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Image of a hand lowering a voter registration sheet into an orange box with stacks of voter registration papers on both sides

Threats to Ballot Access: New Report Examines Risks of Wrongful Voter Removals Across the Country

Dēmos examines ballot access issues, voter suppression in AZ, GA, OH, CA, IN, WI, MI, NC, TX, LA 

Press release/statement
August 10, 2023

We are changing the conversation around our democracy and economy by telling influential new stories about our country and its people. Get our latest blog and media updates here. For more in-depth explorations and analyses, visit our Resources page.

Featured
Ground level view of the Wall Street Stock Exchange

Unfinished Business: Revisiting Dodd-Frank and the Path to Economic Progress

On the anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, we reflect on recent banking failures and the inequities inherent in our current financial system. 

Blog
Daniella Zessoules
Black mother and daughter looking at the city river

A Supreme Court Power Grab: Attacking Federal Agencies to Advance an Extremist Agenda

Why the Court's decision to limit the EPA's power to regulate water access is yet another case of eroding the power of the other branches of government at the expense of Black and brown people.

Blog
Ashley Tjhung
supreme court

Supreme Court's Rejection of Affirmative Action Widens the Divide: Dēmos Calls for Renewed Efforts to Combat Systemic Racism

“The 14th Amendment is supposed to be a shield against racism, and now it’s being used as a sword.” 

Press release/statement
Taifa Smith Butler

Should We Fear the Robots?

A spectre haunts us, the spectre of robots. The Economist writes, “it seems likely that this wave of technological disruption to the job market has only just started. From driverless cars to clever household gadgets, innovations that already exist could destroy swathes of jobs that have hitherto
Blog
Sean McElwee

Pres. Obama to Raise Minimum Wage for Low-Wage Federal Workers

After a year of strikes and protests there’s a victory for many federal workers demanding that their government to pay them a living wage. President Obama in tonight’s State of the Union address will announce plans to sign an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay workers at least $10
In the media
Carla Murphy

Strike Wave Spurs Obama to Make Contractors Pay $10.10

Low-wage, federally-contracted janitors and construction workers will have a new minimum wage of $10.10 per hour, under an executive order announced by the White House Tuesday. Advocates said the full scope of the order, which will be formally announced during tonight’s State of the Union address
In the media
Josh Eidelson

Obama's Minimum Wage Order Aims to Send a Message

President Obama's promised executive order to raise the minimum wage for some government contract workers would likely affect less than half a million people and may face legal challenge. What Obama is hoping is that his relatively narrow move will spur Congress to follow suit for all low-wage
In the media
Jeanne Sahadi

Obama To Raise Minimum Wage For Federal Contract Workers By Executive Order

President Barack Obama will announce during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address that he's raising the minimum wage for workers under federal contracts to $10.10 per hour, an administration official told The Huffington Post.
In the media
Sam Stein
Dave Jamieson

The State of the Union and African Americans

While the State of the Union is a unique opportunity for President Obama to talk directly with all Americans, this year's speech has special significance for African Americans. The 2014 speech emphasizes three primary themes— opportunity, action, and optimism. Opportunity initially appears the most
Blog

Heather McGhee Named Next President of Demos

Heather McGhee, a national leader, policy expert and communicator, has been named the next president of Demos.
Press release/statement

How Much Inequality Is Too Much?

Inequality is a good thing, and most progressives are all for it. Why? Because the modern American left no longer includes many communists or socialists who believe in a complete leveling of society. Instead, nearly every progressive would agree that it's positive to bestow greater rewards on those
Blog
David Callahan

What Makes Ben and Jerry's Different Than Boeing? Values

One of the more concrete actions President Obama can take tomorrow is announcing an executive order to raise the wages of federal contractors. As my colleagues, Amy Traub and Robbie Hiltonsmith found the federal government is the nation’s leading low-wage employer, with nearly two million private
Blog
J. Mijin Cha

The Incredible Shrinking Relevancy of GDP

Earlier this month, the New York Times and other media reported on a new study by Harvard financial economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart. It concludes that the duration of the recovery from the 2007/08 recession and financial crisis is similar to historical recessions that were linked to
Blog
Wallace C. Turbeville