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President Miles Rapoport Leaving Demos To Lead Common Cause

Miles Rapoport, who led Demos through a period of extraordinary growth as President, will step down on March 10th to become the President and CEO of Common Cause, a grassroots organization dedicated to restoring the core values of American democracy.

"Demos has never been a job. It has been a mission, a family, and an organization that has grown to have national reach." 

Press release/statement

Whose Side Are Progressives on: The Poor or the Upper Middle Class?

Today's progressive coalition -- the one that elected Obama twice and just put Bill de Blasio in power -- looks a bit like a barbell: Lots of poorer voters on one side and lots of highly educated professionals on the other. Obama won the high school dropout vote by a landslide and also won post-grads by 13 points -- but lost to Romney among voters with a college degree. Likewise, de Blasio commands strong support among the upper middle class and the poor alike.

Blog
David Callahan

Media is Another Form of Money in Politics. How Do We Control This Kind of Spending?

Let's say that we could wave a magic wand and get rid of all private spending on elections and campaign activity tomorrow. And then, the day after tomorrow, stymied conservative billionaires and corporate donors put their money into strengthening right-wing media outlets -- while progressive donors put their money into left-wing media.
 
Would money have any less influence over public policy outcomes in this new world?
Blog
David Callahan

The Racism at the Heart of the Reagan Presidency

Carter adopted an emerging technique in the 1970s, hiding references to whites behind talk of ethnic subpopulations, and he also presented blacks as trying to preserve their own segregated neighborhoods. Notwithstanding these dissimulations, few could fail to understand that Carter was defending white efforts to oppose racial integration, and many liberals criticized Carter for doing so.

In the media
Ian Haney López

Just Face It: Equality of Opportunity is a Cruel, Empty Joke in Our Low-Wage Economy

If there is one thing that every smart and practical progressive knows it is that you should never, ever talk about "equality of outcomes" in the United States of America.
Blog
David Callahan

It's Bigger Than Voter ID

During his Senate hearing yesterday, Debo Adegbile, President Obama’s pick for Justice Department Civil Rights Division chief, was asked by Sen. Chuck Grassley if he would block state voter ID laws if confirmed. In his previous capacity, Adegible served as attorney and one-time acting president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which has been in litigation with Texas over its voter ID law for the past three years. Adegbile also twice argued before the U.S.

Blog
Brentin Mock

What Separates You from Congress? About a Million Dollars.

What separates Congress from people like you and me? About a million dollars, among other things. A new report from the Center for Responsive Politics finds that for the first time in history, a majority of Congressional members have a net worth exceeding $1 million.

Blog
J. Mijin Cha

Millionaires Make Up The Majority Of Congress: Here's Why That Hurts Us

Millionaires occupy the majority of seats in Congress for the first time since ethics laws mandated personal financial disclosures, according to a new Center for Responsive Politics report.

Out of 534 members of Congress -- there was one vacant seat -- 268 have an average net worth of more than $1 million.

In the media

The Corporate Reform Coalition Applauds Members of the Senate and House for Holding the SEC Accountable for Removing the Corporate Political Spending Disclosure Rule

Contact:
Lisa Gilbert, Public Citizen (202) 454-5188
Elizabeth Kennedy, Demos (212) 419-8772
Blair Bowie, U.S. PIRG (202) 546-0173

Press release/statement