Media

Though Americans of all ages suffered as a result of the Great Recession, the downturn dealt a particularly harsh blow to young people, as employers opted for suddenly plentiful workers with more experience. As a result, nearly half of the nation’s unemployed are under 34 years old, according to an April report from public policy organization Demos.

The National Voter Registration Act set the first ever national standards for mail-in registration and increased the number of places people could register to vote, including motor vehicle and public assistance offices. 

New York, NY – As Coloradans celebrate the expansion of their freedom to vote and North Carolinians fight to protect theirs, national public policy institute Demos will mark the 20th Anniversary of the passage of the National Voter Registration Act, better known as the “Motor Voter” law on Monday, May 20th by releasing a new report analyzing its impact.

Let us finally dispel the notion that increased numbers of African American voters, and more broadly all voters of color, headed to the polls in 2008 and 2012 solely because of Barack Obama.

The political history of race in America will record the Obama era as a breakthrough moment and a huge step forward. But any economic racial history will tell a nearly opposite story: Under the first black president, African-Americans have lost much of the wealth they built up over previous decades. The main culprit has been an ongoing foreclosure crisis that Washington has done very little to stop, even as it has shoveled trillions in nearly free loans to big banks who have enjoyed record profits. 

In 2012, no one, it seemed, could afford to sit on the sidelines. Having decried super PACs as "a threat to democracy," Obama and his advisers flip-flopped and blessed the creation of one devoted specifically to reelecting the president. Soon, they were everywhere, at the local, state, and federal levels.

Tomorrow, the public interest will take a loss and the largest banks will chalk up a win.

No matter where you are on the political spectrum, you should be able to agree that the IRS needs to be rigorously neutral in its oversight of the nonprofit sector. 

The retail and restaurant sector – two primary employers of low-wage workers – receive larger public subsidies than the fossil fuel industry in the form of public assistance for the working poor.