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Initiative Aims to Strengthen Social Insurance, Promote Broadly Shared Prosperity, Set the Record Straight on Federal Spending

New York — Demos and The Century Foundation today launched an initiative to strengthen social insurance programs and develop a roadmap for a fair and responsible federal budget. The project gets underway as the White House prepares for its February 23 "Fiscal Responsibility Summit."

"Imagine any financial transaction you make and someone says the price of this thing is $100,000, but you are very likely to pay nothing, but first you have to fill out all these forms."

3 out of 4 senior households lack the economic security needed to sustain them through their lives, according to new study

New York, NY — Older Americans have experienced huge, negative financial shifts that now make it more difficult to enter retirement with sustainable economic security, a new study finds. Seventy-eight percent of all senior households are financially vulnerable when it comes to their ability to meet essential expenses and cover projected costs over their lifetimes.

Amazon has cashed in on the COVID economy, enjoying surging sales and a soaring stock price.

A New Look at Wealth in the United States

New York, NY — The 2008 presidential campaign ended with a sharp moral debate about "spreading the wealth" in the United States. With national concern about a barrage of bad economic news--from the financial meltdown on Wall Street to the near-bankruptcy of the American auto-industry — which, coupled with bailouts and controversial tax plans proposed by the new Administration, have moved the issue of wealth distribution to the forefront of public debate.

Now is the perfect time to talk about the federal government making a firm, durable guarantee of free or affordable college to all students.

Washington, DC — The need for our nation to rebuild the middle class — the real engine of our economy — was completely overlooked in the new job-killing recommendations from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform earlier today. Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Programs at Demos responded with the following statement.

Washington DC — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed Stephen B. Heintz to serve on the newly created Commission on Key National Indicators.

The bill would create a federal-state partnership to help students pay for the full costs of attendance without having to take on debt. 

Washington, DC — The need for our nation to rebuild the middle class-the real engine of our economy-was completely overlooked in the new job-killing recommendations from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform earlier today. Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Programs at Demos responded with the following statement.

The marquee bill, which features improvements to voting, campaign finance, and ethics laws, addresses the deep political, racial, and economic inequalities that plague our democracy. 

Here we see the trick to undermining any universalistic program: creating an “us against them” narrative.

Washington, DC — A collaborative effort of The Century Foundation, Demos and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Our Fiscal Security today released Investing in America’s Economy: A Budget Blueprint for Economic

"I think this does pull back the curtain around some things that people intuitively know to be true—like, privilege tends to reproduce itself."

The most accurate threshold to enter the rarefied top 1% of wealthholders, $7,880,400, is almost three times as high as the Census estimates. 

The new IRS report on the "tax gap" is a good news, bad news story -- although mostly bad news.

1. The government has collected less in taxes as a proportion of the economy in the past three years than it has in any three-year period since World War II, and tax rates are at historic lows.