New York, NY — Today, Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action announces the launch of its new Bankruptcy & Debt Clearinghouse (www.demos-usa.org/debt), an online information center containing key research, data points and analysis on trends in debt, bankruptcy and credit industry regulation in the United States.
New York, NY — Across the United States, families increasingly rely on credit cards to make up for stagnant wage growth and soaring costs. In order to cope, homeowners are depleting their home's equity to pay off a growing mountain of unsecured debt. This is a financial strategy fraught with serious consequences, according to A House of Cards: Refinancing The American Dream, a new report released today by Demos, a nonpartisan public policy organization based in New York.
New York, NY — Advocates for democracy had one strong reason to cheer on election night: higher voter turnout, especially among youth, reversed a decades-old trend of low electoral participation. Although they are still counting votes in almost every state, it is clear that about 120 million will have voted in the election — an increase of 15 million voters from 2000.
New York, N.Y. — Today Miles Rapoport, President of Demos and former Connecticut Secretary of State, released a statement saying that tens of thousands of voters would be disenfranchised if lawsuits challenging the legitimacy of the San Diego mayoral election succeed.
New York, NY — Widespread challenges to our electoral system surfaced on November 2nd, according to thousands of documented cases of system failure collected by troubleshooters and monitors at election call-centers across the country. Problems ranged from machine breakdowns, intimidation and long lines, with many focusing on widespread errors in the implementation of new provisional ballot requirements. Some of these include:
New York, NY — On November 2nd, troubling reports of voting machine errors flowed into election assistance call centers across the country by the thousands. This pattern of system failure underscores the magnitude of ongoing problems with recording and counting votes — and election officials' lack of transparency in tabulating final results — as a threat that undermines Americans' faith that their votes will be fairly counted.
New York, NY — Today Demos, a leading, national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting democracy, voiced its strong support for rulings by U.S. District Judges Susan Dlott and John Adams barring all voter "challengers" from Ohio voting places.
New York, NY — Today Demos, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting democracy, issued a statement regarding the brewing voter registration scandal in Nevada, where political consulting firm Sproul and Associates, sometimes operating as Voter Outreach of America, has been accused of destroying registration forms completed during a months-long voter registration drive.
New York, NY-- Recent comments made by President Obama about the threat of budget negotiations stalling crucial social security payments have highlighted the growing pain felt by America's seniors. A new report "From Bad to Worse: Senior Economic Insecurity On the Rise," from the Institute on Assets and Social Policy and national policy center Demos, underscores how seniors have too few resources and too little time to plan for a fulfilling retirement.
New York, NY — Today Demos, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting democracy, voiced its strong support for South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson's recent decisions regarding counting voter registration applications without "double affirmations" of citizenship.
New York, NY — Anticipating a razor-thin election Nov. 2, many election officials and political commentators are making alarmist and inaccurate claims that "new" voter registration procedures will enable voter fraud.
However, election fraud is at most a minor problem across the 50 U.S. states, and does not affect election outcomes, according to a 2003 study being re-released today by Demos, titled "Securing the Vote: A Report on Election Fraud."
New York, NY — Today Miles Rapoport, President of Demos, a nonpartisan voting rights organization, and former Connecticut Secretary of State, issued the following statement on the dramatic nation-wide shortage of poll workers:
"Election officials across the country are facing critical shortages in poll workers, falling more than 500,000 workers short of what's needed nationally. When record numbers of Americans show up on Election Day, including many new voters, we must be prepared to handle the influx.
New York, NY — Today Demos, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting democracy, voiced its strong support for Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver's recent decisions regarding how to handle provisional ballots and voter registration applications.
NEW YORK — The economic security of younger Americans is eroding at an alarming pace as a result of slow wage growth, underemployment, rising costs and mounting student loan and credit card debt, according to a new report, "Generation Broke: The Growth of Debt Among Younger Americans," released today from Demos, a nonpartisan, public policy group based in New York City.
New York, NY — More than 200,000 votes cast on November 2nd could be invalidated due to improperly and illegally applied provisional balloting procedures, according to a new report released today by Demos, a nonpartisan public policy research organization based in New York.
NEW YORK — Millions of eligible voters may be prevented from casting their ballots on November 2nd due to non-existent or flawed procedures used by state election officials to purge felons from voter rolls, according to a new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union and Demos, as part of the Right to Vote Campaign.
Washington DC/NY, NY — Today Demos and Project Vote, two leading, national nonprofit organizations dedicated to voter registration, criticized the Department of Justice for failing to remind states of their responsibilities under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to offer voter registration services in public assistance agencies.
New York, NY/Washington, DC — Today two leading national voting rights organizations, Demos and Project Vote, asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to take action to improve states' compliance with the Nation Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensure easy access to voter registration for thousands of citizens.
New York, NY — The Inequality Matters conference kicks off on Thursday, June 3rd at New York University (NYU), with keynotes by Bill Moyers and Barbara Ehrenreich.
The conference will raise an alarm about the explosive growth in economic inequality in the U.S., examine its causes, and create a forum to press for solutions to this national crisis.
Key facts:
° The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released new figures showing that the income gap in the US is now the widest in 75 years.
Pittsburgh-The newly released national June jobs report showed 200,000 people joined the unemployment lines last month. In Pennsylvania, where the annual unemployment rate is the highest it has been in nearly three decades and state tuition/student debt is on the rise, the state's low- and middle-income families are in danger of disappearing.
A new report, "Under Attack: Pennsylvania's Middle Class and the Job Crisis," outlines these growing challenges facing millions of Pennsylvanians.
