an economic recovery.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5906  

Recent Job Loss Hits African Americans Harder
From: CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND POLICY RESEARCH
How the black middle class has been hurt by loss of long-tenure jobs.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5890  

Labor Market Weakens in September
From: CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND POLICY RESEARCH
Dean Baker
Work hours have fallen by 2.9 percent since 2001, the equivalent of 3.9 million lost jobs.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5902  

The Budget Arithmetic Test
From: ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE
Lee Price and Max Sawicky
This report offers a critical picture of budget trends, and recommendations for putting the United States’ economic house on a more solid foundation.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5908  

Safety Net For Single Mothers Is Fraying
From: ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE
Jared Bernstein
This analysis looks at how the safety net for low-income single mothers is failing to prevent their incomes from contracting. From 2000-2003, employment and earnings decreased, and family income and the value of benefits from the Earned Income Tax Credit - a valuable wage subsidy - fell by 3 percent per year.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5911  

Worker Flexibility, Time Off In Danger
From: ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE
Lonnie Golden
This op-ed looks into the assault on workplace hours and shows how the bills being promoted by the president's campaign have virtually nothing to do with true time off or flexibility.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5917  

U.S. Banks' Derivatives Use Grows by 21 Percent
From: FINANCIAL POLICY FORUM/DERIVATIVES STUDY CENTER
Randall Dodd
This Policy Brief discusses new data about the rapid growth of derivatives use by U.S banks, and the increase in risks they face as a result.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5882  

In the Shadows of the Recovery: The State of Working Oregon 2004
From: OREGON CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY
Oregon 's economic picture may be brightening, but too many of Oregon's working families still labor in shadows cast by the economic downturn.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5896

FOREIGN POLICY

Afghan Elections: U.S. Solution to a U.S. Problem
From: FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS
Jim Ingalls and Sonali Kolhatkar
The authors say this election process in Afghanistan was imposed by the United States to solve "Afghan problems" as defined by the United States. In reality, the problems facing Afghans are the results of decisions made in Washington in the 1980s and 1990s.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5895  

Benefits and Costs of the U.S. Government's War Making
From: THE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
Robert Higgs
The author looks at the unfulfilled promises of security and freedom promised by the U.S. Government during war time over the past sixty years.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5883  

When 'Scores' Count
From: FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS
Colonel Daniel Smith, USA(Ret.)
For tens of thousands of fans, it was a happy September – the pro-football season resumed, diverting attention from the political campaign and natural disasters. For thousands of others, however, September turned out to be a tragic escalation over preceding months in the multinational reach and catastrophic scale of exclusively human violence.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5900  

Protest and Populism in Latin America
From: FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS
Laura Carlsen
Important public figures from Mexico's President Vicente Fox to Interamerican Development Bank President Enrique Iglesias have joined forces to warn that "populism" is rearing its ugly head again in Latin America.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5920

COMMENTARY

When Turn About Isn't Fair Play
From: FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS
Colonel Daniel Smith, USA (Ret.)
The author says that Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's chaotic if impoverished and smaller counterpart to Afghanistan and Iraq, just over seven months following the still-murky swirl of events that saw 300 Haitians die and President Jean Bertrand Aristide depart Port-au-Prince on a U.S. aircraft that finally deposited him in the Central African Republic.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5899  

Protecting America or the President's Reelection Chances?
From: THE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
Ivan Eland
Pretending to fulfill a 2000 campaign pledge, the Bush administration will soon declare the "activation" of the nation's second national missile defense (NMD) system. Intended to look good for the election, the author says the new system is likely to repeat the fate of the first one-abject failure.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5893  

The FDA Must Not Create Another Vaccine Shortage
From: THE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
Arthur Foulkes and Nicolas Heidorn
The recent shortage of flu vaccines should not be the only cause of concern among consumers as the threat of a "potential shortage of childhood and other life-saving vaccines" may be just around the corner, say the authors.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5918  

The Buck Doesn't Have To Stop Here
From: TOMPAINE.COM
Amy Chasanov
The author says it's time to raise the floor and make sure Americans are guaranteed a living wage.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5877  

Paper Or Touch Screen?
From: TOMPAINE.COM
Laura Donnelly
Thirty-five million of us will cast our ballots using electronic voting machines, but the machines are far from foolproof. It's more than a technical problem, says the author. It's an issue of trust.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5879  

Off Their Rockers
From: TOMPAINE.COM
Mary Bissell
A new group of motivated and tech-savvy seniors - the "granny voters" - are mobilizing at the grassroots level to make politicians talk about what really matters: jobs, health care coverage and good public education they want for their grandchildren.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5880  

A Commitment To 'Never Again'
From: TOMPAINE.COM
William Ferroggiaro
In the end, the author says, preventing genocide all comes down to political action, and having a leader willing to take it.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5881  

The Tiniest Inner Voice Ever
From: WORKINGFORCHANGE.COM
Will Durst
The author presents his version of George W. Bush's debate notes.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5873  

How Dumb Does Bush Think We Are?
From: WORKINGFORCHANGE.COM
Molly Ivins
The author says up is down and black is white in Bush's optimistic pronouncements.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5874  

Kerry a Bleeding Heart? Hardly
From: WORKINGFORCHANGE.COM
Robert Scheer
The author thanks George W. Bush for trying to assure him that John Kerry is a liberal. Sadly, it's not so.
http://www.movingideas.org/cgi-bin/rd/epn_letter.pl?id=5875

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sign Up to Be a Justice Action Advocate
From: PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY
Work to support fair-minded judges who respect the basic constitutional principles of equality and justice under the law.
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oId=17147  

Feedback Requested on "Next Steps" for a Long-Range Proactive Federal Tax and Budget Initiative
From: OMB WATCH OMB
Watch is gathering gather reactions to their "next steps" memo.
http://www.ombwatch.org/survey/next_steps_survey.phtml  

New Website and Trial Offer
From: DEMOCRACYINACTION.ORG
Democracy in Action is offering a 15-day free trial of the entire DiA platform. Sign up using their QuickStart program and they'll have you set-up in minutes! Encourage other organization to check it out, too.
http://www.demaction.org/dia/quickStart.jsp  

Grattan Kerans Joins OCPP Board of Directors
From: OREGON CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY
OCPP is pleased to announce that Grattan Kerans has joined OCPP's Board of Directors. Kerans has a long and distinguished history of public service. Most recently, he was the Director of Government Relations for the Oregon University System. He also served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives and as a State Senator.
http://www.ocpp.org/

Yzaguirre to Step Down as NCLR President and CEO; Murguia Named as his Successor
From: NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA
After 30 years as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Raul Yzaguirre will retire as head of NCLR, effective December 31, 2004. NCLR Executive Director and COO Janet Murguia will succeed Yzaguirre as NCLR's President and CEO, effective January 1, 2005.
http://www.nclr.org/content/news/detail/27294/

EVENTS

For a complete listing of events, please visit our site at http://www.movingideas.org/events/

** October 14-17, 2004 National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's 2004 National Conference, Washington, DC

** October 15-16, 2004 Levy Economics Institute conference on "The Distributional Effects of Government Spending and Taxation," Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

**October 16, 2004 World Hunger Year (WHY) and the New School University proudly sponsor their annual anti-poverty forum, “Living in the Shadow of Poverty,” New York, NY

** October 19, 2004 Guantanamo Detainees: Human Rights are not Negotiable Online Chat presented by Amnesty International USA and Moving Ideas Network

** October 19, 2004 Jobs for the Future in partnership with the National Council for Workforce Education release “Effective Pathways to College Degrees: Key Practices and Strategies,” Baltimore, MD

** October 21, 2004 The Philadelphia-base Fund for an OPEN Society, partnering with the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, is holding a national conference on integrated communities, entitled "Building Blocks for Inclusive Communities," Cherry Hill, NJ

** June 20, 2005 The Institute for Women's Policy Research is pleased to announce its Eighth International Women's Policy Research Conference, "When Women Gain, So Does the World," Washington, DC

JOBS

For a complete listing of jobs, please visit our site at http://www.movingideas.org/jobs/

** Program Associate, New America Foundation, Washington D.C.

** Program Associate - Spectrum Policy Program, New America Foundation, Washington, DC

** Editorial Assistant, The American Prospect, Washington, DC

** Research Associate - State Fiscal Project, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, DC

** Outreach Assistant, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, DC

** Assistant Director for State Network Fundraising, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, DC

** Research Director, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, Washington, D.C.

** Media Relations Coordinator, American Rights at Work, Washington, DC

** Communications Assistant, American Rights at Work, Washington, D.C.

** Research Scholar, Strategic Analysis, The Levy Economics Institute, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

** Internship/Research Assistant, Financial Policy Forum, Washington, DC

** Deputy Director, Fellows Program, New America Foundation, Washington, DC

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