Washington—As the nation celebrates the 234th Independence Day this July Fourth, thousands of immigrants will take the citizenship oath at naturalization ceremonies around the country. Yet, the promise of full participation in our democracy continues to elude many of our newest fellow citizens, up to millions around the country, according to a new report by the nonpartisan public policy center Demos.
“This settlement acknowledges that naturalized Americans have full and equal voting rights — they cannot be singled out and purged from the rolls due to their status.”
"In today’s decision, the court recognized that Spanish-speaking voters are not second-class citizens and should not have to wait for their voting rights to be fully protected."
“In today’s decision, the court recognized that Spanish-speaking voters are not second-class citizens and should not have to wait for their voting rights to be fully protected.”
There is an ideal pathway for knocking down a barrier that has kept so many voting-eligible citizens away from the polls: automatic voter registration.
"The bill that the governor is expected to sign into law establishes blatant wealth discrimination in the restoration of rights process. The bill will create two classes of returning citizens… [and] under this bill your ability to pay will govern whether you can participate in democracy.”
Washington — SenatorAl Franken (D-MN) has introduced a financial-reform amendment that finally addresses the root problem of the credit rating agencies—their built-in conflict of interest. The "Restore Integrity to Credit Ratings" amendment, co-sponsored by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Bill Nelson (D-FL), substantially embraces a remedy set forth in a recent Demos policy paper on this subject.
The counter to this neoliberal vision involves, then, a more thorough moral critique—and a more transformative policy agenda—that tackles the underlying forces of corporate power, market inequities, structural racism, and anti-democratic political institutions. That progressives are finally talking in these expansive terms represents a potentially transformative inflection point in American politics.