Even by the low standards of American TV news, the so-called journalists who ran last night’s Democratic debate on ABC were a disgrace to their profession. TV critic Tom Shales nailed it in today’s Washington Post in a column titled: In the Pa. Debate, ABC is the Clear Loser.

For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, [Charles] Gibson and [George] Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with…

Amen! The tragedy is the missed chance to ask interesting questions that would let voters see how the candidates think on their feet and how much (or little) they know about the urgent problems that confront the U.S. and the world.

Questions are a powerful tool to inform and frame the debate. Here’s one I wish had been asked: “Food shortages have led to protests and riots around the world. Explanations include high oil prices, rising global demand, crop failures due to climate change, and bio-fuel subsidies — including U.S. subsidies for ethanol made from corn. At the same time, many Americans are angry about high gas prices and worried about dependence on foreign oil. What’s your view on calls to end U.S. ethanol subsidies?”

Such a question is hardly far-fetched. The issue received lots of attention yesterday at a White House press briefing from serious working reporters who track real issues and do their homework. Too bad ABC didn’t get some of them to run the debate!

The good news is that I’m not the only one feeling fed up with the networks and ABC in particular. By mid-afternoon today ABC’s website had logged more than 15,000 comments, most of which seemed to be complaining about the moderators. (I’m adding mine and hope you will add one, too!) The live audience in the hall wasn’t pleased either. The Huffington Post has a great clip of Charles Gibson getting booed when he announces yet another commercial interruption just before the final set of questions.

Unfortunately, the other TV news network debates have been only marginally better when it comes to using the debates to help Americans make informed choices about the U.S. role in the world. Is it any wonder that the audience for TV network news is down to a mere 25 million, and falling by about a million a year?

Delve deeper into the world of microcredit in this interview with David Roodman, a Research Fellow at the Center for Global Development, whose expertise includes microfinance. He speaks about microcredit in the context of the full-length documentary film, “The New Silver,” from which our short film, “How Do you Solve a Problem like Maria’s?” was excerpted.

Interested in seeing the full-length film? Shortly, we will release four films from the “A Dollar a Day” international documentary series produced by EMF Films.

Interested in hosting a screening? These full-length films are a great way to springboard a discussion between friends, church-groups, student groups—anyone who is engaged in the many topics contained within global development. Sign up here to be notified when we launch our “Host-a-Screening” program.

Check out these compelling videos from one of our partners. Care seeks to reduce global poverty through community-based outreach focusing on women.

You can learn more about Care and the rest of our partners on our How Can I Help? page.

Are you a Super Power giving development assistance? Geography lesson required!
Check out this video from The Onion that’s just a bit too close to the truth:

Nation Of Andorra Not In Africa, Shocked U.S. State Dept. Reports

The CEO of the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC),Ambassdaor Danilovich, spoke at a press conference marking its fourth anniversary. The MCC was created by congress in order to further “smart aid,” which is development assistance that is based on the performance of the partner countries. The idea is to produce tangible results in the fight against global poverty. Danilovich also said that it’s the best way to sustain the positive impacts after the aid has ended. He outlined the three main principles of MCC: 1) Partner countries go through a significant review process and only countries with good polices will receive aid. 2) Partner countries must develop and implement their own path out of poverty. 3) Partner countries must identify from the outset what goals the aid will bring about.

You can read the full text here on the U.S. Department of State’s website.

The Millenium Challenge Corporation is in charge of the Millenium Challenge Account (MCA), which receives funds assigned annually by Congress.

Learn more about the MCC and the MCA on the Center for Global Development’s MCA Monitor Blog or on the MCC’s website.

This post appeared yesterday in the Center for Global Development’s blog, Views from the Center.

After drowning in Iowa analysis and New Hampshire speculation on Sunday, I was delighted that The Simpsons jumped on the election bandwagon with last night’s episode “E Pluribus Wiggum,” (watch the episode online), in which 8-year-old, paste-eating Ralph Wiggum is written in as Springfield’s presidential nominee. As the Simpson family watches “Decision ‘08″ (with accompanying Fox News-ESQUE bald-eagle-flying-into-voter-booth graphic) Lisa delights in how Springfield is the center of the political universe and likens herself to being a “pundit in a think tank.” In a surprising move, the usually donut-centric Homer picks up on his daughter’s reference in wondering “Think tank, eh?” as a thought bubble reveals the logo for “The Center for Global Progress,” Center for Global Development?complete with a globe-shaped logo that looks remarkably like CGD’s. The shot pulls back to reveal a small conference table with wonks discussing… wait for it…the World Bank’s lending policy to Micronesia!

Hmmm…Could it be? Did The Simpsons just spoof CGD? You be the judge! That was certainly the chatter this morning around our coffee maker. Without wanting to appear presumptuous, we would love to think that our reputation reaches well beyond the beltway. But hey, even if CGD was not the model (although the thought bubble conference room looks an awful lot like our conference room here at the Center!) its surely a good sign for global development policy that public awareness has reached the point where The Simpsons is spoofing our community’s work. And–cue to thought bubble–just imagine a world where exposure leads to awareness, which in turn leads to action. As Homer might say: “Think tank, eh?”

As you’ve probably heard, Obama and Huckabee were the winners of last night’s Iowa Caucus.

In Obama’s victory speech, he gave a nod to climate change and poverty as some of the topics he would address as president. In December, Obama committed to strengthen our security through a global development strategy.

Watch his speech:

Huckabee also mentioned some global development issues when he appeared on the “Early Show” the morning of the caucus. He said people “in the Republican establishment think I’m a little too liberal for them because I actually care about hunger, poverty, disease and the environment.”

Watch the segment:

The race for nomination is far from over—make sure to check out the rest of the candidates’ stands on global development issues on our candidate page and on One.org’s On the Record page.

UNICEF released a report that shows our progress towards the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, which seek to unite countries’ efforts to improve education, halt the spread of AIDS, alleviate poverty, and more. We are making some advances–more than 1.2 billion people gained access to safe drinking water between 1990 and 2004, and since 2000, the use of insecticide-treated nets among children has tripled in many cases in Malaria-affected countries. However, there is much more to be done, and we are not on track to achieving many of the goals. If we are going to reach these goals by the target date of 2015, we must improve rich country policy.

Here’s a good video that gives you an overview of the Millennium Development Goals:

You can also read this article in the Guardian to learn more.

The One Campaign just posted the results of their “On the Record” project that compares the presidential candidates’ plans on global poverty and disease.

One Campaign members sent a petition in November urging the candidates to respond to issues that One members cared about. Most of the candidates participated, mainly in the form of video responses. The website is a great resource—and an especially cool feature is that you can compare several candidates side by side and then send the results to your friends.

See how the candidates responded “On the Record.”

Immigration has been a hot topic during this election season—and immigration impacts global development quite a bit. Increasing labor mobility can improve the economic conditions of both rich and developing countries.

As you may know, yesterday the Republican presidential candidates gathered for the CNN YouTube Republican Debates. Here are some highlights dealing with immigration:

Check out this playlist to see all the candidates talk about this contentious issue:

Missed the Democrats on YouTube? Here’s the recap of the CNN YouTube Democrat Debates.