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We are changing the conversation around our democracy and economy by telling influential new stories about our country and its people. Get our latest media updates here.

Returning to the Democracy of the Founding Fathers is Not a Good Look

The recent op-ed from NAACP LDF president Sherrilyn Ifill on the recent McCutcheon ruling is a must read. In it, she implores us to focus in on the “devastating aspect” of Chief Justice John Roberts's majority opinion ruling as summarized in his opening sentences:

"There is no right more basic in our democracy than the right to participate in electing our political leaders.

Blog
Brentin Mock

Fast-Food CEOs Make 1,000 Times the Pay of the Average Fast-Food Worker

Economic inequality in the U.S. can be quantified in all sorts of ways. The 1 percent account for almost 40 percent of the country’s wealth.

In the media
Susan Berfield

Fast Food CEOs Make 1,000 Times More Than Their Typical Workers: Report

David Novak, the CEO of YUM! Brands, which owns Taco Bell and KFC, took home more than $22 million last year after exercising stock options, according to proxy statements. The average full-time fast-food worker, by comparison, would have made about $19,000 on the year. [...]

In the media
Dave Jamieson

Study: Fast food CEOs paid millions more than workers

Fast food CEOs were paid more than 1,200 times the average fast food worker in 2012, according to a new study released Tuesday by Demos, a public policy group.

On a conference call to discuss the report New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said such a wide income disparity could affect the city's pension fund, which holds millions of shares in several fast food companies. And it could trickle down to affect every day New Yorkers, he said. [...]

In the media
Alison Fox

Fast-Food CEOs Make 1,000 Times More Than Their Workers

Fast-food restaurants are serving up plenty of food for discussion in the debate over income inequality.

Fast-food chief executives take home $1,000 for every $1 dollar earned by their average workers, making it the most unequal sector within the U.S. economy, according to a new report from public policy group Demos.

In the media
Aimee Picchi

Fast Food CEOs Make The Most Relative To Their Average Employees, Study Shows, More Than In Retail, Media Or Construction

Shantel Walker has been working on and off for Papa John’s pizza since she was in high school. The 32-year-old New York City resident says that over her 15 years at a Brooklyn outlet of the Louisville, Ky.-based pizza chain, she’s received only two raises that weren’t mandated by federal or state minimum wage hikes. Today she makes $8.50 an hour, 50 cents above the New York State minimum wage, but her employer doesn’t currently use her more than 24 hours a week.

In the media
Angelo Young

Is Reducing Inequality a Lost Cause?

Is reducing inequality a lost cause? It can sure feel that way given what's happened in the past few decades: Like two billion new workers showing up in the global economy ready to work at a fraction of the pay of American workers. Or advances in technology and communications allowing corporations to easily shift production and back office operations anywhere -- or to just replace human beings altogether. 
 
Capital is triumphant, labor is weak, inequality is inevitable.
Blog
David Callahan

Good Question: If Cities Are Where the Action Is, Why Subsidize the 'Burbs?

Vishaan Chakrabarti has a great op-ed yesterday that asks a question that we've asked here before: Why does our government so heavily subsidize the suburbs when urban living makes more sense: environmentally, economically, and culturally?

Blog
David Callahan

Detroit's Changing Numbers in Bankruptcy Deal to Face Scrutiny

A sudden change of fortune for 32,400 Detroit pensioners in the city’s historic bankruptcy — from the threat of draconian pension cuts to a modest reduction in lifetime benefits — could face mathematical scrutiny as the case proceeds, experts say.

In just 10 months, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has gone from offering pensioners double-digit percentage reductions in benefits to potentially settling for baseline cuts of as little as 4.5 percent.

In the media
Chad Livengood