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Washington, DC — The need for our nation to rebuild the middle class-the real engine of our economy-was completely overlooked in the new job-killing recommendations from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform earlier today. Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Programs at Demos responded with the following statement.

The study finds that Baltimore’s campaign funds are dominated by developers, businesses, PACs, and other special interests.

“Partisan gerrymandering distorts the political system. It’s often accompanied by the cracking and packing of voters of color to sap their political influence."

The marquee bill, which features improvements to voting, campaign finance, and ethics laws, addresses the deep political, racial, and economic inequalities that plague our democracy. 

Here we see the trick to undermining any universalistic program: creating an “us against them” narrative.

Washington, DC — A collaborative effort of The Century Foundation, Demos and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Our Fiscal Security today released Investing in America’s Economy: A Budget Blueprint for Economic

New York, NY — On Black Friday, a massive amount of highly polluting, future consumer electronic waste is about to be unleashed, according to a new report by the national policy center Demos. The Consumer Electronics Association says 74 percent of Americans buying gifts this holiday season will likely purchase consumer electronics, spending an average of $230 each on hot ticket items such as tablets, notebooks, e-readers, and smart phones. About 11 million flat screen televisions will be sold in the final quarter of 2010 alone.

Senate Bill 672, which allows for Automated Voter Registration and Same Day Registration, if implemented properly, has the potential to increase the racial diversity of registered voters in New Mexico.

"I think this does pull back the curtain around some things that people intuitively know to be true—like, privilege tends to reproduce itself."

The most accurate threshold to enter the rarefied top 1% of wealthholders, $7,880,400, is almost three times as high as the Census estimates. 

DEMOS FELLOWS PROGRAM

Today's employment numbers offer a moment of relief from the drumbeat of bad news coming from Europe. The economy added 120,000 new jobs last month and the unemployment rate is now down to its lowest level since March 2009 (although partly that's because of discouraged workers dropping out of the labor force).

There are a few worrisome wrinkles in today's otherwise cheery employment numbers. First, mass layoffs of state and local government workers continue unabated, with 20,000 public employees fired last month. Second, the lower unemployment rate is partly due to many workers just giving up the job hunt.

Hypocrisy is nothing new in politics, but it still can be jolting in its most brazen forms. Exhibit A this week is opposition to an expanded and extended payroll tax cut.

There has rarely been a tax cut proposal that conservatives in Congress didn't love -- except, suddenly, this one. Critics of the extension -- which at a minimum would continue a 2 percent payroll tax cut for all workers -- make several arguments, all of them specious.

When people talk about energy independence, they are often referring to the U.S. not having to rely on other countries to provide our energy supply. Here’s what energy independence should mean: individual freedom from big corporations and price manipulation.