Media

NEW YORK -- In response to the passing of Nelson Mandela, Demos President Miles Rapoport released the following statement: 

"Demos joins all the world in mourning the death, but—much more importantly—celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela.

Thousands of fast food workers plan to walk off the job in 100 U.S. cities today, a major escalation in labor’s strongest-ever challenge to an industry that’s become ever more central to the present and future of U.S. work. One year after a surprise work stoppage by 200 New York City fast food workers, two questions raised by that first-of-its-kind walkout have already been answered: Could workers sustain and grow their numbers in the months after returning to the job?

Low wages are not just keeping workers in poverty, they are also holding back the economy by weakening consumer demand and keeping employers from realizing the benefits that accompany investments in the work force. Retail and fast food companies that pay poverty wages sabotage their own bottom lines and the health of the American economy, but a raise for the lowest paid would have benefits that extend to workers, consumers, and employers across industries.

President Obama gave an extraordinary speech about inequality yesterday, offering his most in-depth critique yet of why the growing chasm of income and wealth is so bad -- and offering a sweeping agenda for closing that chasm. That agenda included universal pre-K, raising the minimum wage, strengthening retirement systems, bringing back good manufacturing jobs, and more. All good ideas. But here's a question to ponder: Does this agenda square with what the public wants to do about inequality? 

When I was 18, I spent a year and change flipping burgers in one of those restaurants where customers eat from a tray balanced across their car windows. It was one of the three jobs I held at the time, affording a simple budget and enough left over to save up to go to college after a couple of years. I put in hard hours for my employer and it eventually worked out just fine for me. It also makes for a nice story, but one that is embarrassingly dated.

Progressives are starting to worry that President Obama may be more talk than walk when it comes to raising the minimum wage. Again, on Wednesday, the president said, "It's well past the time to raise a minimum wage that, in real terms right now, is below where it was when Harry Truman was in office."

Demos Senior Fellow Wallace Turbeville joins Democracy Now! to discuss the federal judge's ruling that approves the el

The largest city in American history to file for bankruptcy protectionis officially bankrupt.