We, the undersigned -- non-partisan, not-for-profit organizations that work across the country and in Texas to protect the voting rights of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans -- write to oppose the preclearance of Texas’s Senate Photo Voter Identification law, Bill 14 (“SB14” or “Act”). The State of Texas has failed to meet the dual burden of proving (1) that SB14 was enacted for a non-discriminatory purpose, and (2) that SB14 does not have a discriminatory effect on minority voting strength. Accordingly, the Attorney General should interpose an objection
Civil rights groups will release a letter to the Department of Justice charging an unnecessary, unfair, restrictive photo voter ID law intentionally discriminates against African American and Latino voters.
Incredibly enough, Social Security -- long considered a third rail of politics -- has become a ferocious touchstone during this Presidential primary cycle, even with the Iowa Caucus still a half-year away.
A long overdue debate on tax reform is now underway. Yesterday, White House aides said they hoped to pay for the President's $450 billion jobs plan by sharply limiting tax deductions for upper income Americans.
A photo voter ID law signed by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is unnecessary, unfair, restrictive and intentionally discriminates against African-American and Latino voters, a coalition of civil rights groups will argue in a letter to the Justice Department on Wednesday.
In the wake of disasters across the Midwest, most of the entire east coast and at least 30,000 acres of Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief fund has dipped below $550 million. Unfortunately, its continued solvency is at the mercy of Congress.
It’s a cruel fact for millions of unemployed Americans that the jobs plan President Obama unveiled last night will never be fully enacted by Congress. What’s even crueler, though, is that the least effective elements of the plan have the best chance of passage. New direct federal spending, the most powerful form of stimulus, is widely considered DOA on Capitol Hill – while weaker tax cut options will get a real hearing.
The $787 billion economic stimulus program, which has now largely expired, helped avert an economic meltdown that was poised to rival the Great Depression. Despite public skepticism about the program, that was the conclusion of a detailed analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. At the outset, however, economists were warning that the stimulus program was far too small to offset an aggregate demand shortfall estimated at upwards of $2 trillion.
In a misguided effort to shore up his reputation with business, President Obama’s recent decision to suspend proposed ozone standards will ultimately result in higher overall costs for the country. The decision also furthers the false notion that we must choose between job creation and environmental protection.
And, says Anastasia Christman of the National Employment Law Project, "his focus on putting young people to work is critical for communities of color." The plan contains funding for summer job and youth work programs.
Washington, DC-Just after President Obama's speech to a joint session of the US Congress on his new plan to stimulate job growth entitled "The American Jobs Act," the national policy center Demos published a point-by-point analysis of the plan. Based on the deep economic troubles facing this nation, including widespread joblessness and stagnant or declining wages, the Demos analysis concludes that the President's plan is a good start, and tells the right story about how to get the economy moving again.
Distinguished Senior Fellow and president of CivWorld and the Interdependence Movement Ben Barber recounts his whereabouts on 9/11 and explains why borders don’t matter anymore.
In their new book, "Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone," Paul Osterman and Beth Shulman argue that the United States needs to worry about not just creating millions more jobs but also ensuring that the jobs are good ones.
Today, on the morning of President Obama's jobs speech, the national policy center Demos published a new study detailing how the job losses of the Great Recession are intensifying the threat to America's middle class, which was already struggling after decades of economic stagnation, slow wage growth and rising costs.
