New Vision
For anyone still lurking on this blog... a shameless plug for a policy think tank started by my cousin Scott -- you can read their mission statement here.
I also received this message from Scott/NV this morning with some exciting news -- please vote if you have a moment!
From Scott:
"...I have two exciting bits of news to report. The first is actually a request for your help. The service employees' union has been sponsoring a nationwide contest to come up with ideas from beyond the beltway, from people other than the usual suspects, etc. We submitted a handful of ideas last month, and my friend Chris's idea was among 21 chosen out of over 22,000! Now we need your help. Until 11:59 EST on Sunday, January 15, anyone in the US can vote for their top 3 choices out of the 21 remaining. We need you to vote for our idea! It's really easy to do so. Just go to www.sinceslicedbread.com. You'll have to create a username and password, then you can vote for 3 ideas (in fact, you have to vote for exactly 3). Chris's idea is "Retool the EITC to Promote Savings". It proposes that the tax code be changed so that recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit -- a tax credit that goes to working families in low-wage jobs to encourage work rather than welfare dependency -- can direct some of the credit toward interest-bearing savings accounts. The federal government would match a fraction of the amount redirected. The policy would not only reward work through the EITC, making sure that "people who play by the rules" benefit, it would encourage savings among the poor, who are often unable to save even minimal amounts.
"...The second bit of news is that the policy brief on scholarships for summer programs for young disadvantaged children that I wrote with four of my classmates and that the Center for American Progress sponsored has met with a good measure of success so far. Last month, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) submitted a bill in Congress funding a demonstration project based on our proposal. The STEP UP Act is officially Senate bill 2149 and is available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:s2149is.txt.pdf. Senator Obama's floor statement may be read at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/R?r109:FLD001:S14189 (click on the S14187 link). We are excited that the first product that New Vision undertook has reached this level of success, and we hope to see Senator Obama's bill incorporated into the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind later this year. For more on New Vision, including recent housing briefs produced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, see www.newvisioninstitute.org..."
More of my regularly scheduled ramblings soon...
Peace out.
I also received this message from Scott/NV this morning with some exciting news -- please vote if you have a moment!
From Scott:
"...I have two exciting bits of news to report. The first is actually a request for your help. The service employees' union has been sponsoring a nationwide contest to come up with ideas from beyond the beltway, from people other than the usual suspects, etc. We submitted a handful of ideas last month, and my friend Chris's idea was among 21 chosen out of over 22,000! Now we need your help. Until 11:59 EST on Sunday, January 15, anyone in the US can vote for their top 3 choices out of the 21 remaining. We need you to vote for our idea! It's really easy to do so. Just go to www.sinceslicedbread.com. You'll have to create a username and password, then you can vote for 3 ideas (in fact, you have to vote for exactly 3). Chris's idea is "Retool the EITC to Promote Savings". It proposes that the tax code be changed so that recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit -- a tax credit that goes to working families in low-wage jobs to encourage work rather than welfare dependency -- can direct some of the credit toward interest-bearing savings accounts. The federal government would match a fraction of the amount redirected. The policy would not only reward work through the EITC, making sure that "people who play by the rules" benefit, it would encourage savings among the poor, who are often unable to save even minimal amounts.
"...The second bit of news is that the policy brief on scholarships for summer programs for young disadvantaged children that I wrote with four of my classmates and that the Center for American Progress sponsored has met with a good measure of success so far. Last month, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) submitted a bill in Congress funding a demonstration project based on our proposal. The STEP UP Act is officially Senate bill 2149 and is available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:s2149is.txt.pdf. Senator Obama's floor statement may be read at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/R?r109:FLD001:S14189 (click on the S14187 link). We are excited that the first product that New Vision undertook has reached this level of success, and we hope to see Senator Obama's bill incorporated into the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind later this year. For more on New Vision, including recent housing briefs produced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, see www.newvisioninstitute.org..."
More of my regularly scheduled ramblings soon...
Peace out.
posted by Martha Who? | 6:15 AM
1 Comments:
Peace indeed. Very cool.
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