A picture of the current state of the private retirement system, why this picture bodes ill for the future of retirement in the country, and why that system needs reform.
It’s broad allegations of voter fraud like these that are “going to have an impact on voters’ experience at the polls,” said Tova Wang, elections reform expert and Senior Democracy Fellow at Demos, a liberal public policy research and advocacy organization. “We’ve already seen a lot of incidents where allegations are getting tossed about and voter fraud is called an epidemic.
New York Times columnist Bob Herbert has earned the Levees.org 'Seal of Approval' for his portrayal of the flooding of New Orleans in a recent column about crumbling American infrastructure.
New York Times columnist Bob Herbert has earned the Levees.org 'Seal of Approval' for his portrayal of the flooding of New Orleans in a recent column about crumbling American infrastructure.
Economic insecurity has become the “new normal” in America. Ten million Americans are out of work, and the vast majority of Americans have seen their incomes stagnate or decline over the past decade. Demos’ extensive research on credit card debt among middle- and low-income households has found that most indebted families go into debt to pay for basic expenses: groceries, utilities, child care, and health care. Simply put, Americans are borrowing to make ends meet.
For many years, health care costs have been steadily rising. As employers have moved into insurance coverage options with greater out-of-pocket expenses or have stopped providing health care coverage altogether, American families have struggled with the burden of health care costs.
Then came Florida, where thousands of voters confused by Palm Beach County's ballot design in the 2000 elections voted for the wrong presidential candidate, or for two candidates by mistake. The most common error: voters casting ballots for both Democrat Al Gore and Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan, indicating that they made a mistake the first time. Republican George W. Bush ultimately won the state by 537 votes.
In the last thirty years, our nation has experienced a paradox of productivity and progress. Productivity, driven by extraordinary growth in technology and an increased push towards consumption, has nearly tripled. Meanwhile social, environmental, and educational progress has stalled.
Social Security remains our nation’s key source of retirement income for most Americans. The program’s overall health is sound and with relatively modest tweaks to the program’s financing, we can strengthen the system for generations to come.
Testimony of Steven Carbo
Roundtable of the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee on Government Operations and the Environment October 8, 2010
Amidst the fears, voting experts say they want to make sure that those who become poll watchers know the rules of the polling place so legitimate voters are not unfairly challenged.
"We just want to make sure that everyone is clear on the rules -- that voters know their rights, that these groups know what they are and aren't allowed to do," said Tova Wang, Senior Democracy Fellow at Demos.
Raleigh — North Carolina's young adults will continue to face a tough economy--one ravaged not only by recession but also by 30 years of declining opportunity and security for all but the most highly educated and affluent, according to a new report by Demos and the North Carolina Justice Center.
Young adults in North Carolina and across the country are confronting an economic reality vastly different from that of their parent’s generation. Over the past three decades, economic opportunity and security for all but the most affluent and most highly educated has declined. Today, North Carolina’s workers in their early twenties earn almost a fifth less in real terms than workers their age forty years ago, while those in their mid twenties earn only three percentage points more than workers their age four decades ago.
Eliminating the deadline and allowing same-day registration would boost voter turnout among underrepresented groups and increase overall voting rates, according to Demos, a nonpartisan think tank. Its researchers found that voter turnouts would have increased by 12.3 percent for 18- to 25-year-olds, 11 percent for Latinos, 8.7 percent for African-Americans and 6.8 percent overall if New York State had same-day registration during the 2000 election.
It's time to put a stop to the unfair and arbitrary use of credit reports to make hiring and firing decisions.
Imagine you’re one of the 6.8 million Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months. (Imagine, that is, if you don’t already have the misfortune of being one of them). You receive a job offer that you quickly accept. But it comes with an increasingly common catch: your potential employer wants to check your credit first.
“A lot of their procedures seem to be deficient on their face,” said Scott Novakowski, one of the report’s authors and a fellow with Demos, a New York City-based public policy research group. “Very rarely do we see declines of that size in a state that has been in compliance.”
Arizona, Louisiana, Nevada Among States With Onerous Laws and Rules That Could Affect Mid-Term Election Results; North Carolina Stands Out as Best for Voters
