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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

Stephen Colbert Calls Out Walmart Wages: Demos Shows How A Raise Is Possible

As usual, comedian Stephen Colbert hit the nail on the head. “Walmart is taking care of its employees... Not living wage care, but can of peas care.” The late-night satirist was responding to a Cleveland Plain Dealer article finding that Walmart set up a Thanksgiving food drive to benefit its own
Blog
Amy Traub

Wal-Mart's No Good, Very Bad, Pre-Thanksgiving Week

This is supposed to be a cheery season for retailers. Not at Wal-Mart (WMT), though, where it’s been a really bad week—and this is only Wednesday. On Monday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer broke the news of a holiday food drive at an Ohio Walmart store—for its own employees. The newspaper story
In the media
Susan Berfield

Why Americans Could Handle Higher Prices for Consumer Goods

So it turns out that Walmart could afford to give its workers a nice raise without jacking prices if it simply redirected profits now used to buy back its own stock to better reward its huge labor force -- the people, by the way, who make the profits possible. This is the finding of a Demos report
Blog
David Callahan

Walmart Could Pay Workers $14.89 an Hour Without Raising Prices

Walmart can easily afford to raise pay for its low-wage workers by $5.83 an hour, to an average wage of $14.89, a new report from progressive think tank Demos concludes. All the retail giant has to do is stop its massive stock buybacks—which only serve to enrich a shrinking pool of shareholders, not
In the media
Laura Clawson

The Inclusive Wealth Report Can Help Guide Policymakers

The 2007 economic crisis and the lingering stagnation it wrought has led economists, philosophers and policymakers to a profound rethinking of how we measure economic performance and social progress. As Joseph E. Stiglitz, Amartya Sen and Jean-Paul Fitoussi write in the forward to their book
Blog
Sean McElwee

Wal-Mart Could Pay Every U.S. Employee $14.89 Just By Not Buying Its Own stock

Wal-Mart could afford to hike every U.S. employee’s hourly wage to at least $14.89 an hour just by not repurchasing its own stock, according to a new report from the progressive think tank Demos.
In the media
Josh Eidelson

Think Tank: How Walmart Could Pay Workers $14.89 an Hour

A progressive policy research center says that the nation’s largest retailer could easily afford to increase the wages of its employees, if it would choose to avoid “Wall Street financial maneuvers.”
In the media
Christopher Freeburn

New Demos Report Shows a Substantial Raise is Possible for Walmart Workers This Holiday Season

A new brief by the national public policy organization Demos analyzes one way Walmart can raise worker pay to meet employees’ $25,000 benchmark target. A Higher Wage is Possible: How Walmart Can Invest in Its Workforce Without Costing Customers a Dime details how Walmart can give workers a raise by
Press release/statement

Why Big Fines Don't Scare Wall Street's Cowboys

A historic $13 billion settlement is in the works between the federal government and JP Morgan -- the biggest-ever penalty for wrongdoing by a bank. But this settlement is unlikely to deter tomorrow's lawbreakers in finance, and here's why.
Blog
David Callahan

The Simple Path to a Living Wage at Walmart

In the past week, both a senior editor at Fortune magazine and the liberal think tank Demos have made similar proposals for how Walmart could greatly increase worker wages without harming its business prospects.
In the media
Hamilton Nolan