Third Way

Third Way represents Americans in the “vital center”—those who believe in pragmatic solutions and principled compromise, but who too often are ignored in Washington. Our mission is to advance moderate policy and political ideas, including: a series of grand economic bargains, a new approach to the climate crisis, progress on social issues like immigration reform, marriage for gay couples, tighter gun safety laws, and a credible alternative to neoconservative security policy. Our ideas have been used by the President, members of Congress, governors, mayors, and countless political candidates. Based on our record, the media has labeled us “the future of think tanks,” “incorrigible pragmatists,” “radical centrists,” and the “best source for new ideas in public policy.”

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2015 was a BIG year for Advanced Nuclear and Third Way is planning to build on these successes in 2016. After bringing together the leading nuclear innovators and policymakers for the Advanced Nuclear Summit, we are focused on continuing to highlight the incredible potential nuclear has in powering our nation and fighting climate change. 

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It is Craigslist for Guns.

Lanae Erickson Hatalsky discusses online gun sales and why the President’s executive orders will make communities safer on NPR. 

LISTEN HERE

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Buh-Bye

We're so glad to say buh-bye to NCLB! 

President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act into law today, ushering in a new era of K-12 education. "Today is one for the history books," observed our VP of Social Policy and Politics Lanae Erickson Hatalsky. "And a huge win."

Learn more about how the Every Student Succeeds Act changes NCLB in this memo from Third Way Education: http://bit.ly/1RjM6UK.

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It doesn’t take a nuclear engineer...

Even before the big announcement this week in Paris about new R&D funding for clean energy innovations, there was a lot to be excited about in the advanced nuclear industry and its potential to help us reach our climate goals. But conversations about the next-generation technology can get technical very quickly. 

So for everyone who didn’t major in nuclear engineering, Third Way Energy created the Advanced Nuclear 101 primer. Get up to speed on the promising technology earning support from 20 top nations and leading investors like Bill Gates. PhD not required.

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TPP Strikes Gold

TPP ensures union and collective bargaining rights, prohibits exploitative labor and employment discrimination, and requires acceptable work conditions. With the strongest — enforceable — labor protections of any trade deal, we can help American businesses and workers compete abroad, while protecting the rights of workers overseas. But don’t just take our word for it. See for yourself why TPP meets the gold standard on labor.

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This week some people have asked whether the size of the TPP makes it too big to pass. We have a simple answer for them—it takes more than a few pages to mandate the right to unionize and collective bargaining, minimum wage standards, workplace safety requirements, work-week limits, forced labor restrictions, and to end all child labor. Our Economic Program explains here → http://bit.ly/1SIH0zn.

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Ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership

The 12-nation agreement would benefit millions of people.

“...we have now gone through the TPP’s reams of legalese, which, ponderous as they may be, probably bear still more inspection in the days ahead — by the media, interest groups and Congress, which will have to pass the ultimate judgment. Like the critics, we see no big surprises. Where we part ways with them, of course, is in our view that the now-public agreement is, as advertised, a probable net plus for the United States and the Pacific Rim as a whole.” - The Washington Post   

The Washington Post weighs in on the trade debate today in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Now that the full text of the agreement has been made public, more people are getting a better insight into how the TPP helps American workers and businesses. Third Way has created a one stop shop for everything TPP as the American people and Congress review the text and elected officials prepare to vote on ratification.

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Our Support Shouldn’t End When Their Service Does

Today, 8 in 10 veterans leave the military with no job in sight and for those who find a job, 1 in 4 are stuck earning below-poverty wages. The reality is the transition back to civilian life is daunting for military families. As we celebrate Veteran’s Day, let’s offer more than our gratitude to those who have sacrificed so much on our behalf. Veterans can best be honored, we write on Medium, by being provided the tools to succeed in the workforce.

Our report, “Ready for the New Economy” offers ideas to help soldiers return to their families and be better equipped to pursue fulfilling careers outside of the military. We are calling for training centers to be established at military bases to assist soldiers so they re-enter the labor force with the competitive skills to not only support themselves, but to expand and strengthen America’s middle class. 

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Today at 1:00pm ET, the workhorse of zero-carbon energy will take center stage as the White House hosts its first-ever Summit on Nuclear Energy. 

Third Way President Jon Cowan moderates a discussion with policy and industry experts at 3:30pm on what the U.S. government can do to help develop the next generation of nuclear energy technology.

The summit comes at a moment when nuclear power could not be more important to meeting our climate goals and the world is gathering in Paris to discuss how to reach them. 

To help you get up to speed, we’ve got everything you should know about America’s advanced nuclear resurgence. Check out our backgrounder and be sure to tune in this afternoon!

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The economic fight within the Democratic Party

Starting at the end of the 1800s Kodak quickly become one of the most technologically advanced companies in the world, revolutionizing the field for over a century. By 1988, the company employed 145,000 people and grew to be worth $30 billion by 1997. Then, in the blink of an eye, the digital behemoth became virtually nonexistent. This was not the consequence of an unfair economic system, but rather dramatic changes in technology. Kodak was replaced by the iPhone and apps like Snapchat and Instagram.

As the plight of Kodak shows, the American economy has rapidly changed and must quickly adapt in order to thrive on a global scale. In Third Way’s Ready for the New Economy, we lay out 70+ policy recommendations to better equip our middle class with the skills to create prosperity in a globalized digital age.

The Washington Post lays out the competing economic visions for the Democratic Party in the 21st century. While many on the left “are pushing the idea that the rules of the economy must be de-rigged, if you will, for the middle class to thrive again,” our research shows another cause.

Populist economic arguments are simply not resonating with middle class Americans. The proof? Democrats hold the fewest number of legislative seats at the federal and state levels since 1928. In order to prepare the middle class to succeed in a new global, digital era, we need to build more skills, more jobs, and more wealth. Our latest report starts the conversation within the Democratic Party about how to remain competitive in a new economy.

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The consequences are dire

The threat of default has severe repercussions for the U.S. economy and the livelihood of American citizens. Policymakers must come to the table and figure out a solution before the dominoes of default begin to fall. 

For their retirement accounts...

...and the value of their homes...

...and the strength of the economy and number of jobs available.

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We need to go Back to the Future and build the plants they dreamed up in the labs of yesterday

While today is Back To The Future Day, our energy policies are still stuck in the past. 

Thankfully, Josh Freed from our Clean Energy Program writes, smart, young pioneers like Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie are leading the renaissance in nuclear energy. 

Leslie and Mark and many others are transforming and revitalizing the way we think about nuclear energy. But their work will take support and financing from the government to scale and test their designs, as well as significant revamp of the regulatory process to get the projects off the ground. But the pay off is a huge reason that Leslie and Mark got into nuclear engineering in the first place: the chance to make a big dent in the battle against climate change. 

“Advanced nuclear technology could hold a key to fighting climate change. It could also result in an enormous boon to the American economy. But only if we get there first.” 

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How to get the care you want at the end of life

A serious effort is underway to encourage patients to think about their wishes for end of life care — while they are still healthy. 

“Studies show that only 18-36% of American adults have completed an advance directive (AD)—written instructions that allow individuals to make decisions about their care ahead of time in case they become incapable of participating in these decisions later—and that less than 2% of individuals who have ADs have access to them when needed.”

But for even for those who have taken the time to write out an Advance Directive outlining their preferences and goals in medical treatment, too often those wishes haven’t been communicated to loved ones and are not easily accessible — stored in a filing system only they can understand — when health care decisions need to be made.

That’s the benefit of the local innovations featured in our report, “A Better End Of Life.” Patients can document their health care wishes through an app on their cell phone, which the patient is likely to have with them in the case of an emergency. 

Our report outlines 3 steps to promote advance care planning for all Americans.

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How good are professors at teaching? Right now, we don’t know.

For all the money the federal government spends on the K-12 education system, much of it on teacher quality, it spends twice as much subsidizing tuition at our nations colleges and universities. 

And yet, less than one-tenth of one percent of the federal budget goes to teacher quality in higher education. To ensure students are getting the most value from their degrees, that has to change. We’ve got 10 ideas to help improve the quality of college professors.

Create a national board certification process for professors.

Teach Ph.D. students to teach.

Require colleges to design and publish an instructional improvement plan for their schools.

Make community colleges a lab for better teaching.

Help colleges and universities tap into expertise at their schools of education.

Build in students’ rights protections against low-quality instruction.

Institute a competitive grant program to incentivize best practices.

Create a new federal teaching grant for higher education.

Require institutions to disclose the number of adjunct professors they hire.

Institute a National Professor of the Year award.

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“Members of Congress are extremely bad about talking about [marijuana].”

For years, many politicians have avoided the issue of marijuana, either by rallying behind the failed policies of the “war on drugs” or ignoring the potentially uncomfortable topic altogether. 

Now, with public opinion rapidly shifting, marijuana can no longer be considered a fringe issue. It was clear someone had to help members of Congress learn how to talk about marijuana, so we took on the task.

Based on our public opinion research on the “Marijuana Middle,” we spent over a year helping guide officials on how to talk to these moderate voters about sensible marijuana policy. The LA Times gives a behind the scenes look into our work with some unconventional partners to help advance better public policy.

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Our criminal justice policies are not working. At enormous cost, we are locking up non-violent offenders and making it incredibly different for anyone to achieve a second chance after they have paid their debt to society. That hurts not only the person in jail, but also their children. A lot of children.

Fortunately, senators and representatives from both sides of the aisle have found common ground and are working to reform our criminal justice system. 

We’re encouraging them — and their colleagues in both chambers of Congress — to go big on criminal justice reform. There’s a lot of people counting on them.

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92% of Americans agree: Congress should act.

Last week, we witnessed yet another horrific mass shooting. Our response can’t just be to mourn the lives cut short. We must also act to prevent any additional lives from being lost.  

This begins with instituting universal background checks to prevent anyone who should not have access to a weapon—from felons and gun runners to anyone with a history of violence— from exploiting the loopholes to acquire a gun. 

Not only are background checks fast and convenient, but they are supported by 92% of Americans and 77% of NRA members. We can protect the rights of responsible gun owners and protect the public from mass shootings at the same time. It’s time to pass common sense laws to reduce gun deaths.