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

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As Americans across the country head out en masse to malls and shopping centers to kickoff the holiday spending season today, it's important to remember that too many of the retail workers bringing us those deals earn meager wages. The ranks of America's retail workforce have surged to more than 4.5
In the media
Richard Florida
Chicago’s infrastructure is in need of a major upgrade, but so are are its dwindling finances. Mayor Rahm Emanuel doesn't want to raise taxes, nor look towards Washington, D.C. or Springfield to cover the costs of repairing and upgrading the city's infrastructure.
Blog
Ilana Novick
Blog
Tova Wang
It already seems like an age-old question: “ Has Wal-Mart been good or bad?” This week, The Washington Post's Ezra Klein is the one asking and weighing the costs to Walmart’s workforce, its supply chain, and its competitors against the low prices the store offers consumers. He asserts:
Blog
Amy Traub
Chances are you missed this particular bargain on Black Friday: Agree to spend 15 cents more on every shopping trip, and Walmart, Target, and other large retailers will agree to pay their workers at least $25,000 a year.
In the media
Josh Harkinson
On a talk show this past Sunday, Walmart worker Greg Fletcher spoke about the realities of struggling to provide for his family on the company's infamous low wages. David Frum, a conservative columnist at Newsweek, pointedly asked Greg whether he got the Earned Income Tax Credit, a tax refund meant
In the media
Annette Bernhardt
It’s the biggest shopping season on the calendar and retail companies are expecting hundreds of billions of dollars in sales.
Blog
Catherine Ruetschlin
“Black Friday” sales are debt traps for people to rush out and buy on credit. But we can fix this on both the wage and profit ends of the continuum. It’s not that complex a fix, but it requires seeing our country as a whole, as one people who rise and fall together. We can fix this whole mess and
In the media
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
Demos has some figures for thought in How Raising Wages Would Benefit Workers, the Industry and the Overall Economy. Here's a summary of the study from Demos:
In the media
Dan Crawford
As Black Friday approached, the honchos at Walmart, the largest employer in the United States, found themselves at a loss to respond to a nationwide rebellion within the ranks of their near-captive workers -- people who work for an average wage of $8.81 per hour, according to The National Memo
In the media
Adele M. Stan