Bipartisan Policy Center
Encyclopedia
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a non-profit organization that "drives principled solutions through rigorous analysis, reasoned negotiation, and respectful dialogue." Founded in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker
, Tom Daschle
, Bob Dole
, and George Mitchell
, "BPC combines politically-balanced policymaking with strong, proactive advocacy and outreach.
BPC currently has projects focused on economic policy, energy, health care and nutrition, housing, national security, and transportation. Actively promoting bipartisanship, BPC regularly convenes events like Bridge-Builder Breakfasts, political summits, and policy discussions to foster an ongoing conversation about how to overcome political divides.
Jason Grumet serves as president of BPC. Prior to helping found the organization in 2007, Grumet directed the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP). He was also an adviser on energy and the environment for the 2008 presidential campaign of then-Senator Barack Obama
.
NCEP’s work helped break through the impasse on the nation’s energy policy, which led to Congress passing major energy legislation in 2005 and 2007. BPC was created to build on NCEP’s success and apply its unique approach of policy development and advocacy to different policy areas. Initially, NCEP’s established reputation in the energy community, combined with credibility of BPC’s founders, helped raise BPC’s public profile.
On June 17, 2009, BPC's Leaders' Project on the State of American Health Care (now an inactive project) released Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System The report, which came at the height of the health care reform debate in the United States
, laid out plans to help states establish insurance exchanges and lower costs. Former Senate Majority Leaders and BPC Co-Founders Howard Baker
, Tom Daschle
, and Bob Dole
crafted the report.
On February 16, 2010, BPC hosted Cyber ShockWave, a simulated cyber attack on the United States. The simulation, which was moderated by Wolf Blitzer
and broadcast as a special on CNN
, provided a look at how the government would respond to a large-scale cyber crisis affecting much of the nation. The simulation was created by former CIA Director General Michael Hayden (general) and BPC’s National Security Preparedness Group, led by the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission
, Governor Thomas Kean
and Congressman Lee H. Hamilton
.
Former senior administration officials and national security experts participating in the event included: Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
as National Security Advisor; Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte
as Secretary of State; White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend as Secretary of Homeland Security; Director of Central Intelligence John E. McLaughlin
as Director of National Intelligence; Senator Bennett Johnston as Secretary of Energy; Director of the National Economic Council Stephen Friedman (PFIAB)
as Secretary of Treasury; Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick
as Attorney General, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart
as Counselor to the President; General Counsel of the National Security Agency Stewart Baker
as Cyber Coordinator; and Deputy Commander U.S. European Command Charles F. Wald
as Secretary of Defense. BPC released a report summarizing the findings and recommendations from the simulation.
On June 16, 2010, in conjunction with the United States Association of Former Members of Congress
, BPC hosted a day-long conference entitled, Breaking the Stalemate: Renewing a Bipartisan Dialogue, at the National Archives. Participants included Senator Ron Wyden
, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
, BPC Senior Fellow and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
, former Speaker of the House Tom Foley
, former Minority Leader Bob Michel, and former Representative Martin Frost
.
On November 17, 2010, BPC's Debt Reduction Task Force released its report, Restoring America's Future, in an effort to influence the debate over the national debt. The Task Force, led by former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici
and former White House Budget Director and Federal Reserve Vice Chair Alice Rivlin
, was a bipartisan group of former White House and Cabinet officials, Senate and House members, governors and mayors, and business and labor leaders. Their report was released two weeks prior to that of President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
.
On May 11, 2011, former President of Colombia
Álvaro Uribe
spoke at BPC during an event to release a new report, Stabilizing Fragile States, by BPC's National Security Project. He highlighted his administration’s efforts to reform the country’s security services to combat extremist groups and gain the trust of the citizenry.
On May 23, 2011, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer
called for a balanced approach to deficit reduction in a speech at BPC. Hoyer said that both the White House's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
and BPC's Debt Reduction Task Force “place a high priority on fairness, and strike a...more even balance between cutting spending and raising revenue.”
On October 26, 2011, BPC launched the Housing Commission, a bipartisan effort led by Kit Bond
, Henry Cisneros
, Mel Martinez
, and George J. Mitchell
. The Commission will draft recommendations to reform the nation’s housing policy, including views on the most effective role of the federal government in helping to shape the nation’s future housing landscape.
, and BPC Visiting Scholar Jerome H. Powell, former under secretary of the Treasury for finance under President George H.W. Bush.
In April 2011, EPP released a federal budget enforcement mechanism called Save-as-you-Go or SAVEGO. The plan is modeled on various legislative efforts of the 1980s and 1990s, including PAYGO
, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act
, and the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990
. SAVEGO garnered significant media attention and support from Senator Chris Coons, among other legislators.
In June 2011, amid ongoing negotiations on a debt reduction deal between Congress and the White House, EPP released their Debt Limit Analysis, which provided a look at the consequences of a delay in raising the debt ceiling and the economic uncertainty that would ensue if the United States Department of the Treasury
was forced to prioritize spending. BPC's analysis revealed that at some point in early August 2011, unless the debt ceiling was raised, the federal government would have been unable to meet all of its spending obligations. After that date, federal spending would have been reduced by as much as 44% for the remainder of August. Many media outlets, including USA Today
, The Wall Street Journal
, The Washington Post
, NPR
, The Los Angeles Times, and MSNBC
, cited the analysis in news and opinion articles.
and Alice Rivlin
. The Task Force's members were Robert Bixby
of the Concord Coalition, former Michigan Governor James Blanchard
, former Chief of Staff to Bob Dole
and Secretary of the Senate Sheila Burke, Leonard Burman of the Urban Institute
and the Tax Policy Center
, Deloitte Vice Chairman Robert N. Campbell III, former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Henry Cisneros
, former United States Secretary of Commerce
Carlos Gutierrez
, former staff director of the Senate Budget Committee G. William Hoagland, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating
, Karen Kerrigan of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, Maya MacGuineas
of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
, Donald B. Marron Jr.
of the Tax Policy Center
, former president of the American Federation of Teachers
Edward J. McElroy
, Joe Minarik of the Committee for Economic Development
, former National Urban League
president and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial
, former AARP
CEO William D. Novelli, and former Washington, D.C.
Mayor Anthony A. Williams
.
The plan reduces and stabilizes the debt at 60 percent of the economy, freezes discretionary spending, ends tax deductions, and raises new taxes. Federal tax revenue would rise to 23.1 percent of GDP by 2035 and the tax code would be simplified to two brackets, with rates of 15 and 27 percent. The plan proposes a 6.5 percent "debt reduction sales tax." Defense spending would shrink to 2.4 percent of GDP and spending on health and Social Security programs would be held at 15.4 percent of GDP in 2035. The plan maintains the traditional Medicare
program and introduces a market-based premium support alternative. Senator Lamar Alexander
endorsed BPC's plan.
BPC published a side-by-side chart comparing their Debt Reduction Task Force plan to the respective plans of President Obama, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan
, and the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
led by Erskine Bowles
and Alan Simpson
.
The Energy Project was launched in April 2011. The project is led by Co-Chairs Byron Dorgan
, James L. Jones
, Trent Lott, and William K. Reilly
. Margot Anderson, previously of the United States Department of Energy
, serves as project director. The Energy Project, which evolved from the structure of the National Commission on Energy Policy, focuses on energy security, supply, reliability, cost and sustainability. The project's membership includes leading energy industry CEOs, top NGO and labor officials, and senior former political figures from both major parties.
The project is divided into three initiatives: the Energy and Environment Initiative, the Energy Innovation Initiative, and the Energy Security Initiative.
The Energy and Environment Initiative convenes working groups of stakeholders to consider a range of legislative and regulatory issues. Key issues include the role of FERC in supporting a clean, reliable electric system, forthcoming U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, federal clean energy standards, and energy efficiency policies and programs.
The Energy Innovation Initiative focuses on the potential for advanced energy technologies to enhance U.S. economic competitiveness and improve energy and environmental security.
The Energy Security Initiative focuses on strategies to improve the America's access to and efficient use of secure, reliable and affordable energy sources in a manner consistent environmental standards.
To date, the project has released reports on regulation (Environmental Regulation and Electric System Reliability), renewable subsidies (Reassessing Renewable Energy Subsidies: Issue Brief), and natural gas (Task Force on Ensuring Stable Natural Gas Markets).
In December 2012, the Energy Project plans to issue a report on “Energy Opportunities for the President and New Congress.”
The American Energy Innovation Council, launched in June 2010, is co-staffed by BPC and the ClimateWorks Foundation. AEIC is a group of prominent business leaders who promote a more vigorous public and private sector commitment to energy technology innovation. The group, led by Chad Holliday, Norman R. Augustine, Ursula Burns
, John Doerr
, Bill Gates
, Jeff Immelt, and Tim Solso, released a report, A Business Plan for America’s Energy Future, outlining actionable steps to boost the nation’s technology potential.
, Dirk Kempthorne
, and Steve Case
, the Democracy Project focuses on two issue areas for reform: strengthening civil discourse in government, and Congressional redistricting or reapportionment. The project highlights potential infrastructure changes that promote a more efficient and effective government and issues recommendations with the aim of improving the national debate. The Democracy Project's Advisory Committee consists of top government, business, civic, military, and academic leaders. John Fortier, a political scientist and former research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
, serves as project director.
, Bill Frist
, Ted Strickland
, and Mike Rounds
. Julie Barnes, former acting director of the Healthy Policy Program at the New America Foundation
, is the director of the project. In response to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
of 2010, BPC turned to developing a bipartisan approach to help states meet their ongoing budgetary, demographic, and health reform challenges. The Health Project focuses on four major areas of health reform policy: insurance reform and exchange development, implementation and innovation; options for state flexibility in the management and financing of Medicaid programs; the coordination and most effective use of information technology as a critically important tool for success in every aspect of health care delivery and financing; and the issues confronting the health professional workforce and how best to respond to these challenges.
The project currently has three sub-initiatives: the Health Information Technology Initiative, the Health Professional Workforce Initiative, and the Insurance Market Reforms Initiative.
The Health Information Technology Initiative brings together public and private sector leaders to identify strategies for leveraging health IT investments to support delivery system, payment and insurance reforms. The Initiative focuses on insurance exchanges, coordination of state efforts, and rural access to care. On June 2, 2011, the Initiative launched its Task Force on Delivery System Reform and Health IT with a series of policy leaders, including Donald Berwick
, Daschle, and Frist, at the Newseum
. A report, The Role of Health IT in Supporting Health Care Transformation: Building a Strong Foundation for America's Health Care System, was released in conjunction with the event.
The Health Professional Workforce Initiative analyzes "challenging workforce issues around how to structure, educate, retain, license, finance, and regulate a health care workforce able to deliver patient-centered, team-based, high quality care." The Initiative focuses on workforce landscape, incentives and innovation, and learning opportunities for health care providers.
, and former Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman
, the initiative focuses on four priority areasty areas: investing in children’s health; creating healthy schools; improving the health of communities; and developing healthy institutions.
The initiative held its first public forum on nutrition information and education at the University of Miami
on April 20, 2011. In August 2011, the initiative's leadership traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah
to hold a roundtable discussion with local leaders on affordable and accessible physical activity programs. The group also toured various fitness sites throughout the city.
, Charles Robb, and Charles Wald. Michael Makovsky, who worked as special assistant for Iraqi energy policy in the Washington office of the Coalition Provisional Authority, serves as NSP's project director.
The project is divided into four initiatives: the Iran Initiative, the Russia Initiative, the Stabilizing Fragile States Initiative and the Strategic Public Diplomacy Initiative.
In June 2010, the Iran Initiative published its third report on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Meeting the Challenge: When Time Runs Out. The report highlighted the immediate need for the U.S. to halt Iran’s rapid progress toward nuclear weapons capability and laid out the dangers of alternative outcomes. It supported the U.S.-led diplomatic outreach and sanctions against Iran, but recommended a more comprehensive triple-track approach involving the simultaneous pursuit of diplomacy, sanctions, and visible, credible preparations for U.S. military action.
The Russia Initiative is headed by Donald Evans
, former United States secretary of commerce
, and NSP Co-Leader Charles Robb. The initiative works to develop a cohesive U.S. strategy toward Russia that better advances U.S. security and economic interests while fostering better cooperation between the two countries. The project offers ways to construct an improved bilateral relationship in the energy, business, trade and investment sectors.
The Stabilizing Fragile States Initiative develops proposals for U.S. action to prevent failing states. The initiative is led by Paula Dobriansky
, former under secretary of state for global affairs, and NSP Co-Leader Gregory Johnson. In March 2011, responding to growing unrest in the region, the initiative released Fragility and Extremism in Yemen, a case study that detailed the underlying causes of increasing insecurity and radicalism in Yemen, and showed why the United States
should build security and governing capacities and encourage civic resilience in fragile states.
The Strategic Public Diplomacy Initiative is an effort to develop a framework for a modern public diplomacy strategy that is technologically savvy, leverages the potential of the private sector, and is tightly coordinated with U.S. national security goals. Led by James K. Glassman
, former under secretary of state for public diplomacy, and BPC Senior Fellow Dan Glickman, the initiative will look at how the U.S. should conduct public diplomacy around the globe, specifically toward countries with Muslim majorities, while leveraging new media opportunities.
and Governor Thomas Kean
, is the successor to the 9/11 Commission
. Its mission is to be a bipartisan voice on homeland and national security issues. "With the terrorist threat to the U.S. more complex and diverse than at any time in the last decade, NSPG works to foster public discourse, provide expert analysis, and develop proactive policy solutions on how best to respond." The project will continue to monitor the implementation of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations and develop solutions to respond to both emerging and evolving threats.
On April 6, 2010, NSPG hosted a day-long conference, The State of Intelligence Reform, marking the fifth anniversary of the creation of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Speakers, who included then-Representative Jane Harman
, former CIA Director General Michael Hayden, and then-DNI Dennis C. Blair, assessed the progress that has been made in reforming the intelligence community since 9/11. On October 6, 2010, NSPG held a follow-on event that focused on reform of the domestic intelligence agencies. The conference brought together FBI Director Robert Mueller
, Representative Mike Rogers (Michigan politician), former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and others for a dialogue about how to ensure the U.S. intelligence agencies have the best information available to aid them in the fight against terrorism.
Assessing the Terrorist Threat, authored by project members Peter Bergen
and Bruce Hoffman
, explores the development of homegrown networks and the increasingly diverse and decentralized nature of terrorism. The report was released by project co-chairs Hamilton and Kean at a major press conference on September 10, 2010. Preventing Violent Radicalization in America, a follow-up to Assessing the Terrorist Threat, was released on June 23, 2011. The report, written by Peter Neumann (academic)
of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence
at King’s College London, provides guidance on ongoing efforts aimed at developing a coherent approach towards domestic counter-radicalization.
In the wake of the attempted Christmas Day 2010 bombing attempt (Northwest Airlines Flight 253
), Hamilton and Kean provided testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Homeland Security about ongoing reform efforts in the intelligence community.
On August 31, 2011, NSPG released their Tenth Anniversary Report Card: The Status of the 9/11 Commission Recommendations. During a press conference to report their findings, Commission Co-Chairs Kean and Hamilton, along with Commission members Fred Fielding, Senator Slade Gorton
, Secretary John Lehman
and Governor James R. Thompson
, cited nine of the 41 Commission recommendations that have not been sufficiently implemented in the decade since the attacks.
, former Representative Sherwood Boehlert
, former Senator Slade Gorton
, and former Representative Martin Sabo.
The first phase of the project’s work resulted in a report, Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy, proposing a variety of ideas and recommendations for reforming transportation policy. The report addresses both a long-term vision for transportation policy as well as a number of ideas and reforms that can be incorporated in a future authorization bill. In the report, NTPP calls for adequate and targeted investment in transportation infrastructure, ensuring that any expenditure sets out to achieve maximum returns and benefits in terms of national economic, energy, safety, and environmental goals.
On June 23, 2010, NTPP released a report, Transitioning to Performance-Based Federal Surface Transportation Policy, based on insights gleaned from a BPC-sponsored workshop led by national experts, congressional staff, and administration officials. The project hosted numerous briefings for the administration and members of Congress and their staff to educate them on the report’s findings.
On January 21, 2011, NTPP members Douglas Holtz-Eakin
and Martin Wachs called on the White House and Congress to change their approach to transportation policy saying that “the nation can no longer afford to support poorly targeted investments when the needs are so great and public resources are so constrained.” The report Strengthening Connections Between Transportation Investments and Economic Growth, outlines three specific policy changes the White House and Congress can make to ensure that scarce public dollars are spent wisely and, at the same time, create employment opportunities in the short-term and contribute to the nation’s economic recovery in the long-term.
First, the report recommends that no new funds be allocated to existing transportation programs if they provide questionable job-creation, unclear long-term benefits or if the programs are solely an effort to increase short-term employment. Second, investments should be directed to programs that are both “shovel-ready” and provide long-term benefits. These investments can help ease unemployment while also building the nation’s economic future. Finally, federal transportation investments should not be constrained by the silos and restrictions that dominate the federal government’s existing surface transportation program.
On June 16, 2011, NTPP released Performance Driven: Achieving Wiser Investment in Transportation, a report lays out near-term actions that can be taken to restructure the nation’s surface transportation program. The recommended framework would streamline and consolidate over 100 existing transportation programs into 10 core programs, make transportation spending more sustainable by authorizing a program at existing revenue levels, and begin the transition to a performance-based system that is better able to leverage non-federal resources. The focus of the plan is to reform, consolidate and scale back the existing federal transportation program and make it targeted toward a set of specific national goals, including economic growth, national connectivity, metropolitan accessibility, energy security and environmental protection, and safety.
in New Orleans, LA. Hosted by James Carville
and Mary Matalin
, the summit creates a forum to exchange ideas on how the two parties can effectively work together to tackle the problems facing the nation.
The 2010 summit kicked off with the release of the first independent post-election poll to gauge voters’ attitudes and the challenges facing the next Congress. The bipartisan survey, conducted by Republicans Ed Gillespie
and Whit Ayres and Democrat Stan Greenberg
, highlighted voters frustration with the current partisan tone in Washington, D.C. and the important role independents played in driving the election’s outcome.
Howard Baker
Howard Henry Baker, Jr. is a former Senate Majority Leader, Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee, White House Chief of Staff, and a former United States Ambassador to Japan.Known in Washington, D.C...
, Tom Daschle
Tom Daschle
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Daschle is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
, and George Mitchell
George Mitchell
George Mitchell may refer to:*George J. Mitchell , former Senator from Maine, special envoy to the Middle East for the Obama administration, former Senate majority leader and former chairman of Disney...
, "BPC combines politically-balanced policymaking with strong, proactive advocacy and outreach.
BPC currently has projects focused on economic policy, energy, health care and nutrition, housing, national security, and transportation. Actively promoting bipartisanship, BPC regularly convenes events like Bridge-Builder Breakfasts, political summits, and policy discussions to foster an ongoing conversation about how to overcome political divides.
Jason Grumet serves as president of BPC. Prior to helping found the organization in 2007, Grumet directed the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP). He was also an adviser on energy and the environment for the 2008 presidential campaign of then-Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
History
While BPC was formally launched in March 2007, the organization’s roots trace back to 2002, when the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP), predecessor to BPC's current Energy Project, was founded.NCEP’s work helped break through the impasse on the nation’s energy policy, which led to Congress passing major energy legislation in 2005 and 2007. BPC was created to build on NCEP’s success and apply its unique approach of policy development and advocacy to different policy areas. Initially, NCEP’s established reputation in the energy community, combined with credibility of BPC’s founders, helped raise BPC’s public profile.
On June 17, 2009, BPC's Leaders' Project on the State of American Health Care (now an inactive project) released Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System The report, which came at the height of the health care reform debate in the United States
Health care reform debate in the United States
The health care reform debate in the United States has been a political issue for many years, focusing upon increasing coverage, decreasing the cost and social burden of healthcare, insurance reform, and the philosophy of its provision, funding, and government involvement...
, laid out plans to help states establish insurance exchanges and lower costs. Former Senate Majority Leaders and BPC Co-Founders Howard Baker
Howard Baker
Howard Henry Baker, Jr. is a former Senate Majority Leader, Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee, White House Chief of Staff, and a former United States Ambassador to Japan.Known in Washington, D.C...
, Tom Daschle
Tom Daschle
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Daschle is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, and Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
crafted the report.
On February 16, 2010, BPC hosted Cyber ShockWave, a simulated cyber attack on the United States. The simulation, which was moderated by Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Isaac Blitzer is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009...
and broadcast as a special on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, provided a look at how the government would respond to a large-scale cyber crisis affecting much of the nation. The simulation was created by former CIA Director General Michael Hayden (general) and BPC’s National Security Preparedness Group, led by the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks", including preparedness for and the immediate response to...
, Governor Thomas Kean
Thomas Kean
Thomas Howard Kean is an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 48th Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Kean is best known globally, however, for his 2002 appointment as Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, widely known as the...
and Congressman Lee H. Hamilton
Lee H. Hamilton
Lee Herbert Hamilton is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and currently a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of the Democratic Party, Hamilton represented the 9th congressional district of Indiana from 1965 to 1999...
.
Former senior administration officials and national security experts participating in the event included: Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
Michael Chertoff
Michael Chertoff was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush and co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. He previously served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as a federal prosecutor, and as assistant U.S. Attorney...
as National Security Advisor; Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte
John Negroponte
John Dimitri Negroponte is an American diplomat. He is currently a research fellow and lecturer in international affairs at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs...
as Secretary of State; White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend as Secretary of Homeland Security; Director of Central Intelligence John E. McLaughlin
John E. McLaughlin
John Edward McLaughlin is the former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and former Acting Director of Central Intelligence. McLaughlin is an accomplished magician and lectured on magic at the 2006 International Brotherhood of Magicians Annual Convention in Miami, Florida...
as Director of National Intelligence; Senator Bennett Johnston as Secretary of Energy; Director of the National Economic Council Stephen Friedman (PFIAB)
Stephen Friedman (PFIAB)
Stephen Friedman is the former Chairman of the United States President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. He was nominated on October 27, 2005 to replace Brent Scowcroft in the position.-Life and career:...
as Secretary of Treasury; Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick
Jamie Gorelick
Jamie S. Gorelick is an American attorney, presently representing BP. She was Deputy Attorney General of the United States during the Clinton administration...
as Attorney General, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart
Joe Lockhart
Joseph Lockhart is a spokesman and communications consultant, best known for being the White House Press Secretary from October 5, 1998 to September 29, 2000, during the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton...
as Counselor to the President; General Counsel of the National Security Agency Stewart Baker
Stewart baker
Stewart Abercrombie Baker was the first Assistant Secretary for Policy at the United States Department of Homeland Security under the Presidency of George W...
as Cyber Coordinator; and Deputy Commander U.S. European Command Charles F. Wald
Charles F. Wald
General Charles "Chuck" F. Wald is the former Deputy Commander of United States European Command. He retired on July 1, 2006, and was succeeded by General William E. Ward....
as Secretary of Defense. BPC released a report summarizing the findings and recommendations from the simulation.
On June 16, 2010, in conjunction with the United States Association of Former Members of Congress
United States Association of Former Members of Congress
The United States Association of Former Members of Congress is a non-partisan, non-profit association of former Members of the United States Congress, founded in 1970 and chartered by the United States Congress in 1980.-Objectives and Activities:...
, BPC hosted a day-long conference entitled, Breaking the Stalemate: Renewing a Bipartisan Dialogue, at the National Archives. Participants included Senator Ron Wyden
Ron Wyden
Ronald Lee "Ron" Wyden is the senior U.S. Senator for Oregon, serving since 1996, and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1996....
, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
Ray LaHood
Raymond H. "Ray" LaHood is a Republican politician from Illinois who is currently the United States Secretary of Transportation, having served since 2009. Previously, he represented the Illinois's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for seven terms .-Early life and...
, BPC Senior Fellow and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
Trent Lott
Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
, former Speaker of the House Tom Foley
Tom Foley
Thomas Stephen Foley was the 57th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1989 to 1995. He represented Washington's 5th congressional district for 30 years as a Democratic member from 1965 to 1995....
, former Minority Leader Bob Michel, and former Representative Martin Frost
Martin Frost
Jonas Martin Frost III is an American politician, who was the Democratic representative to the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas's 24th congressional district from 1979 to 2005.-Personal life:...
.
On November 17, 2010, BPC's Debt Reduction Task Force released its report, Restoring America's Future, in an effort to influence the debate over the national debt. The Task Force, led by former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici
Pete Domenici
Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici is an American Republican politician, who served six terms as a United States Senator from New Mexico, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state's history....
and former White House Budget Director and Federal Reserve Vice Chair Alice Rivlin
Alice Rivlin
Alice Mitchell Rivlin is an economist, a former U.S. Cabinet official, and an expert on the budget. She has served as the Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and the first Director of the Congressional Budget Office...
, was a bipartisan group of former White House and Cabinet officials, Senate and House members, governors and mayors, and business and labor leaders. Their report was released two weeks prior to that of President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a Presidential Commission created in 2010 by President Barack Obama to identify "…policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run."...
.
On May 11, 2011, former President of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
Álvaro Uribe
Álvaro Uribe
Alvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....
spoke at BPC during an event to release a new report, Stabilizing Fragile States, by BPC's National Security Project. He highlighted his administration’s efforts to reform the country’s security services to combat extremist groups and gain the trust of the citizenry.
On May 23, 2011, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer
Steny Hoyer
Steny Hamilton Hoyer is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1981. The district includes a large swath of rural and suburban territory southeast of Washington, D.C.. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
called for a balanced approach to deficit reduction in a speech at BPC. Hoyer said that both the White House's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a Presidential Commission created in 2010 by President Barack Obama to identify "…policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run."...
and BPC's Debt Reduction Task Force “place a high priority on fairness, and strike a...more even balance between cutting spending and raising revenue.”
On October 26, 2011, BPC launched the Housing Commission, a bipartisan effort led by Kit Bond
Kit Bond
Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond is a former United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, he defeated Democrat Harriett Woods by a margin of 53%-47%. He was re-elected in 1992, 1998, and 2004...
, Henry Cisneros
Henry Cisneros
Henry Gabriel Cisneros is a politician and businessman. A Democrat, Cisneros served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997...
, Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...
, and George J. Mitchell
George J. Mitchell
George John Mitchell, Jr., is the former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace under the Obama administration. A Democrat, Mitchell was a United States Senator who served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995...
. The Commission will draft recommendations to reform the nation’s housing policy, including views on the most effective role of the federal government in helping to shape the nation’s future housing landscape.
Economic Policy Project (EPP)
The Economic Policy Project (EPP) aims to enhance America's financial prosperity and security, and advance worldwide competitiveness of U.S. commerce and capital. The project is led by Senior Director Steve Bell, former staff director of the Senate Budget Committee under Pete DomeniciPete Domenici
Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici is an American Republican politician, who served six terms as a United States Senator from New Mexico, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state's history....
, and BPC Visiting Scholar Jerome H. Powell, former under secretary of the Treasury for finance under President George H.W. Bush.
In April 2011, EPP released a federal budget enforcement mechanism called Save-as-you-Go or SAVEGO. The plan is modeled on various legislative efforts of the 1980s and 1990s, including PAYGO
PAYGO
PAYGO is the practice in the United States of financing expenditures with funds that are currently available rather than borrowed.-Budgeting:The PAYGO compels new spending or tax changes not to add to the federal deficit. Not to be confused with pay-as-you-go financing, which is when a government...
, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act
The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Reaffirmation Act of 1987 were, according to U.S...
, and the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990
Budget Enforcement Act of 1990
The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 was enacted by the United States Congress as title XIII of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to enforce the deficit reduction accomplished by that law and revise the budget control process of the Federal Government...
. SAVEGO garnered significant media attention and support from Senator Chris Coons, among other legislators.
In June 2011, amid ongoing negotiations on a debt reduction deal between Congress and the White House, EPP released their Debt Limit Analysis, which provided a look at the consequences of a delay in raising the debt ceiling and the economic uncertainty that would ensue if the United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
was forced to prioritize spending. BPC's analysis revealed that at some point in early August 2011, unless the debt ceiling was raised, the federal government would have been unable to meet all of its spending obligations. After that date, federal spending would have been reduced by as much as 44% for the remainder of August. Many media outlets, including USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, The Los Angeles Times, and MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, cited the analysis in news and opinion articles.
Debt Reduction Task Force
The Debt Reduction Task Force released its Restoring America's Future report on November 17, 2010. The group was led by Co-Chairs Pete DomeniciPete Domenici
Pietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici is an American Republican politician, who served six terms as a United States Senator from New Mexico, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state's history....
and Alice Rivlin
Alice Rivlin
Alice Mitchell Rivlin is an economist, a former U.S. Cabinet official, and an expert on the budget. She has served as the Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and the first Director of the Congressional Budget Office...
. The Task Force's members were Robert Bixby
Robert Bixby
Robert Bixby is the Executive Director of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan grassroots organization that educates the public about fiscal responsibility. The Coalition was founded in 1992, and Bixby was named the Executive Director in 1999...
of the Concord Coalition, former Michigan Governor James Blanchard
James Blanchard
James Johnston "Jim" Blanchard is a politician from the US state of Michigan. A Democrat, Blanchard has served in the United States House of Representatives, as the 45th Governor of Michigan, and as United States Ambassador to Canada....
, former Chief of Staff to Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
and Secretary of the Senate Sheila Burke, Leonard Burman of the Urban Institute
Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that carries out nonpartisan economic and social policy research, collects data, evaluates social programs, educates the public on key domestic issues, and provides advice and technical assistance to developing governments abroad...
and the Tax Policy Center
Tax Policy Center
The Tax Policy Center is a non-partisan joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. Based in Washington D.C., it aims to provide independent analyses of current and longer-term tax issues and to communicate its analyses to the public and to policymakers in a timely and...
, Deloitte Vice Chairman Robert N. Campbell III, former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the President's Cabinet, and thirteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Housing...
Henry Cisneros
Henry Cisneros
Henry Gabriel Cisneros is a politician and businessman. A Democrat, Cisneros served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997...
, former United States Secretary of Commerce
United States Secretary of Commerce
The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...
Carlos Gutierrez
Carlos Gutierrez
Carlos Miguel Gutierrez is an American former CEO and former U.S. Cabinet Member who is currently a Vice Chairman of Citigroup's Institutional Clients Group. He has previously served as the 35th U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 2005 to 2009...
, former staff director of the Senate Budget Committee G. William Hoagland, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating
Frank Keating
Francis Anthony "Frank" Keating is an American politician from Oklahoma. Keating served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma. His first term began in 1995 and ended in 1999...
, Karen Kerrigan of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, Maya MacGuineas
Maya MacGuineas
Maya MacGuineas is the President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget -- a bipartisan, non-profit organization in the United States committed to educating the public about issues that have significant fiscal policy impact...
of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. that addresses federal budget and fiscal issues...
, Donald B. Marron Jr.
Donald B. Marron Jr.
Donald B. Marron Jr. is an American economist, professor and policy advisor and director of the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington, D.C. -Work and Career:Government Service...
of the Tax Policy Center
Tax Policy Center
The Tax Policy Center is a non-partisan joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution. Based in Washington D.C., it aims to provide independent analyses of current and longer-term tax issues and to communicate its analyses to the public and to policymakers in a timely and...
, former president of the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
Edward J. McElroy
Edward J. McElroy
Edward J. McElroy, Jr. is an American teacher and labor union leader. He was president of the American Federation of Teachers from 2004 to 2008, and an AFL-CIO vice president from 2001 to 2008.-Early life and union career:...
, Joe Minarik of the Committee for Economic Development
Committee for Economic Development
The Committee for Economic Development is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan think tank based in Washington, DC. Its membership consists of some 200 senior corporate executives and university leaders...
, former National Urban League
National Urban League
The National Urban League , formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. It is the oldest and largest...
president and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial
Marc Morial
Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...
, former AARP
AARP
AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is the United States-based non-governmental organization and interest group, founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus, PhD, a retired educator from California, and based in Washington, D.C. According to its mission statement, it is "a...
CEO William D. Novelli, and former Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Mayor Anthony A. Williams
Anthony A. Williams
Anthony Allen "Tony" Williams is an American politician who served as the fifth mayor of the District of Columbia for two terms, from 1999 to 2007. He had previously served as chief financial officer for the District, managing to balance the budget and achieve a surplus within two years of...
.
The plan reduces and stabilizes the debt at 60 percent of the economy, freezes discretionary spending, ends tax deductions, and raises new taxes. Federal tax revenue would rise to 23.1 percent of GDP by 2035 and the tax code would be simplified to two brackets, with rates of 15 and 27 percent. The plan proposes a 6.5 percent "debt reduction sales tax." Defense spending would shrink to 2.4 percent of GDP and spending on health and Social Security programs would be held at 15.4 percent of GDP in 2035. The plan maintains the traditional Medicare
Medicare
Medicare may refer to any of several publicly funded health insurance programs:*Medicare *Medicare *Medicare - See also :*Medicaid*Medicare Australia*Medicare Resources - China*Medicare Rights Center - United States...
program and introduces a market-based premium support alternative. Senator Lamar Alexander
Lamar Alexander
Andrew Lamar Alexander is the senior United States Senator from Tennessee and Conference Chair of the Republican Party. He was previously the 45th Governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987, United States Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993 under President George H. W...
endorsed BPC's plan.
BPC published a side-by-side chart comparing their Debt Reduction Task Force plan to the respective plans of President Obama, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan
Paul Ryan
Paul Ryan may refer to:* Paul Ryan , member of the U.S. House of Representatives* Paul Ryan , music agent for The Agency, former Cradle of Filth guitarist* Paul Ryan , comics artist...
, and the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a Presidential Commission created in 2010 by President Barack Obama to identify "…policies to improve the fiscal situation in the medium term and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long run."...
led by Erskine Bowles
Erskine Bowles
Erskine Boyce Bowles is an American businessman and political figure from North Carolina. He served from 2005 to 2010 as the President of the University of North Carolina system...
and Alan Simpson
Alan Simpson
Alan Simpson may refer to:*Alan Simpson , British politician*Alan K. Simpson , former United States Senator from Wyoming*Alan Simpson , of Galton and Simpson, scriptwriters...
.
Energy Project
The Energy Project was launched in April 2011. The project is led by Co-Chairs Byron Dorgan
Byron Dorgan
Byron Leslie Dorgan is a former United States Senator from North Dakota and is now a senior policy advisor for a Washington, DC law firm. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. In the Senate, he was Chairman of the Democratic...
, James L. Jones
James L. Jones
James Logan Jones, Jr. is the former United States National Security Advisor and a retired United States Marine Corps General....
, Trent Lott, and William K. Reilly
William K. Reilly
William K. Reilly was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H. W. Bush. He has served as president of World Wildlife Fund, as a founder or advisor to several business ventures, and on many boards of directors...
. Margot Anderson, previously of the United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
, serves as project director. The Energy Project, which evolved from the structure of the National Commission on Energy Policy, focuses on energy security, supply, reliability, cost and sustainability. The project's membership includes leading energy industry CEOs, top NGO and labor officials, and senior former political figures from both major parties.
The project is divided into three initiatives: the Energy and Environment Initiative, the Energy Innovation Initiative, and the Energy Security Initiative.
The Energy and Environment Initiative convenes working groups of stakeholders to consider a range of legislative and regulatory issues. Key issues include the role of FERC in supporting a clean, reliable electric system, forthcoming U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, federal clean energy standards, and energy efficiency policies and programs.
The Energy Innovation Initiative focuses on the potential for advanced energy technologies to enhance U.S. economic competitiveness and improve energy and environmental security.
The Energy Security Initiative focuses on strategies to improve the America's access to and efficient use of secure, reliable and affordable energy sources in a manner consistent environmental standards.
To date, the project has released reports on regulation (Environmental Regulation and Electric System Reliability), renewable subsidies (Reassessing Renewable Energy Subsidies: Issue Brief), and natural gas (Task Force on Ensuring Stable Natural Gas Markets).
In December 2012, the Energy Project plans to issue a report on “Energy Opportunities for the President and New Congress.”
The American Energy Innovation Council, launched in June 2010, is co-staffed by BPC and the ClimateWorks Foundation. AEIC is a group of prominent business leaders who promote a more vigorous public and private sector commitment to energy technology innovation. The group, led by Chad Holliday, Norman R. Augustine, Ursula Burns
Ursula Burns
Ursula M. Burns serves as chairwoman and CEO of Xerox. She is the first African-American woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company. She is also the first woman to succeed another woman as head of a Fortune 500 company...
, John Doerr
John Doerr
L. John Doerr is an American venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, California, in Silicon Valley. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed as a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the president and his administration with advice and...
, Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
, Jeff Immelt, and Tim Solso, released a report, A Business Plan for America’s Energy Future, outlining actionable steps to boost the nation’s technology potential.
Democracy Project
Launched in November 2010, the Democracy Project is a bipartisan initiative that analyzes and advocates for improvements to America's democratic institutions. Co-chaired by BPC Senior Fellow Dan GlickmanDan Glickman
Daniel Robert "Dan" Glickman is an American businessman and politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001, prior to which he represented the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas as a Democrat in Congress for 18 years. He was Chairman and CEO of the...
, Dirk Kempthorne
Dirk Kempthorne
Dirk Arthur Kempthorne , was the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, who served under President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009. A Republican, Kempthorne previously served as the 30th Governor and as a U.S. Senator from Idaho...
, and Steve Case
Steve Case
Stephen McConnell "Steve" Case is an American businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer and chairman of America Online . Since his retirement as chairman of AOL Time Warner in 2003, he has gone on to build a variety of new businesses through his investment...
, the Democracy Project focuses on two issue areas for reform: strengthening civil discourse in government, and Congressional redistricting or reapportionment. The project highlights potential infrastructure changes that promote a more efficient and effective government and issues recommendations with the aim of improving the national debate. The Democracy Project's Advisory Committee consists of top government, business, civic, military, and academic leaders. John Fortier, a political scientist and former research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
, serves as project director.
Health Project
The Health Project, launched in January 2011, is headed by Co-Leaders Tom DaschleTom Daschle
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Daschle is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, Bill Frist
Bill Frist
William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...
, Ted Strickland
Ted Strickland
Theodore "Ted" Strickland was the 68th Governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ....
, and Mike Rounds
Mike Rounds
Marion Michael "Mike" Rounds is an American politician. Rounds served as the 31st Governor of South Dakota. Rounds was first inaugurated on January 7, 2003, having been elected on November 5, 2002, and was re-elected on November 7, 2006...
. Julie Barnes, former acting director of the Healthy Policy Program at the New America Foundation
New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is a non-profit public policy institute and think tank with offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, CA. It was founded in 1999 by Ted Halstead, Sherle Schwenninger, Michael Lind and Walter Russell Mead....
, is the director of the project. In response to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress...
of 2010, BPC turned to developing a bipartisan approach to help states meet their ongoing budgetary, demographic, and health reform challenges. The Health Project focuses on four major areas of health reform policy: insurance reform and exchange development, implementation and innovation; options for state flexibility in the management and financing of Medicaid programs; the coordination and most effective use of information technology as a critically important tool for success in every aspect of health care delivery and financing; and the issues confronting the health professional workforce and how best to respond to these challenges.
The project currently has three sub-initiatives: the Health Information Technology Initiative, the Health Professional Workforce Initiative, and the Insurance Market Reforms Initiative.
The Health Information Technology Initiative brings together public and private sector leaders to identify strategies for leveraging health IT investments to support delivery system, payment and insurance reforms. The Initiative focuses on insurance exchanges, coordination of state efforts, and rural access to care. On June 2, 2011, the Initiative launched its Task Force on Delivery System Reform and Health IT with a series of policy leaders, including Donald Berwick
Donald Berwick
Donald M. Berwick is the outgoing Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services . Prior to his work in the administration, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement a not-for-profit organization helping to lead the improvement of...
, Daschle, and Frist, at the Newseum
Newseum
The Newseum is an interactive museum of news and journalism located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. The seven-level, museum features 15 theaters and 14 galleries. The Newseum's Berlin Wall Gallery includes the largest display of sections of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany...
. A report, The Role of Health IT in Supporting Health Care Transformation: Building a Strong Foundation for America's Health Care System, was released in conjunction with the event.
The Health Professional Workforce Initiative analyzes "challenging workforce issues around how to structure, educate, retain, license, finance, and regulate a health care workforce able to deliver patient-centered, team-based, high quality care." The Initiative focuses on workforce landscape, incentives and innovation, and learning opportunities for health care providers.
Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative
The Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative was formed in March 2011 to help enhance the physical activity and nutritional opportunities for all Americans. The initiative brings together key experts, policy makers, and stakeholders to identify opportunities for action on these issues. Led by BPC Senior Fellow Dan Glickman, former Utah Governor and Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, University of Miami President and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna ShalalaDonna Shalala
Donna Edna Shalala served for eight years as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and has been president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida, since 2001. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest...
, and former Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman
Ann Veneman
Ann Margaret Veneman is the former Executive Director of UNICEF, a position she held from 2005 to 2010. Her appointment was announced on January 18, 2005 by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Previously, Veneman was the United States Secretary of Agriculture, the first and only woman to hold that...
, the initiative focuses on four priority areasty areas: investing in children’s health; creating healthy schools; improving the health of communities; and developing healthy institutions.
The initiative held its first public forum on nutrition information and education at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
on April 20, 2011. In August 2011, the initiative's leadership traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
to hold a roundtable discussion with local leaders on affordable and accessible physical activity programs. The group also toured various fitness sites throughout the city.
Housing Commission
The housing finance system played a significant role in the recent U.S. financial crisis and the resulting economic recession. This fragile infrastructure, along with continuing market affordability challenges, impedes a robust economic recovery. The Housing Commission, launched in October 2011, aims to reform the nation’s housing policy by reexamining the role of the federal government in helping to shape the nation’s future housing landscape. Led by former U.S. Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Henry Cisneros and Mel Martinez, also a former U.S. Senator, former U.S. Senator Kit Bond and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and BPC Co-Founder George Mitchell, the Commission plans to put forth a package of policy recommendations for consideration by the administration and Congress in early 2013.National Security Project (NSP)
The National Security Project (NSP) develops policy recommendations for pressing foreign policy issues by collaborating with respected civilian and military experts from the right and the left. NSP initiatives range in focus from determining appropriate policy responses to specific international situations to considering more broadly the shape and direction of global politics in the 21st century. NSP actively monitors national security and diplomatic challenges facing the U.S. and conducts research and analysis to support the development of concrete proposals for new policy structures, tools, and systems that can help the U.S. achieve its immediate and long-term foreign policy goals. The project is headed by Co-Leaders Gregory G. JohnsonGregory G. Johnson
Admiral Gregory G. Johnson is a retired United States Navy admiral, and former commander U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Allied Forces, Southern Europe.-Military career:...
, Charles Robb, and Charles Wald. Michael Makovsky, who worked as special assistant for Iraqi energy policy in the Washington office of the Coalition Provisional Authority, serves as NSP's project director.
The project is divided into four initiatives: the Iran Initiative, the Russia Initiative, the Stabilizing Fragile States Initiative and the Strategic Public Diplomacy Initiative.
In June 2010, the Iran Initiative published its third report on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Meeting the Challenge: When Time Runs Out. The report highlighted the immediate need for the U.S. to halt Iran’s rapid progress toward nuclear weapons capability and laid out the dangers of alternative outcomes. It supported the U.S.-led diplomatic outreach and sanctions against Iran, but recommended a more comprehensive triple-track approach involving the simultaneous pursuit of diplomacy, sanctions, and visible, credible preparations for U.S. military action.
The Russia Initiative is headed by Donald Evans
Donald Evans
Donald Louis Evans was the 34th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He was appointed by his longtime friend George W. Bush and sworn into office on January 20, 2001...
, former United States secretary of commerce
United States Secretary of Commerce
The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...
, and NSP Co-Leader Charles Robb. The initiative works to develop a cohesive U.S. strategy toward Russia that better advances U.S. security and economic interests while fostering better cooperation between the two countries. The project offers ways to construct an improved bilateral relationship in the energy, business, trade and investment sectors.
The Stabilizing Fragile States Initiative develops proposals for U.S. action to prevent failing states. The initiative is led by Paula Dobriansky
Paula Dobriansky
Paula Jon Dobriansky is an American foreign policy expert who has served in key roles as a diplomat and policy maker in the administrations of five U.S. presidents, both Democrat and Republican. She is a specialist in the areas of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as well as...
, former under secretary of state for global affairs, and NSP Co-Leader Gregory Johnson. In March 2011, responding to growing unrest in the region, the initiative released Fragility and Extremism in Yemen, a case study that detailed the underlying causes of increasing insecurity and radicalism in Yemen, and showed why the United States
should build security and governing capacities and encourage civic resilience in fragile states.
The Strategic Public Diplomacy Initiative is an effort to develop a framework for a modern public diplomacy strategy that is technologically savvy, leverages the potential of the private sector, and is tightly coordinated with U.S. national security goals. Led by James K. Glassman
James K. Glassman
James K. Glassman is an American conservative editorialist, journalist, diplomat and author. He is currently the host of the television program Ideas in Action, which airs on PBS member stations across the country. On December 11, 2007 Glassman was nominated by President George W...
, former under secretary of state for public diplomacy, and BPC Senior Fellow Dan Glickman, the initiative will look at how the U.S. should conduct public diplomacy around the globe, specifically toward countries with Muslim majorities, while leveraging new media opportunities.
National Security Preparedness Group (NSPG)
The National Security Preparedness Group (NSPG), co-chaired by Congressman Lee H. HamiltonLee H. Hamilton
Lee Herbert Hamilton is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and currently a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of the Democratic Party, Hamilton represented the 9th congressional district of Indiana from 1965 to 1999...
and Governor Thomas Kean
Thomas Kean
Thomas Howard Kean is an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 48th Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Kean is best known globally, however, for his 2002 appointment as Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, widely known as the...
, is the successor to the 9/11 Commission
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks", including preparedness for and the immediate response to...
. Its mission is to be a bipartisan voice on homeland and national security issues. "With the terrorist threat to the U.S. more complex and diverse than at any time in the last decade, NSPG works to foster public discourse, provide expert analysis, and develop proactive policy solutions on how best to respond." The project will continue to monitor the implementation of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations and develop solutions to respond to both emerging and evolving threats.
On April 6, 2010, NSPG hosted a day-long conference, The State of Intelligence Reform, marking the fifth anniversary of the creation of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Speakers, who included then-Representative Jane Harman
Jane Harman
Jane Margaret Lakes Harman is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 to 1999, and from 2001 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party....
, former CIA Director General Michael Hayden, and then-DNI Dennis C. Blair, assessed the progress that has been made in reforming the intelligence community since 9/11. On October 6, 2010, NSPG held a follow-on event that focused on reform of the domestic intelligence agencies. The conference brought together FBI Director Robert Mueller
Robert Mueller
Robert Swan Mueller III is the 6th and current Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation .-Early life:...
, Representative Mike Rogers (Michigan politician), former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and others for a dialogue about how to ensure the U.S. intelligence agencies have the best information available to aid them in the fight against terrorism.
Assessing the Terrorist Threat, authored by project members Peter Bergen
Peter Bergen
Peter Bergen is a print and television journalist, author, and CNN's national security analyst. Bergen produced the first television interview with Osama Bin Laden in 1997. The interview, which aired on CNN, marked the first time that bin Laden declared war against the United States to a Western...
and Bruce Hoffman
Bruce Hoffman
Bruce Hoffman is the Director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service and a specialist in the study of terrorism and counter-insurgency...
, explores the development of homegrown networks and the increasingly diverse and decentralized nature of terrorism. The report was released by project co-chairs Hamilton and Kean at a major press conference on September 10, 2010. Preventing Violent Radicalization in America, a follow-up to Assessing the Terrorist Threat, was released on June 23, 2011. The report, written by Peter Neumann (academic)
Peter Neumann (academic)
Peter R. Neumann is a German-born radio journalist turned academic who frequently appears on radio and television as an expert on terrorism and political violence...
of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence is a non-profit, non-governmental think tank based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of political violence and radicalisation....
at King’s College London, provides guidance on ongoing efforts aimed at developing a coherent approach towards domestic counter-radicalization.
In the wake of the attempted Christmas Day 2010 bombing attempt (Northwest Airlines Flight 253
Northwest Airlines Flight 253
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was an international passenger flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands, to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan, United States...
), Hamilton and Kean provided testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Homeland Security about ongoing reform efforts in the intelligence community.
On August 31, 2011, NSPG released their Tenth Anniversary Report Card: The Status of the 9/11 Commission Recommendations. During a press conference to report their findings, Commission Co-Chairs Kean and Hamilton, along with Commission members Fred Fielding, Senator Slade Gorton
Slade Gorton
Thomas Slade Gorton III is an American politician. A Republican, he was a U.S. senator from Washington state from 1981 to 1987, and from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice as an incumbent: in 1986 by Brock Adams, and...
, Secretary John Lehman
John Lehman
John F. Lehman, Jr. is an American investment banker and writer who served as Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration and in 2003–04 was a member of the 9/11 Commission....
and Governor James R. Thompson
James R. Thompson
James Robert Thompson, Jr. , also known as Big Jim Thompson, was the 37th and longest serving Governor of the US state of Illinois...
, cited nine of the 41 Commission recommendations that have not been sufficiently implemented in the decade since the attacks.
National Transportation Policy Project (NTPP)
Recognizing the need for a new vision for federal transportation policy, NTPP was launched in February 2008 with the aim of bringing new approaches and fresh thinking to today’s transportation issues. The project is led by former Detroit Mayor Dennis ArcherDennis Archer
Dennis Wayne Archer is an American lawyer and politician from Michigan. A Democrat, Archer served on the Michigan Supreme Court and as mayor of Detroit...
, former Representative Sherwood Boehlert
Sherwood Boehlert
Sherwood "Sherry" Louis Boehlert is a retired American politician from New York. He represented upstate New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 until 2007. Boehlert, a Republican, was considered to be a member of the party's moderate wing. In 2003, Utica Union Station was...
, former Senator Slade Gorton
Slade Gorton
Thomas Slade Gorton III is an American politician. A Republican, he was a U.S. senator from Washington state from 1981 to 1987, and from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice as an incumbent: in 1986 by Brock Adams, and...
, and former Representative Martin Sabo.
The first phase of the project’s work resulted in a report, Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy, proposing a variety of ideas and recommendations for reforming transportation policy. The report addresses both a long-term vision for transportation policy as well as a number of ideas and reforms that can be incorporated in a future authorization bill. In the report, NTPP calls for adequate and targeted investment in transportation infrastructure, ensuring that any expenditure sets out to achieve maximum returns and benefits in terms of national economic, energy, safety, and environmental goals.
On June 23, 2010, NTPP released a report, Transitioning to Performance-Based Federal Surface Transportation Policy, based on insights gleaned from a BPC-sponsored workshop led by national experts, congressional staff, and administration officials. The project hosted numerous briefings for the administration and members of Congress and their staff to educate them on the report’s findings.
On January 21, 2011, NTPP members Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Douglas J. "Doug" Holtz-Eakin is an American economist, former professor, former Director of the Congressional Budget Office and former chief economic policy adviser to U.S...
and Martin Wachs called on the White House and Congress to change their approach to transportation policy saying that “the nation can no longer afford to support poorly targeted investments when the needs are so great and public resources are so constrained.” The report Strengthening Connections Between Transportation Investments and Economic Growth, outlines three specific policy changes the White House and Congress can make to ensure that scarce public dollars are spent wisely and, at the same time, create employment opportunities in the short-term and contribute to the nation’s economic recovery in the long-term.
First, the report recommends that no new funds be allocated to existing transportation programs if they provide questionable job-creation, unclear long-term benefits or if the programs are solely an effort to increase short-term employment. Second, investments should be directed to programs that are both “shovel-ready” and provide long-term benefits. These investments can help ease unemployment while also building the nation’s economic future. Finally, federal transportation investments should not be constrained by the silos and restrictions that dominate the federal government’s existing surface transportation program.
On June 16, 2011, NTPP released Performance Driven: Achieving Wiser Investment in Transportation, a report lays out near-term actions that can be taken to restructure the nation’s surface transportation program. The recommended framework would streamline and consolidate over 100 existing transportation programs into 10 core programs, make transportation spending more sustainable by authorizing a program at existing revenue levels, and begin the transition to a performance-based system that is better able to leverage non-federal resources. The focus of the plan is to reform, consolidate and scale back the existing federal transportation program and make it targeted toward a set of specific national goals, including economic growth, national connectivity, metropolitan accessibility, energy security and environmental protection, and safety.
Annual Political Summit
Since 2009, BPC has brought together some of the nation’s leading Democratic and Republican political strategists for its annual political summit at Tulane UniversityTulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans, LA. Hosted by James Carville
James Carville
Chester James Carville, Jr. is an American political consultant, commentator, educator, actor, attorney, media personality, and prominent liberal pundit. Carville gained national attention for his work as the lead strategist of the successful presidential campaign of then-Arkansas governor Bill...
and Mary Matalin
Mary Matalin
Mary Joe Matalin is an American political consultant, well known for her work with the Republican Party. She was an assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney until 2003. Matalin has been chief editor of Threshold Editions, a conservative publishing imprint...
, the summit creates a forum to exchange ideas on how the two parties can effectively work together to tackle the problems facing the nation.
The 2010 summit kicked off with the release of the first independent post-election poll to gauge voters’ attitudes and the challenges facing the next Congress. The bipartisan survey, conducted by Republicans Ed Gillespie
Ed Gillespie
Edward W. Gillespie is an American Republican political strategist and former Counselor to the President in the George W. Bush White House. Gillespie, along with Jack Quinn, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore, founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a bipartisan lobbying firm...
and Whit Ayres and Democrat Stan Greenberg
Stan Greenberg
Stanley Bernard Greenberg is a leading Democratic pollster and political strategist who has advised the campaigns of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry, as well as hundreds of other candidates and organizations in the United States and around the world, including the former Bundeskanzler ...
, highlighted voters frustration with the current partisan tone in Washington, D.C. and the important role independents played in driving the election’s outcome.
Senior Fellows
- Bob Bennett (politician), former U.S. Senator from Utah
- Pete DomeniciPete DomeniciPietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici is an American Republican politician, who served six terms as a United States Senator from New Mexico, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state's history....
, former U.S. Senator from New Mexico - Byron DorganByron DorganByron Leslie Dorgan is a former United States Senator from North Dakota and is now a senior policy advisor for a Washington, DC law firm. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. In the Senate, he was Chairman of the Democratic...
, former U.S. Senator from North Dakota - Bill FristBill FristWilliam Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...
, former U.S. Senator from Tennessee and Senate Majority Leader - Dan GlickmanDan GlickmanDaniel Robert "Dan" Glickman is an American businessman and politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1995 until 2001, prior to which he represented the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas as a Democrat in Congress for 18 years. He was Chairman and CEO of the...
, former United States Secretary of AgricultureUnited States Secretary of AgricultureThe United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other... - James L. JonesJames L. JonesJames Logan Jones, Jr. is the former United States National Security Advisor and a retired United States Marine Corps General....
, former National Security AdvisorNational Security AdvisorA National Security Advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. He or she is not usually a member of the Cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils....
and Supreme Allied Commander Europe - Trent LottTrent LottChester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
, former U.S. Senator from Mississippi and Senate Majority Leader
Governors' Council
- Phil BredesenPhil BredesenPhilip Norman "Phil" Bredesen Jr. was the 48th Governor of Tennessee, serving from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected Governor in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006. He previously served as the fourth mayor of Nashville and Davidson County from 1991 to...
, former Governor of Tennessee - Jim DouglasJim DouglasJames H. Douglas is an American politician from the U.S. state of Vermont. A Republican, he was elected the 80th Governor of Vermont in 2002 and was reelected three times with a majority of the vote...
, former Governor of Vermont - Brad HenryBrad HenryCharles Bradford "Brad" Henry was the 26th Governor of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002...
, former Governor of Oklahoma - Linda LingleLinda LingleLinda Lingle was the sixth Governor of Hawaii. Lingle holds a number of distinctions: first Republican elected governor of Hawaii since the departure of William F...
, former Governor of Hawaii - Mike RoundsMike RoundsMarion Michael "Mike" Rounds is an American politician. Rounds served as the 31st Governor of South Dakota. Rounds was first inaugurated on January 7, 2003, having been elected on November 5, 2002, and was re-elected on November 7, 2006...
, former Governor of South Dakota - Ted StricklandTed StricklandTheodore "Ted" Strickland was the 68th Governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ....
, former Governor of Ohio