"Helping build Demos has been hugely rewarding, and it's been thrilling to see the emergence of a larger and stronger progressive infrastructure that, 15 years ago, was just a dream for many of us,” said Callahan.
David Callahan, a senior fellow at the think tank Demos, contends the tax code should differentiate between charities and overtly partisan advocacy organizations. Now neither type of group must reveal the names of its supporters.
New York, NY — Today marks the publication of a groundbreaking new book on the moral landscape of America, THE MORAL CENTER: How We Can Reclaim Our Country from Die-Hard Extremists, Rogue Corporations, Hollywood Hacks, and Pretend Patriots (Harcourt Press, September 11, 2006; ISBN 0-15-101151-6; $24.00), by David Callahan, co-founder and Senior Fellow at Demos, a national public policy organization. In THE MORAL CENTER, Callahan argues that nothing's the matter with Kansas: Americans voting their values are responding to a real moral crisis.
Appraisers, like auditors, are supposed to follow a strict standard of professional behavior, said David Callahan, senior fellow at the public policy organization Demos and author of a recent report about appraisal fraud. "What is actually happening is lenders and brokers are telling them what value they want," he said.
When an appraiser overvalues a home that can lead to an upside down mortgage where you end up owing more than the property is worth. "This is a major problem," says David Callahan, with an advocacy group called Demos that recently looked into just how widespread the problem is.
Appraisal experts and consumer advocates alike are now sounding an alarm about a startling problem that could have you borrowing more than your home's actual value.
David Brooks offers up a spirited defense of private equity today in the Times, and many of his points make perfect sense: In fact, many private equity firms don't set out to laden the firms they buy with debt and cash out before the company goes bankrupt.
"I don't think that anyone can assume that the appraised value of their home is based on reality. Appraisal fraud is so common that homeowners need to assume the opposite," says research director David Callahan of Demos, a public policy center. Demos released a report about appraisal fraud in March, sparking intense discussion in the real estate press.
No one knows exactly how often appraisers tinker with reality. But reports suggest that they face enormous pressure to tweak their numbers.
"I don't think that anyone can assume that the appraised value of their home is based on reality," said research director David Callahan of Demos, a public-policy center in New York. "Appraisal fraud is so common that homeowners need to assume the opposite." Demos released a report about appraisal fraud in March, sparking intense discussion in the real-estate media.
No one knows exactly how often appraisers tinker with reality. But reports suggest they face enormous pressure to tweak their numbers.
David Callahan posted a terrific blog yesterday that outlined HSBC’s outrageous behavior as catalogued in a 350-page report by the Senate’s Permanent Committee on Investigations.
"Appraisal fraud is part of a bigger, more ominous picture," says David Callahan, Home Insecurity author and Director of Research at Demos. "As home prices have continued to increase above inflation, even nearing 20 percent per year in some cities, American homeowners are vulnerable as never before to financial ruin if home prices fall to their natural market value."
"To make matters worse, an increasing number of Americans have reduced the equity in their home to meet rising living expenses, like education and health care, or to pay off credit card debts.
David Callahan has already posted a comprehensive analysis of Mitt Romney's recently revealed assertion that 47 percent of Americans are entitled freeloaders, and it's well worth a read.
So I'm going to tackle another, related question: Why is there such a persistent, pernicious tendency to beat up on the poor? What psychological needs are filled by this all-too-common feature of our political discourse?
Since the 2000 election, a historic effort has been underway in the United States to strengthen voting systems across all 50 states and to address obstacles to broader electoral participation. At both the federal and state levels, however, efforts to advance a reform agenda have been frequently complicated by heated debates over the integrity of voting systems — and by allegations of widespread election fraud, and its cohort, voter fraud.
As my colleague David Callahan discussed here last week, the current issue of The Atlantic includes an article written by Frank Partnoy and Jesse Eisenger entitled “What’s Inside America’s Banks.” The authors make the point that the financial health of the big banks is, at best, obscure because of the inadequacy of financial statement disclosure. This is, without doubt, an accurate criticism of the mega-banks that dominate the financial system.
The affluent tend to hold a different vision of a just society than the public at large, and it is that vision which tops the political agenda in Washington and in state houses across the country.
The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, is pushing the idea that being poor and living on government benefits in America is actually living high on the hog.
MIAMI — Louis D. Brandeis, the American jurist, famously warned: “We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
NEW YORK- As Labor Day approaches - and with President Obama's much anticipated jobs plan to be announced shortly - the national policy center Demos is illuminating America's severe jobs crisis with "America Can Work Better" week, which begins with a post from Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow Bob Herbert. Through a package of info-graphics and commentary, "America Can Work Better" will clarify the root causes of America's jobs crisis; analyze chronic unemployment among American youth; dispel myths about "job-killing regulation and taxation;" and offer some real-
The public sector lost another 13,000 jobs in December, bringing the post-recession job loss total for federal, state, and local governments to more than 600,000. Those job losses — many of which have hit teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials — have had a devastating impact on the economic recovery.
