AMERICAN SOCIETY 2008

Source: http://france.usembassy.gov

AMERICAN MOBILITY: WHO MOVES? WHO STAYS PUT? WHERE’S HOME?
Pew Research Center, December 25, 2008
http://pewsocialtrends.org/assets/pdf/Movers-and-Stayers.pdf
As a nation, the United States is often portrayed as restless and rootless. Census data, though, indicate that Americans are settling down. Only 13% of Americans changed residences between 2006 and 2007, the smallest share since the government began tracking this trend in the late 1940s. The Pew survey finds that most Americans have moved to a new community at least once in their lives, although a notable number, nearly four-in-ten, have never left the place in which they were born. Asked why they live where they do, movers most often cite the pull of economic opportunity. The stayers most often cite the tug of family and connections.

BUILDING AN AMERICANIZATION MOVEMENT FOR THE 21st CENTURY
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Taskforce on New Americans, 2008
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/M-708.pdf
With a long immigrant tradition, we as a nation have embraced the opportunities and met the challenges associated with each successive wave of immigration. The present wave is no exception. With immigrants increasingly coming from different countries of origin and settling in communities that lack a long history of receiving immigrants, citizens and immigrants alike should reengage the principles and values that bind us as Americans. Educating on these principles and providing opportunities for civic participation will ensure that the United States remains a successful nation and a home to immigrants.

AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SINCE 1994: THE UNACCEPTABLE STATUS QUO
Center for American Progress, January 8, 2009
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/pdf/1994_health_memo.pdf
Since the failure of health care reform in 1994, costs have increased, quality has been inconsistent, and more Americans have joined the ranks of the uninsured.

THE CASE FOR PUBLIC PLAN CHOICE IN NATIONAL HEALTH REFORM: KEY TO COST CONTROL AND QUALITY COVERAG
Institute for America’s Future, December 18, 2008
http://institute.ourfuture.org/files/Jacob_Hacker_Public_Plan_Choice.pdf
A health care system that contains costs and drives value must include a good public plan if the broad goals of reform, universal insurance and improved value, are to be achieved. Private insurance and public insurance have distinct strengths and weaknesses, and thus should be encouraged to compete side by side to attract enrollees on a level playing field that rewards plans that deliver better value and health to their enrollees, according to the report.

KEY ISSUES IN ANALYZING MAJOR HEALTH INSURANCE PROPOSALS
Congressional Budget Office, December 2008
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9924/12-18-KeyIssues.pdf
The proposals are built upon Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) previous analytical work on health insurance and health care financing issues and are intended to assist the Congress as it contemplates possible changes, both large and small, to federal health programs and the nation’s health insurance and health care systems.

THE ECONOMIC CRISIS HITS HOME: THE UNFOLDING INCREASE IN CHILD AND YOUTH HOMELESSNESS
First Focus, December 19, 2008
http://www.firstfocus.net/Download/TheEconomicCrisisHitsHome.pdf
The study finds that school districts across the country have experienced a significant spike in the number of homeless students. The report centers around a voluntary survey conducted during the fall of 2008 by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth and First Focus.



RISING FOOD PRICES TAKE A BITE OUT OF FOOD STAMP BENEFITS
U.S. Department of Agriculture, December 2008
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/EIB41/EIB41.pdf
The Food Stamp Program is designed to provide low-income families with increased food purchasing power to obtain a nutritionally adequate diet. As in most other Federal Government assistance programs, benefits are adjusted in response to rising prices, in this case, rising food prices. In FY 2008, the amount grew from almost $8 in October 2007 to $34 in July 2008 and to $38 in September 2008.

HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS SURVEY
United States Conference of Mayors, December 2008
http://www.usmayors.org/pressreleases/documents/hungerhomelessnessreport_121208.pdf
Hunger and homelessness are both on the rise according to the report. For more than 22 years, the Conference of Mayors has documented the magnitude of the issues of hunger and homelessness in our nation’s cities. The report provides an analysis of the scale of the problem in twenty-five of America’s major cities and the efforts these cities are making to address the issue.

THE LONG WAIT FOR PROGRESS: WOMEN AND ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL EQUALITY
Century Foundation, December 21, 2008
http://www.tcf.org/publications/economicsinequality/longwait_brief.pdf
The report shows that despite some progress, America is a nation in which neither minorities nor women have yet achieved anything approaching economic or social equality. The report analyzes the substantial gap in wages between men and women, and then measures that gap in the context of women’s educational achievements and the continuing discrimination against women in the workplace, with attention to the impact of the issues of health and child care.

AASA SURVEY RESULTS: OPPORTUNITY FOR FEDERAL EDUCATION FUNDING
American Association of School Administration, December 18, 2008
http://www.aasa.org/files/PDFs/Publications/FINALResults121008Memo.pdf
America’s public schools have a list of ready-to-go construction and renovation projects that, with an infusion of federal economic stimulus funds, would work to both stimulate a stagnating economy and improve the educational environment for children, according to a national survey. AASA administered the survey to superintendents nationwide in December 2008 to learn how school districts would spend one-time block-grant funds, if they were to become available as part of an economic stimulus package. Almost all respondents, 99 percent, identified budget gaps that they could direct stimulus money to and 97 percent identified short-term projects that could be placed in the bid market in 60-90 days.


PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM: WHAT’S IN IT FOR CHILDREN AND TEACHERS
Albert Shanker Institute, December 16, 2008
http://www.shankerinstitute.org/Downloads/Early%20Childhood%2012-11-08.pdf
The Albert Shanker Institute suggests that early, age-appropriate instruction in language, literacy, mathematics and science can have significant, long-lasting effects on preschool children’s social and cognitive skills. While 43 states and the District of Columbia have adopted early childhood standards designed to prepare children to take on the academic requirements of the elementary grades, these standards are of varying quality, often underestimate what young children are capable of absorbing, and are not always adapted to the unique ways in which young children learn best.

THE STATE OF AMERICA’S CHILDREN 2008
Children’s Defense Fund, December 25, 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/DocServer/state-of-americas-children-2008-report.pdf?docID=9061
The report is a statistical compendium of key child data showing epidemic numbers of children at risk: the number of poor children has increased nearly 500,000 to 13.3 million, with 5.8 million of them living in extreme poverty, and nearly 9 million children lack health coverage with both numbers likely to increase during the recession. The number of children and teens killed by firearms also increased after years of decline.

RANKINGS AND ESTIMATES: RANKINGS OF THE STATES 2008 AND ESTIMATES OF SCHOOL STATISTICS 2009
National Education Association, December 2008
http://www.nea.org/edstats/images/rankings08.pdf
Teachers across the nation are continuing to lose spending power for themselves and their families as inflation continued to outpace teacher salaries last year. Over the decade from 1997-98 to 2007-08, in constant dollars, average salaries for public schoolteachers declined 1 percent while inflation increased 31.4 percent. According to the report, the average one-year increase in public schoolteacher salaries was 3.1 percent, while inflation increased 4.3 percent

2008 STATE OF AMERICA’S CITIES: ANNUAL OPINION SURVEY OF MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS
National League of Cities, December 22, 2008
http://www.nlc.org/ASSETS/43A4BDCCFDAE4D029D66719CE63F43DA/StateofAmericasCities2008.pdf
A record number of municipal officials expressed their growing pessimism for the nation’s direction, according to a survey. The Survey demonstrates the widespread nature of the current economic crisis is having on cities’ bottom lines. It shows that at mid-recession, more than six out of 10 city officials are pessimistic about the nation’s future.
The second issue cited most frequently for the new administration is deteriorating transportation infrastructure. Almost seven in ten say the quality of roads, bridges, and airports are problems for their city, with 29% saying the conditions worsened in the past year. The survey also found that two in five city officials responding say the worsening relationship between city and federal governmental bodies is posing a problem for their city; 50% report that city-state relations are posing a problem.

REINVESTING IN NATIONAL PARKS TO CREATE JOBS AND PROTECT AMERICA’S HERITAGE
National Parks Conservation Association, December 21, 2008
http://www.npca.org/media_center/pdf/stimulus_report-dec_16.pdf
The new report highlights several of the more than $2.5 billion worth of job-creating projects in national parks. It encourages Congress and the incoming Obama Administration to include national parks in economic recovery legislation to create jobs and restore our national treasures.

PENSIONS

Martin Neil Baily and Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
US Pension Reform: Lessons from Other Countries
Peterson Institute – Book – February 2009
http://bookstore.petersoninstitute.org/book-store/4259.html

“It is generally accepted that Social Security must be reformed, but there is little agreement on what should be done to reform the program. US Pension Reform: Lessons from Other Countries looks at the social pension reforms of twelve other countries, assesses the current US Social Security program, and evaluates how these twelve models inform opportunities for adaptation of the current system. The authors consider governments' current fiscal balances in order to contextualize countries' initial financial liabilities and pension program infrastructure. The book concludes with an integrated reform proposal for Social Security.”

FAITH ON THE HILL: THE RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, December 19, 2008
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=379
Members of Congress are often accused of being out of touch with average citizens, but an examination of the religious affiliations of U.S. senators and representatives shows that, on one very basic level, Congress looks much like the rest of the country. Although a majority of the members of the new, 111th Congress, which will be sworn in on Jan. 6, are Protestants, Congress, like the nation as a whole, is much more religiously diverse than it was 50 years ago. Religious Landscape Survey of over 35,000 American adults finds that some smaller religious groups, notably Catholics, Jews and Mormons, are better represented in Congress than they are in the population as a whole. However, certain other smaller religious groups, including Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus, still are somewhat underrepresented in Congress relative to their share of the U.S. population.

ALL AMERICA’S STAGE: GROWTH AND CHALLENGES IN NONPROFIT THEATER
National Endowment for the Arts, December 26, 2008
http://www.nea.gov/research/TheaterBrochure12-08.pdf
Nonprofit theaters in the United States have seen unprecedented expansion across the United States, according to the research. It examines developments in the growth, distribution, and finances of America’s nonprofit theater system since 1990. The investigation revealed that National Endowment for the Arts funding is a likely catalyst in drawing sizeable contributions from other sources. Each dollar in NEA grant support is associated with an additional $12 from individual donors, $1.88 from businesses, and $3.55 from foundations.