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A scheme under consideration in Virginia to rig the Electoral College in Republicans’ favor could well violate a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, experts on the law say. But that very provision is itself under challenge by the GOP, and could be struck down by the Supreme Court later this year.

Brenda Wright, a top lawyer at Demos and an expert on voting rights, agreed. “I think there would be strong arguments” that the change harmed minority voters, she said.

Using political power to keep employees from organizing unions can be highly effective. That’s one forceful lesson to draw from the new figures on union membership.

Recently, Demos’ Mijin Cha discussed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $1 billion Green Bank proposal. The plan would create a fund, combing public and private capital, directed at spurring investment in clean technology and promoting private enterprise in the sector.

One obvious way to reduce the deficit is to squeeze Medicare recipients by forcing them to pick up more of the tab for their healthcare costs. And any number of proposals floating around in Washington would do exactly that. 

The problem, though, is that older Americans covered by Medicare are already spending a lot on healthcare -- and there's growing evidence that these costs are driving them into debt or poverty. 

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — One of the biggest surprises in President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address this week was the prominence given to climate change, marking it as a signature issue for his second term.

The president spoke of the need to preserve the planet for future generations. But he also couched climate change in more immediate economic terms, with leadership on the issue as a necessary component for the U.S. to maintain its economic preeminence.

Washington, DC: Today, a petition on the White House website urging President Obama to “use the State of the Union to call for a constitutional amendment to get big money out of politics” exceeded the 25,000 signatures necessary to guarantee an official White House response.  The petition, launched by the groups Free Speech For People, Avaaz, People For the American Way, and Demos on January 8 took less than two weeks to cross the threshold.

The petition can be found here: http://wh.gov/P9j7

One road to democracy is through periodic, competitive elections with secret ballots, protected by the rule of law.

Standing on the mall Monday among the great and diverse crowd who came to celebrate the second inauguration of the President, I reacted strongly to two aspects of the day.  The first was to the feeling produced by the crowd, to the moment itself.  The second was something else, something perfectly clear: a new American “demos” has arrived.

Imagine a company that is among the most profitable in the world, with a long track record of making money hand over fist for years on end. Except there is only one problem: As big as the profits are, they are no longer getting bigger quarter after quarter. The company has reached a plateau, at least for the moment, where it is still making an unbelievable amount of money; just not more money all the time.