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

Left out of the debate about the U.S.

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. 

STABILIZING THE DEBT: SHORT, MEDIUM, AND LONG TERM POLICY

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.

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.

Testimony of Steven Carbo Roundtable of the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee on Government Operations and the Environment October 8, 2010

Findings of a national survey of 1,103 registered voters on their perceptions of higher education policy in the United States.

Our data sets were provided and cleaned by Public Campaign. For the purposes of this report, Public Campaign used federal campaign contribution data made public by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and then refined and augmented by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). 

As former and present Secretaries of the State of Connecticut, we are very proud of our state for broadening our democracy by adopting a public financing system for our legislative and statewide campaigns. As former legislators, we understand intimately the fundraising aspects of standing for