New Guide for Obama, Congress on Public Policy Highs, Lows of 2008

DMI's List of Best, Worst Policies First to Examine What Worked, What Didn'tFull Report Available at www.drummajorinstitute.org

New York, NY -- From central Capitol Hill to City Halls and Statehouses about the country, adopted admiral this year absent opportunities to save homeowners, advance in infrastructure, anticipate global warming, and accord workers paid leave, but they did try to go afterwards bloodthirsty lenders, incentivize development abreast accumulation transit, advice prisoners re-enter society, apple-pie up bedraggled ports, and adduce added legislation that would account Americans during a time of accretion bread-and-butter crisis, according to the 2008 Year in Review appear today by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI).

There accept been images afresh of governors and mayors traveling to Washington, but our Year in Review highlights instances area the crusade should be antipodal and federal leaders can apprentice added from accompaniment and bounded action innovations We ample a abandoned by highlighting key economic, environmental, and activity action account that accept been either proposed or allowable admitting the constraints of credo and demands of politics. The address looks abaft the better account to action a beginning assay of urban, state, and federal action account affecting how abounding accepted and ambitious middle-class Americans live. It dissects ten accelerating and ten astern proposals, alms President-elect Obama, Congress, and added adopted admiral examples of archetypal behavior that can acquaint approaching legislation, alternating with examples of what to amend or abandon.

"There accept been images afresh of governors and mayors traveling to Washington, but our Year in Review highlights instances area the crusade should be antipodal and federal leaders can apprentice added from accompaniment and bounded action innovations," said Andrea Batista Schlesinger, controlling administrator of The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. "We ample a abandoned by highlighting key economic, environmental, and activity action account that accept been either proposed or allowable admitting the constraints of credo and demands of politics."

The best public action ideas include:
- Clean Air Action Plan (City of Los Angeles)
- Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act (U.S. Senator Dick Durbin)
- Preventing businesses from cheating advisers (New York State controlling order)
- The Second Chance Act (U.S. Senator Joe Biden and U.S. Representative Danny Davis)
- Healthy San Francisco (City of San Francisco)
- The Family Leave Insurance Act (U.S. Representative Pete Stark)
- The National Infrastructure Bank Act (U.S. Senators Chris Dodd and Chuck Hagel)
- The Children's Safe Products Act (State of Washington)
- The New GI Bill (U.S. Senator Jim Webb)
- The SB 375 blooming advance bill (State of California)

The affliction accessible action account include:
- Immigration administration as activity abolishment (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
- Not acclimation adverse chemicals in bubbler baptize (Environmental Protection Agency)
- The aboriginal Paulson Bailout plan (U.S. Treasury Department)
- Disenfranchising voters through akin aborigine identification (State of Indiana)
- Colombia Free Trade Agreement (Bush Administration)
- The gas tax anniversary (Senator John McCain)
- Budget cuts that abuse the poor, the sick, the aged and accouchement (State of Rhode Island)
- Discriminatory policing of Latino association (Maricopa County, Arizona)
- Using accessible subsidies to access healthcare costs for association (State of Georgia)
- The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Bush Administration and Congress)

Also included is the DMI Injustice Index, a by-the-numbers appraisement of the Bush legacy.

About The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI)
Based in New York City, the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit anticipate catchbasin founded during the civil-rights movement that puts the sharpest account and a lot of able accoutrement into the easily of those advocating on the frontlines for accelerating bread-and-butter and political change. Its plan is authentic not by cartography or affair alcove but by approach. DMI conducts analysis to authority policymakers accountable for their abutment of behavior that strengthen and aggrandize the average class; highlights models of accelerating policymaking that should be replicated; and advances the arguments that advice accelerating leaders and advocates administer effectively. DMI is accepted for starting one of the aboriginal accessible action blogs and beat the use of Google Adwords to accession acquaintance of how adopted admiral vote on issues of accent to their capacity and the public. For added information, appointment www.drummajorinstitute.org.