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Capital Formation Newsletter
July-August, 2007, Vol. 32, N0. 4
Obama Campaign Advisor Speaks at ACCF Project
100 Days
New Directors Elected to ACCF Board
ACCF Makes the News
ACCF Holds 152nd Economic Policy Evening
New Democrat Economic Policy Agenda Is Focus of
153rd ACCF Evening
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Obama Campaign Advisor Speaks at ACCF
Project 100 Days
"Keeping the ‘engine of economic growth’ going is
one of Senator Barack Obama’s top concerns, but he also understands
that we must pay attention to those who do not stand to benefit,
or the pro-growth consensus falls apart,” Profesor Austan Goolsbee,
the Robert P.Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago
Graduate School of Business and columnist for the New York Times,
told ACCF supporters. Professor Goolsbee, the Obama campaign’s
top economic advisor, spoke on July 19 at the third session of the
ACCF forum series, Conversations with the Economic Advisors to
the 2008 Presidential Candidates.
Professor Goolsbee explained that Senator Obama’s
approach on issues before the country is that we are frequently
re-fighting old battles. These rabid debates are often counterproductive.
The Senator believes there must be different and better approaches,
not just the same old arguments.
Healthcare is the domestic centerpiece of Senator Obama’s
economic policy agenda for the country, Professor Goolsbee said.
“The Senator believes that every American has the right to
affordable health care. We need to develop a detailed approach to
figure out how to fix the health care system we have. Senator Obama
does not believe that the health care system’s problems can
be solved by simply increasing coverage. His primary focus is on
getting health care costs down. He also wants improvements in technology,
as well as a stronger emphasis on improving preventive care and
care for those with chronic illnesses.” Globalization is a
second key issue at the core of Senator Obama’s economic policy
perspective. The Senator recognizes that we must deal with the economic
insecurity caused by open markets. The third key issue is education,
which was also a very important issue to the Senator when he was
in the Illinois State Legislature. He believes strongly in investment
in human capital and thinks teachers need to be supported.
Turning to energy and climate policy, Professor Goolsbee said,
"Senator Obama has called for more research and development
to promote alternative energy sources and energy independence, has
favored a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
and has made one of his main areas of focus finding ways to keep
the burden of going green from landing on the working and middle
class families in this country. The trick is trying to do all three
at the same time."
Addressing a question raised at the session, Professor Goolsbee
noted that finding a political consensus on the path forward for
Social Security is proving difficult. “Senator Obama believes
that if you try a partisan approach to Social Security, it won’t
fly. The best bet is to tackle Social Security the same way President
Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O ’Neill did: put everything
on the table.”
New Directors Elected to ACCF Board
The American Council for Capital Formation is pleased to announce
the election of three distinguished former members of Congress,
the Hon. Jim Kolbe, the Hon. Dave McCurdy and the Hon. Michael G.
Oxley, to the ACCF ’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Kolbe is a Senior Transatlantic Fellow for the German Marshall
Fund United States. He also is an adjunct Professor in the College
of Business at the University of Arizona and serves on a part-time
basis as a strategic consultant with Kissinger-McLarty Associates.
Mr. Kolbe served for 22 years in the U.S. House of Representatives
where he represented the 8th (previously designated the 5th) Congressional
District. An ardent advocate of free trade, he served for 20 years
on the House Appropriations Committee where, for the last six years
he was in Congress, he served as chairman of the Subcommittee on
Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Agencies.
Mr. McCurdy is president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers,
a trade association of nine car and light truck manufacturers. An
acknowledged expert in public policy and a passionate spokesman
for American innovation, he came to the Alliance after serving as
president and CEO of the Electronics Industry Association (EIA)
for eight years. Earlier, Mr.McCurdy had a distinguished career
in the U.S. House of Representatives where he spent 14 years representing
the 4th Congressional District of Oklahoma. During his congressional
service, Mr.McCurdy held several leadership positions, including
serving as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He was
also co-founder and national chairman of the Democratic Leadership
Council. Mr.McCurdy was chairman and CEO of the McCurdy Group, L.L.C.,
a business and consulting practice.
Mr. Oxley, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from
2001 through 2006, is of counsel to the law firm Baker Hostetler
and also serves as vice chairman of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.
He represented the 4th Congressional District of Ohio in the U.S.House
of Representatives for 25 years. Mr.Oxley is best known for his
co-authorship of the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which
created a new accounting oversight board for publicly traded companies.
A member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee from 1983 to
2001, he is well known for his knowledge of federal telecommunications
and energy policy. Prior to his election to Congress, Mr.Oxley was
a special agent of the FBI and a member of the Ohio General Assembly.
ACCF Makes the News
On July 24, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist Margo
Thorning testified as an invited witness before the Senate Environment
& Public Works Subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions
to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection. To read Dr.Thorning’s
testimony, go to http://www.accf.org/pdf/test-energy-july242007.pdf.
On July 18, an op-ed on “A Lobbying Lesson for Tax Cuts,
from 1978,” by ACCF president & CEO Mark Bloomfield appeared
in the Capitol Hill publication, The Hill. To read the op-ed,
go to http://www.accf.org/publications/articles/hill-jul182007.html.
On July 11, Dr. Margo Thorning, managing director of the International
Council for Capital Formation, appeared as an invited witness before
the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, Pacific and the
Global Environment’s hearing on “The Kyoto Protocol: An
Update.” To read the testimony, go to http://www.iccfglobal.org/pdf/energy-security071107.pdf.
ACCF Holds 152nd Economic Policy Evening
On July 24, the American Council for Capital Formation
brought together leading members of Congress, aviation industry
experts from think tanks and journalists who cover aviation issues
for major publications to consider The Future of Aviation: will
we modernize our air traffic control system to ensure all have access
to the nation’s airways, or settle for limits on flights and access,
inefficiencies and a weakened economy? The session was the ACCF’s
152nd policy evening. Pictured left to right:1) Mark Bloomfield,
ACCF president and CEO, Representative Richard E. Neal (D-MA), and
Representative Jim McCrery (R-LA); 2) John P. Heimlichh, vice president
and chief economist, Air Transport Association of America, Inc.,
and Michael D. Scott, managing director and head of U.S. Government
Entities, Banc of America Securities; 3) James C. May, president
and CEO, Air Transport Association of America, Inc., Representative
Philip S. English (R-PA), and Saundra Torry, editorial writer, USA
Today; 4) Dorothy Robyn, principal, the Brattle Group, Clifford
Winston, senior fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution,
Mr.Scott, and Don Phillips, freelance reporter; 5) Mr. Phillips,
Kathleen Schalch, general assignment reporter, National Desk, National
Public Radio and Mr.May; and 6) Robert J. Samuelson, columnist,
The Washington Post, Dr. Daniel P. Kaplan, director, LECG,
LLC, and Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief
economist.
New Democrat Economic Policy
Agenda Is Focus of 153rd ACCF Evening
The ACCF hosted its 153rd Economic Policy Evening
on July 25 with members of the House New Democrat Coalition, business
leaders and journalists from leading publications. The New Democrat
Coalition is committed to enacting policies that maintain U.S.competitiveness,
meet the challenges of globalization in the 21st century and strengthen
our nation’s security. Pictured left to right: 1) Kelly D.
Johnston, vice president, Government Affairs, Campbell Soup Company,
Mark Bloomfield, ACCF president & CEO, and Alex Flint, senior
vice president, Governmental Affairs, Nuclear Energy Institute;
2) Hon. Kenneth E. Bentsen, president, Equipment Leasing and Finance
Association, and David C.Weinstein, executive vice president, Fidelity
Investments; 3) Keith N. Cole, director, Legislative and Regulatory
Affairs, General Motors Corporation, and Damian Paletta, banking
and financial services reporter, Dow Jones Newswires; 4) Steven
Mufson, energy correspondent, The Washington Post, and Representative
John B. Larson (D-CT); 5) John Cochran, senior correspondent, ABC
News, Mr.Johnston, and James C. May, president and CEO, Air Transport
Association of America, Inc.; and 6) Representative Larson, Dr.
Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist,
and Mr. Bloomfield.
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