NEW YORK- While they believe that higher education is more important today than it was for their parents’ generation, most U.S. adults age 18 to 34 also view college as harder to afford than just five years ago.
The Corporate Reform Coalition – made up of institutional investors managing a combined total of $800 billion in assets, as well as public officials, legal scholars, good government groups and CEOs – will hold a telephone press conference to discuss a petition calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue rules on corporate political spending.
D.C. – This Wednesday, February 8th, Demos and U.S. PIRG are holding a press call to release a new and comprehensive analysis of Federal Election Commission data on Super PACs, from their advent in 2010 through the end of 2011. This new report, “Auctioning Democracy: The Rise of Super PACs and the 2012 Election,” details FEC data findings, lays out actionable recommendations for all levels of government, and provides vivid new infographics (for use with attribution) that illustrate the damage dealt by Super PACs.
Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Demos released a new analysis of the funding sources for the campaign finance behemoths, Super PACs. The findings confirmed what many have predicted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s damaging Citizens United decision: since their inception in 2010, Super PACs have been primarily funded by a small segment of very wealthy individuals and business interests, with a small but significant amount of funds coming from secret sources.
Hartford, CT. – A coalition of good government groups including Common Cause, Demos, People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Credo Action and others are calling on Connecticut Governor Dannell Malloy to sign H.B. 5556, “Changes to Campaign Finance Laws and other Election Laws,” which just passed the General Assembly. The bill would require public disclosure of major corporate and individual donors to Super PACs and other independent groups, bringing increased transparency and accountability to Connecticut’s elections.
Washington, D.C. -- The United States Supreme Court should not summarily reverse the decision of the Montana Supreme Court upholding a state law restricting corporate spending in Montana elections, argue former acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger and Professor James Sample of Hofstra Law School in an amicus brief filed today and authored by Arnold & Porter LLP and Demos.
Community college credentials can play a vital role in creating economic security for young adults while at the same time rejuvenating career opportunities.
New York, NY — As President Obama calls for massive increases in Federal college grant aide in the 2011 budget, a new report by the policy center Demos shows how one-and two-year postsecondary degrees are vital tools for moving people into living-wage jobs.
Public financing of elections, as a state and local democracy reform, can help enhance the political voice and power of working-class people and people of color. It is an effective antidote to the outsized influence corporations and major donors currently have on both politics and policy.
In 2012, just 61 large donors to Super PACs giving an average of $4.7 million each matched the $285.2 million in grassroots contributions from more than 1,425,500 small donors to the major party presidential candidates.
Outside spending organizations reported $1.11 billion in spending to the FEC through the final reporting deadline in the 2012 cycle. That’s already a 200% increase over total 2008 outside spending.
This memo outlines how the Justices lined up on the issues in Randall v. Sorrell, provides some analysis of the opinions, and touches on the implications for future reform efforts.
The Contract for College would unify the existing three strands of federal financial aid — grants, loans and work-study — into a coherent, guaranteed financial aid package for students.