Moving Ideas Newsletter

Why is the ‘war on drugs’ failing? Join us as we talk about one of the major social justice issues confronting our society today. In 1965, Senator Robert F. Kennedy said, “Solving [the drug problem] really means solving poverty and broken homes, racial discrimination and inadequate education, slums and unemployment...." According to US government estimates, more than 90 million Americans have used an illicit drug (including both major presidential candidates in 2000 and 2004). On the other hand, those who bear the brunt of the drug war in overwhelmingly disproportionate numbers are the poor and people of color. The US ‘war on drugs’ has caused tremendous collateral damage, destroyed the concept of equal justice and still failed to reduce hardcore drug abuse and addiction. This forum will examine the many shortcomings and harmful consequences of the US ‘war on drugs’. Sanho Tree, director of IPS’ Drug Policy Project, will lead the forum. When: Monday, December 5, 2005 6:45-8:45pm Where: 733 15th Street NW, Suite 1020 Washington DC (Metro Center or McPhearson Square) Registration:

Featuring: Congressman David Obey (D-WI), Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), Ranking Member, Committee on Financial Services Congressman David Price (D-NC), Member, Committee on Appropriations Congressman Tom Allen (D-ME), Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Coauthor, Broken Branch Moderated by: Scott Lilly, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress Growing public concern about government policies ranging from disaster relief to prescription drugs, the war in Iraq and mounting budget deficits are also raising questions about the process the government is using to make policy decisions. The recent string of revelations about misconduct of officials in both the legislative and executive branches has further heightened concern about how public business is now being conducted. Four prominent members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have spent their careers looking not only for the best policies but also for ways to improve the way Congress makes policies have come together around a set of reforms in House Rules to limit the influence of lobbyists, increase fiscal responsibility, curb abuses of power, end the 2 day work week, allow members to know what is in the legislation they are voting on before they cast their votes and allow full and open debate in conference committees where much of the real work of legislating takes place. They will unveil their package of institutional reforms for the first time at a luncheon panel discussion held at the Center for American Progress on Monday, December 5, 2005. Norman Ornstein, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the forthcoming book Broken Branch, and Scott Lilly, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, will join them. A symposium held last August by the Center for American Progress and the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University highlighted the shifting relationship between the Congress and the Executive Branch and the declining role of the House of Representatives as a forum for debate and consideration of the major issues facing the American people. Observations offered over the course of the symposium included: "the centralization of power in the White House is antithetical to the very nature of the system of government we live under and the failure of the Congress to insist on and enforce by any means necessary its authority is a serious threat to the continued functioning of the very system that has kept America free for more than two centuries…what is needed is serious surgery: the Congress needs a backbone." Mickey Edwards, former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma There "is a sharp decline in the deliberative process at almost every level. The nature of the schedule, the way in which committees and floor procedure have played out, a lack of interest in working through legislation so that you get good legislation even if it takes a little longer…a decline in respect for regular order." Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar American Enterprise Institute We have an "Invisible Congress." Andrew Rudalevige, Author, "The New Imperial Presidency" "Committee hearings have become sort of PR events." Walter Pincus, Reporter, Washington Post

The Alliance Invites You to Attend a Breakfast Forum on... "High School Achievement Forum on the New Teacher Center's Six Key Strategies for Teachers of English Language Learners."

Please join us for a briefing on the findings of the survey "A Generation In Transition: A Survey of Bay State Baby Boomers" and a roundtable discussion about the implications and challenges raised by the report. When: Friday, December 2, 2005 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM Where: Westin Copley Place Boston South Ballroom 10 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA RSVP:

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