Deficit hawks beware: the evidence is piling up against fiscal austerity. In the latest issue of Challenge magazine, Roosevelt Institute Fellows Mike Konczal and Arjun Jayadev's paper The Boom Not the Slump is highlighted alongside the likes of Robert Pollin and Lane Kenworthy. Konczal and Jayadev's study revisits the argument in favor of cutting the deficit now in order to achieve growth. It finds that this will only hold true under very particular circumstances -- which are nothing like what we're experiencing now. So while the country is focused on the Simpson-Bowles plan to cut the deficit, we all might want to think twice about whether that will get us out of this mess.

Robert Kuttner has a bold, brilliant idea: After the midterm Democratic losses, President Obama doesn't just need a staff shuffle. He needs to create a Team B to challenge the stagnant ideas he's been hearing on the economy. Kuttner puts it kindly: "Obama's A-Team of political advisers did not exactly shine." So here's his plan:

He should invite in about six or eight smart people who have a very different view of how he should be leading. He should give them an extended opportunity to make their case, without his usual advisers in the room. Then David Axelrod, Pete Rouse, Jim Messina, Valerie Jarrett et al. should be given a chance to rebut.

The worst team Obama had, in his view, was the economic one. So who does Kuttner envision as the fresh faces to give Obama's economic policies a jolt of energy and enthusiasm? Roosevelt Institute fellows Joseph Stiglitz, Rob Johnson, and Mike Konczal, as well as ND20 contributor Jamie Galbraith, among others.

And after that, Kuttner hopes we can find some fuel for a real progressive movement. We could get all of the economically stressed and hard-pressed people together to demand some real change. Just maybe.

The Roosevelt Institute and the New Deal 2.0 blog would like to express our sorrow for the loss of Theodore C. Sorensen, who made a lasting mark on the national landscape as an adviser and counselor to John F. Kennedy for 11 years. His wisdom and genius for language helped shape the president's ideas as well as his image and legacy. The 1961 inaugural address was a shining example of the clarion Sorensen style, which gave the president these immortal lines to deliver: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do  for your country." There's a reason that Sorensen was known as the "Poet of Camelot" -- and his gift for words provides a critical lesson for today's speech-makers who wish to connect with the American public: Say it simply, and say it memorably.

Last spring, I had the good fortune to hear Sorensen speak on the ongoing military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I was struck by the force of his clear, level-headed logic and his ability to cut through spin and get at once to the heart of the matter. He minced no words questioning both the vagueness of America's mission and our failure to learn the lessons of Vietnam.

Yesterday, America lost a powerful voice for good. Andy Rich, president of the Roosevelt Institute, summed up Sorensen's legacy this way: "Many of us had the privilege to spend time with him. Generations were inspired by his words."

The Sorensen family is in our hearts today.

While the GOP is thought to side with millionaires over Main Street, is it possible that the Democratic Party has become the party of the rich? In his new book "Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America", David Callahan looks at why affluent Americans often vote Democratic and donate to progressive causes. This trend is a boon to some movements -- but may mean that the flow of money shapes the Democratic agenda to the interests of the wealthy.

Join The Roosevelt Institute and Demos for the launch of this fascinating new book on Thursday, October 21st at 6:30pm in New York City. More details and RSVP can be found here.