Recent federal action, including the passage of the Credit Card Bill of Rights of 2009 and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, provided needed regulation and oversight of the credit card industry. However, past debt continues to haunt families even as they add on new debt. The findings below, from the 2008 Credit Card Debt Household Survey of Low-and Middle-Income Households, demonstrates that the means used by consumers of color to pay down debt further chips away at their economic viability.
American Association Of People With Disabilities, Demos, Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, League Of Women Voters Of The United States, And Project Vote
How the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Actwill bring greater security to American consumers, investors and Main Street businesses.
New York — Millions of low-income Americans can be brought into the political process through proper implementation of an often-neglected provision of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), according to a report published recently by Demos, and cited in yesterday's New York Times editorial,
"We've got to deal with the conflicts. If I hire S&P or Moody's to be my consultant and show me how I can do this and that to get an investment-grade rating or [an] even higher rating, they obviously have a conflict of interest there."
"That's right. I think the compensation model... where the issuer pays for the rating is really at the heart of the conflict problem..."
Already, some states are making changes. A legal settlement in Missouri led to more than 200,000 voter-registration applications from welfare offices in less than two years. A settlement in Ohio has led to more than 100,000 this year. Lawsuits are pending in Indiana and New Mexico.
Democracy works as intended when all citizens are able to participate and make their voices heard. While the United States has come a long way in expanding the franchise over the past 220 years, barriers to participation still exist and these barriers disproportionately affect low-income citizens. In 2008, the registration gap between low-income and high-income citizens was over 19 percentage points.
Work by Demos and its partners suggests that millions of low-income Americans can be brought into the political process through proper implementation of an often-neglected provision of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) that requires states to provide voter registration services to applicants and recipients of public assistance benefits. And the time is ripe to ensure that voter registration is provided at public assistance offices.
Regulators can cap leverage if bank poses 'grave threat' to system
Speier, who allowed that the overall bill is good, added that the rationale behind a detailed leverage cap is to keep big banks from growing so dangerously large that, if they were to fail, they'd cause collateral damage to the markets. During the height of the boom leading up to the financial crisis, many investment banks hiked their leverage to as high as 50-to-1.
Demos reports that in 2008 over 11 million low-income adult citizens remained unregistered to vote and the registration gap between low-income and high-income citizens was over 19 percentage points. And changes in how voter registration is done at public assistance agencies can has already shown dramatic results in other states.
In Ohio registration at public assistance agencies has soared following a settlement of a Demos case over compliance with federal voter registration laws at public assistance agencies.
Delaware Passes Law to Count Incarcerated Persons at their Home Addresses for Redistricting
BecomesSecond State To Adopt Reform Ensuring Fairness and Accuracy of Redistricting
Dover — On June 30, the Delaware Senate passed a bill ensuring that incarcerated persons will be counted as residents of their home addresses when new state and local legislative districts are drawn in Delaware. The bill previously passed in the House, and is now awaiting Governor Jack Markell's signature.
Election Day Registration (EDR) is a variety of Same Day Registration (SDR) that allows eligible voters to register and cast a ballot on Election Day. This “how-to guide” on EDR implementation and administration distills election officials’ first-hand insights into the effective implementation of EDR. We focused here on key issues such as poll worker recruiting and training, avoiding confusion and congestion at the polls, serving special populations, and preserving the integrity of elections.
Washington—As the nation celebrates the 234th Independence Day this July Fourth, thousands of immigrants will take the citizenship oath at naturalization ceremonies around the country. Yet, the promise of full participation in our democracy continues to elude many of our newest fellow citizens, up to millions around the country, according to a new report by the nonpartisan public policy center Demos.
It may be a cliché that we are a nation of immigrants, but statistics show that it is as true today as in any other period in our history. And while Americans may debate the best way to bring noncitizens into the civic life of our communities, there is widespread, strong agreement that when someone from another country takes the affirmative step to take the oath of loyalty and become a citizen of this country, he should be welcomed and encouraged to be a part of our country and our social and political life.
Wealthy nations, led by the United States, should move to reduce or eliminate all tariffs on imports from developing countries as one way to help offset the extraordinary costs these countries face in confronting climate change. If U.S. tariff policy continues on the current trajectory, the U.S. is likely to collect about $90 billion in import duties on products from developing countries, excluding China, by 2020.1 The combined total collected by the European Union, Japan, and other wealthy countries may exceed that amount.
The resolution authority proposal is "a bit of a red herring" when it comes to credible ways to end TBTF, said Heather McGhee, Washington director of Demos, a public policy organization. It won't work, she said.
