Economy

President-elect Obama is making sure people actually pay attention to the weekly radio address by putting it on YouTube.

Here's the first one:

Here's three things worth looking at, but not really meriting a full blog post:

• Kay Steiger at Pushback reminds us that today is veterans day with this excellent post about three major veterans issues.
• The Center for American Progress takes note of Millennials' pro-government philosophy and concern with the economy. There's no new data here, but this report does pull together the most relevant strands from a variety of reports they issued earlier in the year. It's a good Cliff's Note/summary of all that work.
• Black Youth Vote is prepping for a conference in D.C. this week to "train young leaders and activists on how to impact public policy and hold elected officials accountable." BYV is a strange group to me. They're never very high on my radar and I don't know a thing about what they did this year. They are very disconnected from the other threads of youth organizing - at least the ones that I'm familiar with. Yet they always pop their heads back up now and again. Maybe they need a better communications team.
• The Center for Economic and Policy Research has done a good job debunking the anti-social safety net film IOUSA. Here's their latest effort.

The Center for American Progress recently released a report titled "Millennial Economics: It Don't Matter If You're Black or White." The report, written by Amanda Logan and David Madland, describes the Millennial Generation's view on economic policy as increasingly homogenous across racial lines.

On a range of economic issues—from support for universal health care and labor unions to assistance for the needy—minorities in the Millennial Generation are generally more progressive than whites of the same age. Young blacks and Hispanics are more likely than young whites to believe that the government can be a force for good in the economy, and that labor unions are necessary to ensure strong and sustainable economic growth, as well as support increased investments in health care, education, and other areas.

Perhaps the most unique trait of the Millennial Generation is that the gap between young minorities and young whites is shrinking. Not only are young adults today more progressive than previous generations—as a previous Center for American Progress report, “The Progressive Generation,” found—but they are more likely to hold similar views than previous generations of young adults. Young whites today are closing the progressive gap with minorities on most of the economic issues we examined—and on some issues have become more progressive.

So what?

Well one thing is obvious: as we move into the future, Millennials are in the process of solidifying their liberalism. The demographics speak to this solidification:

• Over the past 20 years, an average of 86 percent of blacks aged 18 to 29 agreed that labor unions are necessary to protect workers, while 72 percent of young whites agreed—a
  14 percentage-point progressive gap.
• Today the gap is just 2 percentage points. Forty-six percent of young Hispanics over the past two decades believed it is the gov- ernment’s responsibility to ensure a good job and standard of living for all, while just 35 percent of young whites did—a gap of 11 percentage points. Today, the gap is less than 6 percentage points.

Matt Zeitlin from pushback makes the relevant observation: -- white Millennials are diverging from their parents' more conservative views, while minority Millennials are maintaining the already liberal viewpoints of their parents. With a more united, progressive, and engaged Millennial generation, there's reason for Millennial activists and bloggers to be optimistic. Thanks to Matthew Yglesias, here's a chart demonstrating the Millennials' convergence on the issue of health care compared to older generations of Americans:

Furthermore, Millennials are breaking the lock Republicans have put on the political dialogue thanks to their devotion to quality of life issues. In 1968, Nixon succeeded in getting many whites to vote against their fears and not for their economic quality of life. In subsequent elections, Americans held political views that were formed along cultural fault lines; the Republican Party and its candidates seized on Nixon's example and for decades were successful in setting up sideshow after sideshow to distract Americans from their failed economic philosophy. But eventually it all catches up. And with the political awakening of the Millennials, that time is now for the GOP.

Here we have a generation focused on progress. Their pragmatic approach toward making things better undermines the GOP's effort to distract them with things like tales of people named William Ayers. A focus on the economy and quality of life issues is far more appropriate for meritocratic Millennials than the latest symbol forming a battleground for a Boomer-style ideological struggle. So now that economic issues are the name of the game, the liberal viewpoints of the Millennials have even greater weight.

Add into that the noted tolerance of Millennials on social issues, and the possibility of building a solid political coalition increases even more. The political awakening of Millennials is occurring at just the time we as a society need it.

When the Dow dropped another 700 points yesterday I joked with my friends that I was lucky because I was already poor so it really couldn't get much worse.

The truth is, despite the impoverished life of a post-grad blogger, even students who don't yet have to pay their loans back are having a hard time making ends meet, getting student loans, and even grants and scholarships.

The federal government pledged a $700 billion bailout to help Wall Street recover with the hope that normal American's would receive a trickle of what they get at the top. It is no surprise that Millennials are also feeling the effects of the financial crisis and that those effects will continue to also trickle down.

Federal loans will still remain available, thanks in part to the new democratic congress, but private loans might be dwindling despite million dollar endowments.

"Across the country, such a fiscal nightmare has caused some banks to impose stricter requirements for lending, which can have the effect of excluding more students from loans. Such loans could soon have higher interest rates, economists say." says the Daily Iowan

Larger institutions are the safest particularly in states with higher economies that can support their own institutions.

"When asked whether these new developments might force Yale to reconsider its new financial-aid policy, Storlazzi responded emphatically that "Yale has budgeted far into the future, and the University will have absolutely no difficulty in continuing to offer one of the most comprehensive financial-aid programs in the country," says the Yale Daily News

However, Inside Higher Ed reports that such large institutions are also more likely to lose money with investments, because

"the restrictions placed on the availability of money from the Common Fund for Short Term Investments (pdf), in which about 900 colleges store some of their financial assets. As of Wednesday, Commonfund, which manages the fund, had ensured that colleges would have access to about a third of their money (pdf), and relatively few institutions are so dependent on the money they have invested in the short-term fund that the restrictions on it will dramatically hurt them."

In these times of uncertainty it is essential we question our leaders and those seeking office of their plans to continue to support funding for youth who seek an education. Following the election it is even more essential we begin efforts to communicate those demands to policy makers.

This is a pretty substance-heavy Quick Hits. Any one of the items here should merit a full blog post. There's just not enough time, damn it! Not enough time . . .

• CNN Money has an almost great segment on how the economic downturn may be driving young voters to the polls. My only quibble - in the final line the reporter claims that in the past "young people were eager to register, but not to vote." That's just not true. 80% of registered young voters actually cast a ballot on election day. Registration is the problem, not turnout. Or, as I've been saying - higher youth turnout is not about curing apathy but increasing access. (h/t Chris Kennedy of Rock the Vote)

• In the wake of GOP voter suppression efforts that have ensnared young people and veterans in Montana, Forward Montana has launched Montana Voter Suppression (.org), a website to track, report, and prevent voter suppression efforts in the state. Earlier today, the group also held a protest in front of the office of MT Rep Dennis Rehberg's office. Rehberg's chief of staff, Erik Iverson, is the Chair of Montana GOP, the group behind the voter challenges.
• Speaking of voter suppression, Nancy Scola and Allison Fine have a spectacular post over at Tech President detailing how Twitter could be used as an election protection tool.
• GQRR has a new poll out, this time of women. The results show that unmarried women, including many young women, are the key to Obama's success among that demographic. Unmarried women are supporting Obama 62 - 33%. So much for the "Palin Effect."

• In Kansas, Jim Slattery is embarking on a campus tour to drum up youth support for his Senate campaign. All down-ballot candidates should consider this if they want to ride the youth wave to its fullest. As much as we'd like to think they do, Obama's coattail don't necessarily extend all the way down the ballot.
• Veterans group IAVA issued it's congressional score card today, and John McCain earned a big fat D. The Disabled Veterans of American didn't score him much better, giving the Senator a 20% rating. So much for supporting the troops.

A new report from the Center for American Progress notes that on a number of core progressive issues, the gap between people of color and whites is radically shrinking - if not erased - among young Americans:

• Over the past 20 years, an average of 86 percent of blacks aged 18 to 29 agreed that labor unions are necessary to protect workers, while 72 percent of young whites agreed—a 14 percentage-point progressive gap. Today the gap is just 2 percentage points.

• Forty-six percent of young Hispanics over the past two decades believed it is the government’s responsibility to ensure a good job and standard of living for all, while just 35 percent of young whites did—a gap of 11 percentage points. Today, the gap is less than 6 percentage points.

• An average of 55 percent of young blacks and 54 percent of young Hispanics over the past 20 years have supported universal health care provided by the government, while 45 percent of young whites held this view. Today, young whites are slightly more supportive of universal government-provided health care than young Hispanics and nearly as supportive as young blacks.

• Over the last two decades, an average of 88 percent of young blacks and 83 percent of young Hispanics thought federal spending for education should be increased, compared
to 78 percent of young whites. Today, Millennial generation whites have nearly cut in half the gap between themselves and young blacks and have overtaken Hispanics.

• An average of 85 percent of blacks, 72 percent of Hispanics, and 51 percent of whites aged 18 to 29 over the past two decades have supported increased federal spending for the poor—a gap of 34 percentage points between young blacks and young whites and 21 percentage points between young Hispanics and young whites. In the most recent survey, whites had reduced the gap with blacks by almost 10 percentage points and had cut it in half with Hispanics.

So what is causing this shift and consolidation in political philosophy among Millennials? The report looks at the economy as a potential catalyst for this shift among young white voters:

Young adults today have more similar views perhaps because they face a common economic struggle. Millennials are confronting far more significant economic challenges than other recent generations—such as lower rates of health care coverage, worse job prospects, and higher levels of student loan debt—and are likely reacting to the conservative policies that have created much of their financial difficulties. It also appears that the gap is closing in part because young minorities tend to keep the progressive views of their elders, while young whites are increasingly rejecting the more conservative views of elder whites.

This is generally in keeping with what we've seen in partisan politics. Millennials are self-identifying as Democrats in greater numbers than ever before, and even at levels of 50 - 29% over Republicans. Young voters are showing their support for Obama at a rate of 2 - 1 over John McCain.

What this new CAP reports adds to the discussion is evidence that this isn't about a cult of personality. It's about issues and core philosophies about the roles and responsibilities of government. As no other generation in recent times, Millennials are forging a generational policy consensus around economic issues and the role of government. It's still nothing more than potential energy that needs to be activated and mobilized towards a legislative agenda, but this is a good sign and something that the November 5th Coalition, Gen Vote, HCAN, and We Can Solve It can build off of post-election.

The Obama campaign just released a new two minute ad responding to the crisis. Still nothing in it specifically addressing the economic concerns of young people, but I do dig the language about helping the middle class. I think it does a pretty good job of framing Republican economic policies as anti-middle class.

The Wall St. bailout has failed, and the stock market is tanking. I don't have anything particularly useful to add to that discussion. I'm still trying to get my head around it myself.

In the meantime, as we're all glued to the TV watching this unfold as the Dow continues to drop, I'll point you to this article at MTV.com covering Barack Obama's thoughts on how this all will affect young voters. It's not hugely satisfying, and sometime very soon I would like to hear from Obama in great detail about what the bailout and the financial crisis mean for young voters, as well as the policies we want to see enacted. At this point, this is all we've got:

On a related note, I think David Sirota is probably right. No matter how necessary the bailout is, $700 billion now, if not 1 trillion, is going to knee-cap any progressive agenda during an Obama Presidency.

Hold onto your hats. Every link today is pure youthy awesomeness and should be read. In no particular order, but with extra commentary:

• Conservative reporter Carl Cannon, writing at conservative outlet Reader's Digest, reports that pollsters are probably underestimating the youth vote this year.
• The LA Times reports that Obama wins the Xbox/Rock the vote primary, but wonders if young gamers will actually vote. As we know from the recent Pew study, the answer is yes.
• Our own Sarah Burris has an excellent piece over at WireTap grading the RNC and the DNC for their inclusion of youth. It's comprehensive and enlightening and unexpected to see where each convention excelled and where they inevitably fell short.
• There is a lot of chatter lately among youth organizers about finding ways to reach high school students. One answer may be Channel One, the news/advertising network played in so many homerooms across the country. The channel recently launched One Vote 2008 to cover the elections. Now if we could only get our folks in front of their cameras . . .
• Youth Vote '08 covers the launch of Generation WE, a new study on Millennials. We'll have more about this in the coming days.
• In the Washingtonian, Garrett Graff thinks that Millennials will cost McCain the election.
• Michael Moore's Slacker Uprising is now available for download.
• Rock the Vote's new poll gets some coverage from UPI and The Nation.
• In cooperation with PayPal, MySpace deploys a new system to raise money for nonprofits through its network.

• Early voting begins today in Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia. If that's where you live, stop reading this and go vote!
• Next week is Ohio's "Golden Week," when you can register to vote and cast your ballot on the same day. If you want to go help out in the state next week, volunteer here.
• The National Conference on Citizenship released its Third Civic Health Index today. They also held their annual conference today (which I was supposed to attend - apologies to all for not making it down). I'll have more later, but for now, you can read another blogger's take here.
• 29-year-old Nate Willems, also a blogger, is running for State Senate in Iowa. Best of luck, Nate, and we'd love to have you here anytime to blog about the experience.
• Turns out that email is not a dying medium among today's youth afterall. (Warning, this link will take you to the most obnoxious sign-up process in history. Go at your own risk).
• Trying to wrap your head around this economic mess we now find ourselves in? Go read this article in The Nation.
• FiveThirtyEight.com notes that some folks are getting their feathers ruffled as the Obama campaign directs funds away from swag like lawn signs towards other things like field work. Oh, the horror! Hey, sounds right to me.
• Michael Moore is encouraging everyone to download his new movie, "Slacker Uprising," about his tour of colleges and universities in 2004. Moore will by live blogging on Daily Kos tonight at 11pm Eastern.
• The Swing Semester Syllabus is now online.
• The Daily Pennsylvanian has an excellent interview with Howard Dean about the role of young people in this election and remaking the Democratic Party.
• P. Diddy may be off on the sidelines, uploading crazy-ass YouTube videos every week, but celebrity-driven politics is bigger than ever. Ad Week has the skinny.
• New York State College Dems are gearing up for the election. So are a lot of College Dem chapters, but NYS keeps popping up in my Google Alerts and on blogs. They've got a much larger online footprint than other College Dem chapters, which is a good thing. That's how you get noticed. More chapters should be as active within the blogosphere.
• This is funny. A Republican candidate is crying foul over her loss in a recent primary. The crime? Her opponent registered and GOTV'd too many College Republicans. I'm sure there's a joke about eating your young in there . . .