One “canary in the coal mine” for the U.S. health care system is the fate of early retirees’ health benefits. Once a win-win for workers and employers, the skyrocketing cost of health insurance has reversed this trend. The pressure on employers and anxiety of retirees have risen. This has led to new types of arrangements between firms and unions to preserve funding and insurance for pre-Medicare retirees. But will it work? Should other firms and unions follow suit? And what role should policy play in protecting the health coverage of early retirees? 

Please join us for a discussion of these questions with a distinguished panel.  Jeanne Lambrew of the Center for American Progress will present an overview of the challenges and policy issues.  Larry Cohen of Communications Workers of America, Annette Guarisco of General Motors, Karen Ignagni of America’s Health Insurance Plans, and Barbara Kennelly of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, will shed light on the opportunities, challenges, and possible actions that public and private actors can take.

Today’s dialogue in medical journals and the mainstream press on health disparities in American society increasingly focuses on individuals' genetic predispositions to disease. More and more, race is interjected into this dialogue as scientists link genes of certain racial groups to medical conditions while pharmaceutical companies increasingly seek to medicate those conditions. Unfortunately, during this process the focus on reducing and preventing racial health disparities – which in large part can be attributed to social determinants – becomes obscured.

The Center for American Progress will explore these trends and their implications for addressing racial health disparities by hosting a public dialogue.  Jamie Brooks, co-author of  "Geneticizing Disease: Implications for Racial Health Disparities," which will be released at the event, will provide an overview of the issue and the paper's findings. Law professor Lisa Crooms will follow with a legal and racial perspective on the implications of “geneticizing” disease. And in closing, Dr. Nicole Lurie will discuss the known non-medical determinants of health, such as environment, insurance status, and other socio-economic factors. Meredith King, co-author of the paper, will moderate the discussion to follow.

Come celebrate the publication of Military Reform: A Reference Handbook.  Join authors Lawrence J. Korb, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior advisor to the Center for Defense Information and Winslow T. Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at CDI for a discussion and Q&A on the book moderated by Bruce G. Blair, President of World Security Institute.

Just published, Military Reform: A Reference Handbook, examines the successes and failures of the recent military reform movement in Congress and the Pentagon. The book presents the reader with a history of the various attempts to reform the American armed forces - from both internal and external sources - from the American Revolution to the present day. The authors identify the serious yet poorly addressed challenges facing America's defenses today, and focus on both the genuine and cosmetic efforts taken to remedy the many remaining critical problems. They conclude with lessons for how to reform our armed forces more effectively than the ineffectual - and sometimes counterproductive - efforts that have been attempted in recent years.

The rise of other global powers is most often posed as a sorry tale, full of threats to America's primacy, prosperity, and way of life. The potential loss of our #1 status implies a blow to our safety, economy, and prestige.

But this is a rare moment in history: none of the world's big powers are our adversaries. In their new book, The Next American Century, Nina Hachigian and Mona Sutphen show that the "pivotal powers" - China, Europe, India, Japan, and Russia - seek greater influence, but each has an enormous stake in the world economy and a keen desire to thwart common threats. India is a key ally in the struggle against terrorism. China's help is essential to containing pandemic disease. Russia is leading an effort to keep nuclear devices out of terrorists' hands. Japan and Europe are critical partners in tackling climate change. None of these countries is a direct military or ideological challenger. In fact, their gains largely help, rather than hurt, America's continuing prosperity, growth, and to some extent, even its values. Will we have conflicts with these powers? Definitely. Some will be serious. But, by and large, they want what we want: a stable world and better lives for their citizens. We live in an era of opportunity, not of loss.

To take advantage of this moment, the United States must get its own house in order, making sure that American children can compete, American workers can adjust, America's military remains cutting-edge, and American diplomacy entices rather than alienates. While America must be prepared for the possibility that a hostile superpower may one day emerge, it has to be careful not to turn a distant, uncertain threat into an immediate one. Washington should welcome the pivotal powers into a vigorous international order to share the burden of solving pressing global problems of peace, climate, health, and growth. The avenue to a truly safer and more prosperous world runs through the pivotal powers. With them, we can build a world where Americans will thrive, today and tomorrow.

U.S. reliance on oil – primarily for transportation – has many negative impacts. To pay for this oil, American consumers send billions of dollars to other countries including some that are incongruent with U.S. interests. And we are dependent on this fuel from countries rife with political instability. Conflicts there can cause the oil price to spike. In short, oil dependence threatens our economy and national security.

In addition, the combustion of oil and petroleum products – particularly gasoline – threatens our environment. Emissions of greenhouse gases from motor vehicles are the second largest source of U.S. global warming pollution.

Congress began to address these problems with the enactment of the Energy Independence and Security Act. President Bush signed it into law on December 19, 2007. It includes the first increase in fuel economy standards since 1975. It would require cars and light trucks to meet an average fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, with interim steps in the early years.

Now that the new law sets a fuel economy destination, auto companies can travel there via various routes. Some companies, such as General Motors, plan to develop "plug in hybrids" that rely on batteries recharged via AC outlets, combined with gasoline. Other companies plan to develop cars that rely on different fuels. Each system has its advantages and drawbacks.

This event will bring together leaders from General Motors and Honda to discuss their various approaches to achievement of the new fuel economy standards. An impartial automotive engineer from the Union of Concerned Scientists will provide his perspective as well. The ultimate technology "winner" could affect our transportation system for years to come.

The Merida Initiative, efforts to bridge economic and social inequality, burgeoning biofuel markets, hostages in Colombia--these are only a handful of issues that define the contours of the State of the Americas in 2008. How do these and other dynamics affect the United States and its relationship with and place in the Americas? Please join The Americas Project at the Center for American Progress for a lively discussion of the evolving interconnections that increasingly define relations in the Americas. The event will feature keynote speaker Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, followed by comments from and audience Q&A with panelists Leonardo Martinez Diaz of The Brookings Institute, Adrean Rothkopf from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Michael Shifter from the Inter-American Dialogue.
 

A large percentage of AmeriCorps members serve in public schools. But what do they do? Are they making a difference? The Center for American Progress has begun research into these questions, and together with our partners, have planned an event to explore this question in greater detail. From 1:00pm to 3:00pm, Wednesday, February 13, we will share our preliminary findings, hear an analysis of the dropout problem by Johns Hopkins researcher Robert Balfanz, and share the experiences of a panel of AmeriCorps members, program directors, and school principals. Please join us, and our partners Voices for National Service, Be the Change, and the Hudson Institute, for this lively discussion.

Against the backdrop of slowing U.S. economic growth, rapid changes in the world economy, and ongoing public ambivalence regarding the benefits of globalization, some have called for a strategic review, or pause for reflection, with respect to U.S. international economic policy. Looking at trade as well as development and monetary policy, a distinguished panel of experts will discuss the possible future direction of U.S. policy in a new administration.

Please join us for this stimulating discussion stemming from "Virtuous Circle: Strengthening Broad-Based Global Progress in Living Standards," a recent report by Mr. Samans and Jonathan Jacoby as part of CAP's Progressive Growth series on the next administration's economic policy. "Virtuous Circle" – and a link to other Progressive Growth reports – can be found here. 

After nearly five years of war in Iraq and seven in Afghanistan, the U.S. military is facing a crisis not seen since the end of the Vietnam War. Equipment shortages, manpower shortfalls, recruiting and retention problems, and misplaced budget priorities have resulted in a military barely able to meet the challenges America faces today and dangerously ill-prepared to handle the challenges of the future.

As operations in Iraq eventually draw to a close, we must plot a new strategic direction for our nation’s military. Panelists will discuss the ways in which the United States military will need to reform and reconstitute itself to meet the nation's challenges in the years to come. The event will also be the official release of 'Restoring American Military Power: Toward a New Progressive Defense Strategy for America' by Lawrence Korb and Max Bergmann.


 

"Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story" follows three families in a contemporary American battle for equal opportunity. One city's struggle over racial discrimination and how to redress institutional housing segregation is shown in a confrontation that challenges and changes Yonkers, New York.

Drawn deeply into the conflict, the people in "Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story" show how contemporary America confronts the issues of race and opportunity today. Through their city's crucible they deal with the meaning of civil rights in a contemporary context.

This story describes the racial and class divisions still running through American hearts and minds, and the important role of political activism and leadership in bridging them.

While polls show that 80 percent of Americans believe it is still possible to work your way up from poverty to wealth, in fact the American ideal of opportunity for all is at a crossroads. Class mobility is at an all-time low, racial and gender wage gaps are through the roof, and unequal access to health care threatens the health and economic security of millions of Americans. Yet we have it in our power to expand opportunity for everyone in our country. This and other critical ideas about the state of opportunity are documented in All Things Being Equal, the first book from The Opportunity Agenda, an important new voice for reform and improvement across the social spectrum.

Half critique, half road-map-for-the-future, All Things Being Equal includes eight original essays by top-notch thinkers pointing to areas in American life where opportunity is missing and showing us how to instigate it. Please join the Center for American Progress for a provocative discussion around the themes of this groundbreaking book.

“Local control” is the most sacred principle in American education, an idea so deeply ingrained in history and practice that its shortcomings are almost never articulated. Yet a look at the history of local control as the organizing principle of schooling suggests that an approach that made perfect sense in the 1700's is crippling American education today. Whatever its successes in the past, local control today assures four major problems: dramatic financial inequity; no overall way to assess student achievement; disincentives for research and development; and excessive politicization of schooling. As a result of these and related failings, most schools, far from relishing the supposed freedom granted by local control, feel trapped and disempowered.

The only way to demand more from schools while freeing educators and parents to find diverse ways for schools to perform better is to take a cue from other advanced countries and move toward a more nationalized system, especially when it comes to the standards we expect students to meet and the resources we allocate to help them do so.   

Please join us for a lively discussion and Q&A session on a new paper from the Center for American Progress by Senior Fellow Matt Miller.

Health-care reform is back on the national agenda, and for good reason. Health-care costs are skyrocketing, bankrupting budgets, businesses, and families. Access to health care has eroded as millions more join the ranks of uninsured and underinsured Americans. And skepticism has increased about our ability to cut through the complexity of the health-care system, the intransigence of interest group politics, and the inertia thwarting a solution to the health-care crisis.

In his book, Senator Daschle tackles why the health-care system is breaking down and how,  given his understanding of Washington, its politics and what makes it tick, it can be fixed.  Senator Daschle offers a pragmatic paradigm for health-care reform, modeled on the Federal Reserve system. A Federal Health Board would create a public framework for a largely private health-care delivery system. It would set the standards and structure for a health-care system that ensures accessible, affordable, and high-quality care. At a time when political tensions are high, this idea could bridge the divide to bring Americans the health-care system they deserve.

Across the United States a small number of public schools serving low-income children are making dramatic academic achievement gains. Little research has been done comparing school level practices in those schools to schools making incremental gains, and none have looked at the implications of those findings for the redefinition of the role of the urban school principal in the United States.

New Leaders for New Schools has been examining these issues in order to drive academic achievement in schools led by its principals and to share early learnings with interested policymakers and practitioners. New Leaders has selected and trained 440 urban school leaders serving 200,000 children in nine cities and is on track to provide 25 percent of the new principals needed for low-income urban public schools in the United States by 2014.

Please join the Center for American Progress for the release of a New Leaders report, special briefing, and panel discussion on what is being learned about patterns in low-income, urban public schools making dramatic gains in student achievement and implications for the responsibilities and role definition of the urban school principal. This event and report will offer preliminary findings and case studies on these topics and preview additional research that will take place in the months and years ahead.

The power to nominate judges to the Supreme Court and the federal courts of appeal gives our presidents the opportunity to make their influence felt long after they leave office. How have President Bush's nominations affected the direction and ideological makeup of the courts?

The Alliance for Justice and the Center for American Progress invite you to a panel discussion and a screening of "Supreme Injustices," a provocative short documentary produced by the Alliance for Justice on the first full term of the Roberts Court. Hosted by Emmy award-winner Bradley Whitford, "Supreme Injustices" introduces viewers to Lilly Ledbetter, an Alabama worker whose pay discrimination suit was rejected by a sharply divided Court, and profiles children and parents from the Louisville, Kentucky schools, whose efforts to promote integration were struck down by the Court.

Senator Jack Reed, a former Army paratrooper, has made 11 trips to Iraq, the most of any senator. At the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Sen. Reed will discuss his most recent trip to Iraq, which took place January 17-18, 2008. Senator Reed traveled across Iraq with Special Operations forces and visited the cities of Fallujah, Balad, Baqubah, Basra, and Baghdad, where he met with Generals Petraeus and Odierno as well as Ambassador Crocker.  There will be a question and answer period with the Senator following his speech.

After Senator Reed's speech there will be a lively discussion with author Charles Ferguson on his new book, No End in Sight: Iraq's Descent into Chaos. The book is based on the investigative record from his Oscar-nominated documentary, "No End In Sight," which contains an unprecedented series of interviews with officials and others on the ground in Iraq immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein. It is a shocking story of wholesale incompetence, recklessness, and arrogance.

This event will represent the first in a series of events and analyses by the Center for American Progress examining the course of the war in Iraq and proposing the next steps for U.S. policy. We are now approaching the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq on March 19, as well as the May 1 "Mission Accomplished" speech delivered by President Bush aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Five years down the road, we are still far from ending our involvement in Iraq. The series will include speeches by prominent policymakers and panel discussions on important aspects of Iraq policy and its impact on U.S. national security. The Center will also release updated analyses examining the current policy in Iraq and providing an alternative policy direction.

In her literary debut Party Crashing: How the Hip Hop Generation Declared Political Independence, author and political commentator Keli Goff explores the cultural and political divide between black Americans of the civil rights generation and their children and grandchildren, known collectively as the hip-hop generation. Covering a diverse array of issues from hip-hop, to gay marriage, and the growing Independent voter movement among younger black Americans, Party Crashing is an in-depth look at how generational differences are impacting the 2008 presidential election, and future elections. In addition to conversations with young black voters, Party Crashing also includes interviews with high-profile black Americans including: former Secretary of State Colin Powell, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, Rev. Al Sharpton and many others, along with exclusive survey research on the political attitudes of young black Americans. Please join the Center for American Progress for a provocative discussion with the author of this groundbreaking new book.

On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the Center for American Progress will host a panel discussion to assess the impact of the surge of over 30,000 American troops which took place in 2007. Panelists will analyze the impact of the surge on the security situation in Iraq, its effect on Iraq's political process, the indirect costs of the war, and where the United States should go from here.

They will also discuss the secondary and tertiary reasons behind the recent security improvement, including the Sunni awakening movement, the stand-down of the Mahdi Army by radical cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, and the internal and external displacement of over 5 million Iraqis. With the drawdown of the surge forces already underway, our panel will also consider the effect of the surge on overall U.S. security interests in the Middle East and the indirect costs of the war in Iraq.

In order to maintain over 160,000 troops in Iraq over the last year and a half, the Pentagon has had to introduce 15 month combat tours, instead of the usual 12 month tours. Among the topics the panelists will discuss are the current health of the Army and the toll taken on our servicemen and women and their families.  While the result of the surge has yet to be seen, the impact of the escalation on our military and on our men and women in uniform is already apparent.

The Center for American Progress will host a series of events and produce several analyses in the coming weeks examining the course of the war in Iraq and proposing the next steps for U.S. policy in Iraq. The series will include speeches by prominent policymakers and panel discussions on important aspects of Iraq policy and its effects on U.S. national security. The Center will also release updated analyses examining the current policy in Iraq and providing an alternative direction.

In 2002, before the war in Iraq began, White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey offered an "upper bound" estimate of the cost of the war in Iraq to be $100 to $200 billion. Nearly 4,000 American and between 100,000 and 600,000 Iraqi lives later, the direct cost of the Iraq war is approaching $1 trillion and the total cost may well exceed $3 trillion.

Panelists Linda Bilmes of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and Steve Kosiak, Vice President at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, will discuss both the direct and indirect costs of the war in Iraq. At a time when the American economy is near recession, panelists will also discuss the impact of the war's record financial cost on the American economy.

Sixty-two-year-old Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) is sleepwalking through his life. Having lost his passion for teaching and writing, he fills the void by unsuccessfully trying to learn to play classical piano. When his college sends him to Manhattan to attend a conference, Walter is surprised to find a young couple has taken up residence in his apartment. Victims of a real estate scam, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), a Syrian man, and Zainab (Danai Gurira), his Senegalese girlfriend, have nowhere else to go. In the first of a series of tests of the heart, Walter reluctantly allows the couple to stay with him.

Touched by his kindness, Tarek, a talented musician, insists on teaching the aging academic to play the African drum. The instrument's exuberant rhythms revitalize Walter's faltering spirit and open his eyes to a vibrant world of local jazz clubs and Central Park drum circles. As the friendship between the two men deepens, the differences in culture and temperament fall away.

After being stopped by police in the subway, Tarek is arrested as an undocumented citizen and held for deportation. As his situation turns desperate, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friend with a passion he thought he had long ago lost. When Tarek's beautiful mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) arrives unexpectedly in search of her son, the professor's personal commitment develops into an unlikely romance. It's through these newfound connections with three virtual strangers that Walter is awakened to a new world and a new life.

In this thought-provoking event, Michael Ware and Nir Rosen provide a unique perspective on Iraq from a vantage point possessed by few. Their experiences on the ground will offer audiences the opportunity to hear the realities of the war. The panelists will share valuable insights on Iraq’s contemporary problems and future challenges and discuss threats to maintaining stability in the country. Drawing on countless hours in the field, panelists will examine the effects of the surge on Iraqi civil society, the Iraqi government, the insurgency, and Al Qaeda in Iraq. The fragile political situation and power struggles emanating from within Iraq’s fractured body politic will be also be analyzed from the viewpoints of these two cutting edge journalists who have experienced the war firsthand.

Body of War is an intimate feature documentary about the truth of war today. Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine–wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week.

Body of War is his coming-home story as he evolves into a new person, dealing with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. Body of War is a nakedly honest portrayal of what it's like inside the body, heart, and soul of this young man. The film is produced and directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro and features two original songs written and performed by Eddie Vedder.

Please join us for a provocative Q&A session immediately following the film.

Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow (Wiley; March 2008) introduces readers to people across the country who have actually done this—people in business, politics, health care, farming, religion, and other areas who are taking charge, living their values, doing good, and doing well. Hightower and DeMarco show how they are doing precisely what the elites want us to believe can't be done: changing their lives and making a difference. In this uplifting book, they tell the stories of these people and offer inspiration and information that will help readers tap into their own maverick potential in order to navigate a different, more satisfying course of their own. Please join us for a lively discussion with author Jim Hightower on this groundbreaking new book.

Addressing educational challenges in rural areas is as important as addressing those in urban and some suburban areas if achievement gaps are to be closed in this country. One promising strategy that responds to these challenges is the expansion of learning time for all students attending schools with large concentrations of low-income students. A comprehensive, well-implemented approach to school reform that adds time to school days, weeks, and/or years for all students can result in significant learning gains. But such programs have proven difficult to put into place in rural areas. Join us for a lively discussion and Q&A session on a new paper from the Center for American Progress by Roy Forbes about rural after-school programs and their resource needs, successes, and challenges.

With the impending presidential election and start of a new administration, the time is ripe for a reexamination of key issues in human rights and the role of the United States in the promotion of human rights around the world. This conference promises to provide the signal opportunity to engage in that reflection with major figures in the fields of international relations and human rights as well as politics, journalism, and academia.

This year's Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights is co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress and Georgetown University Law Center. This daylong event will include Secretary Albright's insights into how the United States can best advance human rights and ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo speaking on "The Role of the International Criminal Court in Preventing Mass Atrocities." It will also mark the launch of a new book, The Future of Human Rights: U.S. Policy for a New Era, designed to provide a blueprint for the next President's human rights policies.

The average American will have nine operations before the age of 85. Surgery accounts for half of all hospital admissions and over 40 million inpatient operations per year in the United States. These procedures carry an inherent risk—globally, major surgical complication risks range from 3 to 16 percent, and death rates from 0.2 to 10 percent—yet there is remarkably little effort to discover how to reduce surgery’s high rate of complications, ensure access to surgery, reduce unnecessary surgery, or understand how to make its provision more cost-effective.

Through the Center for Surgery and Public Health, Michael Zinner and Atul Gawande are developing strategies for improving the quality and safety of technological care like surgery, enhancing our understanding of how such care is distributed across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic lines, and charting a path toward expanding nationwide access to higher quality care. Please join us for an engaging presentation and a lively discussion of the policy dimensions of their important work.

Taking us from the corporate boardrooms of America's most powerful companies to a dinner meeting with Russia's most notorious oligarch, from the secretive meetings of the Trilateral Commission and the Bohemian Grove to China's upstart Boao Forum for Asia, David Rothkopf draws back the curtain on a privileged society that most of us know little about, even though it profoundly affects our everyday lives. This is the first in-depth examination of the connections between the global communities of leaders who are at the helm of every major enterprise on the planet and control its greatest wealth. And it is an unprecedented look at the trends within the superclass, which are likely to alter our politics, our institutions, and the shape of the world in which we live. Please join the Center for American Progress for a provocative discussion with the author on this groundbreaking new book.

In 2006, New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau won the Pulitzer Prize for his “carefully sourced stories on secret domestic eavesdropping.” Now, Lichtblau delves deeper into the legal machinations of the Bush Justice Department in his new book, Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice. In this book, Lichtblau details the measures taken by the Bush administration to circumvent the legal and constitutional limitations on the power of the executive branch to conduct electronic surveillance and engage in other activities related to the "war on terror." Lichtblau also describes the means by which he and other investigative reporters ultimately got the story, and the lengths to which the administration went to prevent the truth from coming to light.

On April 22, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will participate in an international conference in Kuwait to advance efforts to provide Iraq with economic, political, and diplomatic support. On the eve of this conference,  Middle East Progress at the Center for American Progress will host a panel discussion examining the full range of diplomatic and political tools available to achieve progress in Iraq. The panelists will offer analysis on recent regional and international diplomatic efforts to support Iraq and determine what more can and should be done to achieve a "diplomatic surge" in the country.

Today's dialogue in medical journals and the mainstream press on health disparities in American society increasingly focuses on individuals' genetic predispositions to disease. More and more, race is interjected into this dialogue as scientists link genes of certain racial groups to medical conditions while pharmaceutical companies increasingly seek to medicate those conditions. Unfortunately, during this process the focus on reducing and preventing racial health disparities – which in large part can be attributed to social determinants – becomes obscured. The Center for American Progress and Generations Ahead will explore these trends and their implications for addressing racial health disparities by hosting a public dialogue with Meredith King, Dorothy Roberts, and Mildred Thompson.

Body of War is an intimate feature documentary about the truth of war today. Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine–wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week. Body of War is his coming-home story as he evolves into a new person, dealing with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. Body of War is a nakedly honest portrayal of what it's like inside the body, heart, and soul of this young man. The film is produced and directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro and features two original songs written and performed by Eddie Vedder.

Teacher quality is critical to the success of all other education improvement efforts, which is why forward-thinking education reformers are so focused on reforming teacher certification standards to boost quality. One approach to meeting the challenges of teacher quality and supply is developing alternative routes to teacher certification. Since many traditional, university-based programs are not adequately preparing teachers, particularly for hard-to-staff schools and subjects such as math and science, alternative programs are needed that try new and innovative approaches, rather than mimic traditional approaches. Join us for a lively discussion of a new paper by Davida Gatlin from the Center for American Progress that describes some of the more innovative models for alternative teacher certification programs and offers recommendations for state policy to encourage their growth.

Existing federal environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act are increasingly recognized as providing the authority for immediate action on climate change. The Center for American Progress welcomes a panel that will extend this discussion to the role of the National Environmental Policy Act, which was established in 1969 to provide a systematic, interdisciplinary approach that ensured the integrated use of natural and social sciences in planning and decision making. Please join us for an important and timely discussion about the application of existing federal authorities to address global warming, including a proposed executive order requiring assessment and disclosure under NEPA.

In his new book, The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker, Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times takes a fresh, probing, and often shocking look at the stresses and strains faced by tens of millions of American workers as wages have stagnated, health and pension benefits have grown stingier, and job security has shriveled. Greenhouse goes behind the scenes to tell the stories of software engineers in Seattle, hotel housekeepers in Chicago, call center workers in New York, and janitors in Houston, as he explores why, in the world's most affluent nation, so many corporations are intent on squeezing their workers dry. Please join CAP Senior Fellow Gene Sperling for an informative and lively discussion on the shrinking and stressed American middle class with Greenhouse, Stewart Acuff of the AFL-CIO, Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal, and Ruy Teixeira of CAP and the Century Foundation.

More than five years after the United States' invasion of Iraq and well over six years after the beginning of combat operations in Afghanistan, the United States faces numerous challenges to its national security interests in the greater Middle East and significant hurdles in dealing with other diplomatic and humanitarian crises around the world. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), a distinguished member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, will discuss these issues and take questions from members of the working press. Hagel is the author of America: Our Next Chapter, a straight forward examination of the current state of our nation that provides substantial proposals for the challenges of the 21st century.

American Progresss is pleased to present the Third Annual Progressive Party, an evening of celebration in support of our work and our mission. When: Thursday, May 8, 2008 at The Newseum in Washington, DC.

Made in America, a selection for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the rise of the Crips and Bloods, tracing the origins of their bloody four-decades long feud, and setting up the introduction of a cast of contemporary gang members whose street-level testimony provides the film with a stark portrait of modern-day gang life: the turf wars and territorialism, the inter-gang hierarchy and family structure, the rules of behavior, the culture of guns, death and dishonor.

More than a simple account, perspective is an essential element of Made in America. Throughout the film ex-gang members, gang intervention experts, writers, activists and academics analyze many of the salient issues that contribute to South LA's malaise: the erosion of identity that fuels the self-perpetuating legacy of black self-hatred, the disappearance of the African-American father and an almost pervasive prison culture in which today one out of every four black men will be imprisoned at some point in his life.

Please join us for a provocative Q&A session immediately following the film.

Public support for long-term care services is predominantly provided through the Medicaid program, which has historically financed nursing home care rather than services in homes and other community settings. Yet over the last decade, state Medicaid programs have worked to expand home and community-based long term care programs. States and community-level providers have also pioneered new approaches to delivering long-term care services, such as consumer-directed personal care services and radical reforms of nursing home-level services.

How can this progress be sustained and encouraged, especially through federal policy? Which state approaches offer the most promise for reducing the persistent institutional bias in our long-term care system? What can states do on their own to continue innovating? What roles do consumers and other stakeholders play?

In his eye-opening new book, Doubt Is Their Product, David Michaels reveals how the tobacco industry's duplicitous tactics spawned a multimillion dollar industry that is dismantling public health safeguards. Industry executives, he argues, have hired unscrupulous scientists and lobbyists to skew the scientific literature, manufacture and magnify scientific uncertainty, and influence policy decisions to the advantage of polluters and the manufacturers of dangerous products. In doing so, they have delayed action on specific hazards—including global warming, asbestos, lead, plastics, and many other toxic materials—and constructed barriers to make it harder for lawmakers, government agencies, and courts to respond to future threats. 

Please join the Center for American Progress for a presentation by David Michaels on industry's assault on science and the consequences for public health.

Next year, America has a chance not only to inaugurate a new president, but also to welcome a new progressivism. It's a chance not just to repair the damage of the Bush years or to put in place long overdue items from the progressive agenda, but to put forward big, bold ideas that can respond to the very specific and new challenges of our times. In its spring issue, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas presented 20 of these new ideas. Join us as we explore some of these ideas in depth, and debate the contours of the new progressive agenda.

Much like the "digital divide," the ID Divide is an easily overlooked but vital reality that affects many in our country. Over 20 million adult citizens lack government-issued photo ID, while victims of identity theft and those put on watch lists also fall on the wrong side of the divide. Several identification issues are addressed in a major new report by the Center for American Progress' Cassandra Butts and Peter Swire entitled, "The ID Divide: Addressing Problems of Identification and Authentication in American Society." The report stems from the Progressive Identity Project, which included experts in the areas affected by identification issues. Please join the Center for American Progress for a special event to discuss the report and its implications.

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was intended to provide additional spending for states and school districts to meet the needs of low-income children. But the intent hasn’t always been met. A comparability provision—intended to ensure that federal funds are added to an already-level playing field of state and local funding for schools—has been ineffective and enforced inconsistently. Join us for a conference that will explore these issues and focus on ways to improve comparability requirements to ensure equitable spending practices within school districts. We will also consider how these changes can be enforced and implemented, and what technical assistance is needed to spur fairer spending practices that result in improvements in instruction for students in high-poverty schools.

Science and technology underpin the success of American progressivism and American progress. Innovation and information technology are the strongest drivers of economic growth. Advances in medical research help us live longer and healthier lives. Expanding existing technologies and forging ahead with renewable energy solutions will lead us to a low-carbon economy. Breakthroughs in nearly every field of science and engineering contribute to our national security. Science creates a safer and more equitable future for everyone.

In October, the Center for American Progress launched Science Progress, a web magazine about science and technology policy that supports the common good. Join us as we expand our reach with the release of our first print edition. Experts from the academic and policy worlds will discuss the future of U.S. leadership in renewable energy, genetic medicine, and basic research. This won’t be your ordinary event—we’ll begin with a “science fair” where guests and panelists can talk candidly about the state of these timely issues.

The media has begun focusing of late on the appeal of various candiates to white, working-class voters. But how deep does this newfound interest in these workers go? A unique new quantitative study by the Center for American Progress finds that the media ignores ordinary workers and instead covers economic issues from the perspective of business. "Journalists Give Workers the Business" raises serious questions about whether the media is fairly covering economic issues, living up to its own standards, and properly serving democracy.

A panel of experienced economic journalists, a labor leader, and the study's author will discuss how the media cover the economy and whether anything could change during this election cycle. It will examine why coverage has been skewed and the impact of this portrayal of our economy as a world without workers.

Copies of State of the Unions will be available for purchase at the event.

When is religious engagement in public policy a healthy aspect of democracy and when does it threaten the separation of church and state? Is there too much "God talk" in the public square? How should we incorporate diverse religious identities into our common civic life?

Contrasting views about the role of religion in American democracy have been heating up in recent years. Shedding light on the debate is a new collection of essays, Debating the Divine: Religion in 21st Century American Democracy. Its authors—leading thinkers and scholars—offer provocative, thoughtful views on the role of faith in public life within a diverse society. They tackle honest disagreements and find common ground.

Please join several of the book's authors for a lively discussion of religion in our democracy, moderated by E.J. Dionne.

Percy Shelley said that poetry, also known as critical reflections upon popular culture, was a touchstone and an influencing agent for understanding and advocating for current issues. E. Ethelbert Miller, David Gewanter, and Naomi Ayala have each written poems in this spirit. It is a gender- and culturally diverse voice that will sound out to the audience messages of progressive change at the level both of policy but more importantly of worldview.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion on the influence of poetry on the progressive movement.

Copies of Wild Animals on the Moon, Sleep of Reason, and How We Sleep on the Nights We Don't Make Love will be available for purchase.

"REBORN" chronicles the first official year of public school in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The centerpiece is the charter school movement's effort to radically transform education for the city's mostly African-American public school children, many of whom would still be attending some of the worst-performing schools in the nation. In post-Katrina New Orleans, principals and teachers are now readjusting to a wholly new educational model; likewise, families and communities are responding to the new responsibilities that come with finding their voices in the ways their children are educated.

During this crucial period, one question remains: How will stakeholders use their newfound power? Shot between July 2006 and June 2007, "REBORN" tracks the hopes and challenges of four public charter schools in New Orleans.

***Due to seating restrictions, we will be unable to accommodate additional registrants. We apologize for the inconvenience.***

"Swing Vote" follows the story of Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner), an apathetic, beer-slinging, lovable loser who is coasting through a life that has passed him by. The one bright spot is his precocious, overachieving 12 year-old daughter, Molly. She takes care of both of them until one mischievous moment on Election Day, when she accidentally sets off a chain of events which culminates in the election coming down to one vote—her dad's.

"Swing Vote" is a comical look at the journey of one father and daughter who discover that everyone has the power to change the world.

The United States is seeing an increase in its aging population as the Baby Boomers reach retirement age. Whether or not families retire in dignity instead of working in their golden years will largely depend on the leadership the next president will show on private retirement savings.

Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion on retirement income challenges and specific policy solutions. Tom Mackell Jr., author of When the Good Pensions Go Away, will present the results of his research. After his description of the challenges that policymakers will face in the coming years, a panel of experts will discuss a range of policy options from building savings outside of retirement wealth to vastly improving retirement savings plans and strengthening traditional defined benefit plans.

In this impassioned and persuasive book, Bill Ivey, the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, assesses the current state of the arts in America and finds cause for alarm. Even as he celebrates our ever-emerging culture and the way it enriches our lives here at home while spreading the dream of democracy around the world, he points to a looming crisis. The expanding footprint of copyright, an unconstrained arts industry marketplace, and a government unwilling to engage culture as a serious arena for public policy have come together to undermine art, artistry, and cultural heritage-the expressive life of America. Ivey blends personal and professional memoir and policy analysis -including a proposal for a new central authority, a Department of Cultural Affairs, dedicated to reclaiming a coordinated vision for art, culture, and expression in American life. Please join the Center for American Progress for this thought-provoking discussion as we explore the importance of art and preserving a cultural heritage for all Americans.