139 The Bush administration also told the public: Andrew Natsios, Nightline, 1 Oct. 2003, www.abcnews.com.
140 To say the administration massively underestimated: James Glanz and T. Christian Miller, “Official History Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders,” 13 Dec. 2008, www.nytimes.com.
141 The New York Times described our reconstruction efforts: Ibid.
142 In late 2002, Charles Prince was put in charge: Eric Dash and Julie Creswell, “Citigroup Saw No Red Flags Even as It Made Bolder Bets,” 22 Nov. 2008, www.nytimes.com.
143 The banking giant was already knee-deep: Ibid.
144 According to a former Citigroup executive: Ibid.
145 “I’ve thought a lot about that,” Rubin said: Ibid.
146 Former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines: Marcus Baram, “Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Hearing,” 9 Dec. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.
147 We saw a familiar insistence on ignoring all warnings: Diana B. Henriques and Alex Berenson, “The 17th Floor, Where Wealth Went to Vanish,” 14 Dec. 2008, www.nytimes.com.
148 Well, financial fraud investigator Harry Markopolos, for one: Gregory Zuckerman, “Fees, Even Returns and Auditor All Raised Flags,” 13 Dec. 2008, www.wsj.com.
149 In the wake of 9/11, Condoleezza Rice assured us: Dan Collins, “ ’99 Report Warned of Suicide Hijacking,” Associated Press, 17 May 2002.
150 Except, of course, the 1999 government report: Ibid.
151 After Katrina, the Bush White House read: Joby Warrick, “White House Got Early Warning on Katrina,” 24 Jan. 2006, www.washingtonpost.com.
152 Then there is the high priest of “Who Could Have Known?”: Neil Irwin and Amit R. Paley, “Greenspan Says He Was Wrong on Regulation,” 24 Oct. 2008, www.washingtonpost.com.
PART 5: SAVING OURSELVES FROM A THIRD WORLD FUTURE
1 But just three years later, as John Kao points out: John Kao, Innovation Nation (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), 4.
2 We had a similar reaction to the Soviets’ launch of Sputnik: Ibid., 6.
3 President Obama captured this essential part: Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President on the ‘Education to Innovate’ Campaign,” 23 Nov. 2009, www.whitehouse.gov.
4 America is rich with resources: Thomas Friedman, “Advice from Grandma,” 21 Nov. 2009, www.nytimes.com.
5 “You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps”: Frederick Lewis Schuman and George D. Brodsky, Design For Power: The Struggle For the World (New York: A.A. Knopf, 1942), 200.
6 Instead, we have to reconnect with: Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President on the ‘Education to Innovate’ Campaign,” 23 Nov. 2009, www.whitehouse.gov.
7 Among those working to make this happen: Fix Congress First!, www.fixcongressfirst.org.
8 “We must,” says Lessig: Lawrence Lessig, “Why I’m Calling for a Constitutional Amendment,” 27 Jan. 2010, www.fixcongressfirst.org.
9 As the Fix Congress First! founders put it: Fix Congress First!, www.fixcongressfirst.org.
10 In March 2010, on his seventy-first birthday: Ted Kaufman, “The Rule of Law and Wall Street,” 15 Mar. 2010, www.kaufman.senate.gov.
11 “Sunlight,” Justice Louis Brandeis famously said: Louis D. Brandeis, Other People’s Money—and How Bankers Use It (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1914), 92.
12 A great early iteration of this: John Brewer, “Sunlight on Health Care Summit,” 25 Feb. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
13 He describes Government 2.0 as: Tim O’Reilly, “Gov 2.0: It’s All About the Platform,” 4 Sep. 2009, techcrunch.com.
14 Many of the most interesting experiments: Betsy Kraat, “Mayor Cory Booker Serves as Keynote Speaker for Social Media Conference,” 31 Mar. 2010, www.njand.com.
15 We are reminded on a daily basis: Tim O’ Reilly, “Gov 2.0: The Promise of Innovation,” 10 Aug. 2009, www.forbes.com.
16 Teacher effectiveness is the single most: William L. Sanders and June C. Rivers, “Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on Future Student Academic Achievement,” University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center, Nov. 1996, www.mccsc.edu.
17 And cash-strapped states inevitably: Pauline Vu, “Do State Tests Make the Grade?” 17 Jan. 2008, www.stateline.org.
18 In January 2010, during his State of the Union: Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, 27 Jan. 2010, www.whitehouse.gov.
19 But we need to move beyond the lofty rhetoric: Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization,” Table A-15, 7 May 2010, www.bls.gov.
20 Since August 2008, more than 150,000 state and local jobs: “How Not to Write a Jobs Bill,” 11 Feb. 2010, www.nytimes.com.
21 states’ combined budget gap for fiscal 2010: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “An Update on State Budget Cuts,” 19 Apr. 2010, www.cbpp.org.
22 which would, in turn, lead to the loss of another 900,000 jobs next year: Ibid.
23 This is why the Economic Policy Institute (EPI): Economic Policy Institute, “American Jobs Plan: A Five-Point Plan to Stem the U.S. Jobs Crisis,” Dec. 2009, www.epi.org.
24 “The federal government could provide jobs by …”: Paul Krugman, “The Jobs Imperative,” 29 Nov. 2009, www.nytimes.com.
25 In fact, the EPI estimates that one million jobs: Economic Policy Institute, “American Jobs Plan: A Five-Point Plan to Stem the U.S. Jobs Crisis,” Dec. 2009, www.epi.org.
26 This approach is also favored by Princeton’s Alan Blinder: Alan Blinder, “How Washington Can Create Jobs,” 15 Nov. 2009, www.wsj.com.
27 One way to finance the massive rebuilding: Josh Voorhees, “White House Budget Seeks $4B for Transportation Infrastructure Bank,” 1 Feb. 2010, www.nytimes.com.
28 Modeled after the European Investment Bank: “About the EIB,” European Investment Bank, www.eib.org.
29 An investment of $25 billion in government funds: Testimony of Rosa L. DeLauro on the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act, Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, 13 May 2010, www.waysandmeans.house.gov.
30 That won’t cover the $2.2 trillion needed: American Society of Civil Engineers, 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, www.infrastructurereportcard.org.
31 Washington needs to get its act together: United States Senate, 110th Cong., 1st Sess., S. 1926, introduced 1 Aug. 2007, www.gpo.gov.
32 To take just one example, as the rest of the economy: John Collins Rudolf, “Renewables Industry Promotes Its Potential,” 10 Feb. 2010, www.nytimes.com.
33 The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates: Solar Energy Industries Association, “New Study: Solar Industry Poised to Create 200,000 Jobs with Key Tax Policies,” 19 May 2010, www.seia.org.
34 Another way of promoting the green economy: John D. Podesta and Karen Kornbluh, “The Green Bank: Financing the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy Requires Targeted Financing to Encourage Private-Sector Participation,” 21 May 2009, www.americanprogress.org.
35 Reed Hundt, the Federal Communications Commission chair: Reed Hundt, in conversation with the author, 20 Mar. 2010.
36 According to Hundt, a green bank would create: Reed Hundt, www.coalitionforgreencapital.com.
37 According to a May 2010 report by the Congressional Oversight Panel: Congressional Oversight Panel, “May Oversight Report: The Small Business Credit Crunch and the Impact of the TARP,” 13 May 2010, www.cop.senate.gov.
38 Even more important than helping small businesses: Barbara Kiviat, “The Workforce: Where Will the New Jobs Come From?” 19 Mar. 2010, www.time.com.
39 Right now, the United States has an immigration limit: Jonathan Ortmans, “In the National Interest: High-Skill Immigration Reform,” 31 Aug. 2009, www.entrepreneurship.org.
40 The people behind StartupVisa.com: Douglas MacMillan, “Visas for Foreign Entrepreneurs,” 11 Mar. 2010, www.businessweek.com.
41 Our current law allows foreign investors to get a visa: Brad Feld, “StartUp Visa Act Introduced by Senators Kerry and Lugar,” 24 Feb. 2010, www.busi
nessinsider.com.
42 The proposal, the StartUp Visa Act of 2010: John Kerry and Dick Lugar, “Visa for Start-ups Will Keep Innovation and Jobs in the U.S,” 18 Mar. 2010, www.mercurynews.com.
43 As Kerry put it, “This bill is a small …”: Douglas MacMillan, “Visas for Foreign Entrepreneurs,” 11 Mar. 2010, www.businessweek.com.
44 But they never seem to have the same reaction: Office of Management and Budget, Updated Summary Tables, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2010, May 2009, www.whitehouse.gov.
45 when it’s time to sign the next check: Anne Gearan and Anne Flaherty, “War Cost: Obama Wants $33 Billion More for Afghanistan, Iraq,” 12 Jan. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
46 A perfect example of this came: Stephen Ohlemacher and Andrew Taylor, “Senate OKs War Funding; House to Cut Spending Bill,” Associated Press, 28 May 2010.
47 For example, we are planning: Office of the Undersecretary of Defense, Program Acquisition Costs by Weapons System, 1 Feb. 2010, http://comptroller.defense.gov.
48 For the same amount: National Priorities Project, “Federal Budget Trade-Offs,” www.nationalpriorities.org.
49 Representative Barney Frank suggests a good place: Barney Frank, in conversation with the author, 21 Feb. 2010.
50 Targeting Defense Department waste: Sam Stein, “Obama Deficit Commission Member Calls for Pentagon Audit,” 26 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
51 Not exactly the description you want to hear: Office of Management and Budget, Updated Summary Tables, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2010, May 2009, www.whitehouse.gov.
52 Even after cutting billions, defense spending: Lawrence J. Korb, “Ten Myths About the Defense Budget,” 2 Apr. 2001, www.inthesetimes.com.
53 America cannot survive as “a muscle-bound …”: Robert Gates, speech at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas, 8 May 2010, www.defense.gov.
54 Cramdown legislation, facing intense opposition: Arthur Delaney, “Durbin Considers Cramdown-Related Amendment as Part of Wall Street Reform,” 17 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
55 Some, including Bank of America and Citigroup: Shahien Nasiripour, “Bank of America Now Supports Cramdown, Giving Judges Authority to Modify Home Mortgages,” 13 Apr. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
56 We should also make it mandatory that homeowners and lenders: Arlen Specter, “Nation’s Economic Repairs Must Include Homeowners,” 24 Oct. 2008, www.philly.com/inquirer.
57 Currently, many homeowners don’t even talk: Margo Irvin, “Homeowners Seeking ‘Making Home Afforable’ Loan Modifications Frustrated by Inefficiency,” 22 Jun. 2009, www.huffingtonpost.com.
58 “I’ve been to the City Hall courtroom where the mediation …”: Bob Casey, in conversation with the author, 16 Feb. 2009.
59 Judge Annette Rizzo, who has been working hard: Dan Geringer, “The Miracle of Courtroom 676: Saving Lives, One Address at a Time,” 28 Jan. 2009, www.philly.com/dailynews.
60 The foreclosure prevention program has worked: Ibid.
61 Until we do, we’ll need to rely on officials: Michael Powell, “A ‘Little Judge’ Who Rejects Foreclosures, Brooklyn Style,” 30 Aug. 2009, www.nytimes.com.
62 For example, the new law still allows promotional teaser: Max Alexander, “Credit Card Tricks and Traps,” Mar. 2010, www.readersdigest.com.
63 As Elizabeth Warren sees it: “That’s exactly …”: “Elizabeth Warren on Credit Card ‘Tricks and Traps,’ ” NOW, 2 Jan. 2009, www.pbs.org.
64 According to the new law, the credit card issuer: Max Alexander, “Credit Card Tricks and Traps,” Mar. 2010, www.readersdigest.com.
65 Because fees account for 39 percent: Ibid.
66 And the new law doesn’t prevent: Ibid.
67 Senator Bernie Sanders, whose attempts at capping: Jeff Plungis, “Senate Nears Completing Credit Card Bill, Blocks 15% Rate Cap,” 14 May 2009, www.bloomberg.com.
68 Aristotle called usury the “sordid love of gain”: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (Minneapolis: Filiquarian, 2007), 87.
69 Thomas Aquinas said it was “contrary to justice”: St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trans. by Fathers of the English Dominican Province (London: R. T. Washburne, Ltd., 1918), 330.
70 In The Divine Comedy, Dante assigned: Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Hell, Purgatory, Paradise, trans. by Henry F. Cary (New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14), 49.
71 Right after President Obama’s election, Rahm Emanuel famously declared: Jeff Zeleny, “Obama Weighs Quick Undoing of Bush Policy,” 9 Nov. 2010, www.nytimes.com.
72 Even Alan Greenspan, the oracle of free markets: Council on Foreign Relations, “Peter McColough Series on International Economics: The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences,” transcript, 15 Oct. 2009, www.cfr.org.
73 Discussing the economic crisis, Michael Lynton: Michael Lynton, in conversation with the author, 31 Jan. 2009.
74 The answer was no. Likewise: PBS NewsHour, “Greenspan Admits ‘Flaw’ to Congress, Predicts More Economic Problems,” 23 Oct. 2008, www.pbs.org.
75 In 1967, speaking at: Robert F. Kennedy, campaign speech at University of Kansas, 18 Mar. 1967, www.jfklibrary.org.
76 As Justice Potter Stewart wrote of the Pentagon Papers: New York Times Co. v. United States, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 1873, Stewart, J., Concurring Opinion (1971).
77 The media is also addicted: Peal Time with Bill Maher, HBO, 7 Mar. 2008, www.hbo.com.
78 What if we could repurpose some of that concern: The National Center on Family Homelessness, “America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness,” 2009, www.homelesschildrenamerica.org.
79 or the 51 percent of homeless children who are under the age of six: Ibid.
80 How about some attention to the 75 to 100 percent increase: Erik Eckholm, “Surge in Homeless Pupils Strains Schools,” 5 Sept. 2009, www.nytimes.com.
81 Or the 14 million American children living in poverty: Vanessa R. Wight, Michelle Chau, and Yumiko Aratani, “Who Are America’s Poor Children? The Official Story,” National Center for Children in Poverty, Jan. 2010, www.nccp.org.
82 “People work for justice …”: Paul Loeb, “ ‘Soul of a Citizen’: Stories of Impact Will Push Us to Fix the Oil Spill, Homelessness, and Other Big Problems,” 27 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
83 Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local”: Tip O’Neill and Gary Hymel, All Politics Is Local, and Other Rules of the Game (Holbrook: Bob Adams Inc., 1994), xii.
84 The concept was simple: If enough people who had money: Colin Barr, “Big Banks Mint Money Again: $18.7 Billion,” 21 Apr. 2010, www.money.cnn.com.
85 And since deposit insurance at small banks: Kara McGuire, “ ‘Move your Money’ Campaign Wants to Sock It to Big Banks,” 14 Mar. 2010, www.startribune.com.
86 We launched the Move Your Money campaign: Ibid.
87 Bill Maher compared moving your money to ending: Bill Maher, “Stop the Abuse: It’s Time to Break Up with Your Big Bank,” 13 Jan. 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
88 About 2 million people, in every region: Dennis Santiago, “For Bigger Banks, Deposits Remain Sticky,” 10 May 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com.
89 One of them, H. Lee Grove, wrote: Comment by H. Lee Grove in the Huffington Post, 7 Jan. 2010.
90 Consumer credit unions are not owned by shareholders: Bob Trebilcock, “Bye, Bye, Banks: Time to Join a Credit Union,” CBS Money Watch, 12 Jan. 2010, www.bnet.com.
91 Since their goal is not to maximize short-term profit: Péralte C. Paul, “Credit Unions Fare Better in Banking Downturn,” 14 May 2010, www.ajc.com.
92 Nearly ninety million Americans belong to credit unions: John Hielscher, “Region’s Credit Unions Weather Downturn,” 31 May 2010, www.heraldtribune.com.
93 Around 70 percent of credit union mortgages: Frank Michael, testimony before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, 8 Jul. 2009, www.banking.senate.gov.
95 “A credit union saved me from Bank of America”: Joe McKesson, in response to a Facebook and Twitter request from the author, spring 2009.
96 “All I can say is that nothing beats the personal …”: Consuelo Flores, in response to a Facebook and Twitter request from the author, spring 2009.
97 Deborah Bohn’s nineteen-year-old daughter: Deborah Bohn, in response to a Facebook and Twitter request from the author, spring 2009.
98 20 percent of households can afford: “Hello Wallet: Our Story,” www.hellowallet.com.
99 Witness HelloWallet.com, a start-up: Keith Epstein. “Will HelloWallet Transform Online Financial Advice?” 29 Sep. 2009, www.businessweek.com.
100 The site will automatically find: www.hellowallet.com.
101 Best of all, the site is: “HelloWallet: We make banks work for you,” www.hellowallet.com.
102 Another good online tool is: Virginia Heffernan, “Home Economics,” 21 May 2009, www.nytimes.com.
103 And it’s important to keep track of your credit report: Liz Pulliam Weston, “Raise Your Credit Score to 740,” 10 Mar. 2010, www.moneycentral.msn.com.
104 In April 2010, President Obama issued a proclamation: Barack Obama, presidential proclamation on Financial Literacy Month, 2 Apr. 2010, www.whitehouse.gov.
105 I was reading Consumer Reports and came across: “The New Money Rules,” May 2009, www.consumerreports.org.
106 Or, as Suze Orman puts it, “No Blame, No Shame …”: Suze Orman, “Suze Orman’s 10 Tips for a Fresh Financial Start,” 16 Dec. 2008, www.oprah.com.
107 Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté: Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté, The Resilience Factor (New York: Broadway Books, 2002), 1, 3–4.
108 Dominique Browning, who lost her job as editor in chief: Dominique Browning, “Losing It,” 22 Mar. 2010, www.nytimes.com.
109 Indeed, after being fired she went through: Dominique Browning, Slow Love (New York: Atlas, 2010), 148.
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