|
Please note: We are currently upgrading Demos.org and will not be posting full archival content until our fall 2007 relaunch. For information about recent commentary not listed here, please contact press@demos.org.
Publications
Two Ways to Think About Gas Prices
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
August 11, 2008
U.S. is Losing Education Race with China
Newsday
August 5, 2008
Who Speaks for Small Business?
The Boston Review
July 18, 2008
You'll Return to College for Comfort, Pay
Newsday
May 19, 2008
Voter Story in Pennsylvania
Personal Democracy Forum
April 22, 2008
Good Jobs for Americans Who Help Americans
The American Prospect
April 21, 2008
Welcome 2008 Graduates to Our Real World
The Huffington Post
April 18, 2008
Why Fed Reform Won't Work
Slate Magazine
April 9, 2008
The Youth Vote Gap
DMI Blog, Huffington Post, Daily Kos
April 9, 2008
Hearing Highlights Mixed Compliance, DoJ Inaction on Public Assistance Voter Registration Requirement
The Hill's Congress Blog
April 1, 2008
An Economic Compact for the Young
The American Prospect
February 25, 2008
Address the Pain, Reap the Gain
The American Prospect
February 25, 2008
Silencing the Poor: The Neglect of the National Voter Registration Act
The Hill's Congress Blog
February 15, 2008
A Gentler Capitalism
Los Angeles Times
January 31, 2008
It's Time to Save the Housing Sector
Boston Globe
January 24, 2008
Candidates Lack Concrete Plans to Aid Middle Class
Newsday
January 16, 2008
Millions in the Slammer
AlterNet
January 16, 2008
Malawi's Free Trade Revolt
Los Angeles Times
January 9, 2008
The Solvency Crisis
The American Prospect
December 26, 2007
Benjamin Barber on 'Supercapitalism'
Truthdig.com
December 13, 2007
Subprime Mortgage Fix Doesn't Address the Cause
Newsday
December 11, 2007
The Failures of 'Fail-Safe' Voting
The Hill's Congress Blog
November 30, 2007
"The Great Enabler"
The American Prospect
November 26, 2007
"How the West Might Be Won"
Mother Jones
November 13, 2007
"Recounting Tomorrow's Vote"
TomPaine.com
November 13, 2007
"Creative Destruction"
The New Republic
November 12, 2007
"Banking on a Bailout"
The Boston Globe
October 20, 2007
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner addresses the implications of the Treasury Department's recent "private sector" bailout scheme.
"The Mulligan"
The New Republic
October 8, 2007
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn writes about his interview with Hillary Clinton on the unveiling of her controversial healthcare proposal.
"Corporate Crime: Stolen Without a Gun"
AlterNet
October 3, 2007
Senior Fellow Nomi Prins talks with an award-winning Forbes senior editor and a former MCI WorldCom employee about their book, Stolen Without a Gun.
"Raise poverty line to reflect economic reality"
Newsday
September 18, 2007
Senior Fellow John Schwarz explains why the official poverty measure fails to reflect the reality of this nation's working poor.
"HillaryCare 2.0"
The New Republic
September 18, 2007
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn provides an extensive analysis of Hillary Clinton's latest healthcare proposal.
"All Things Fed"
The American Prospect
September 17, 2007
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner addresses the implications of the Fed's upcoming interest rate cut, and discusses the publication of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's memoirs.
"Barred for Life"
San Francisco Weekly
August 28, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky profiles a San Francisco attorney who represents prisoners with life sentences.
"The crash that could come"
The Boston Globe
July 30, 2007
Investors and ordinary citizens have good reason to worry about a perfect economic storm. Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner writes in The Boston Globe about how the United States is vulnerable to an economic crash.
"System Failure"
The Boston Globe
July 29, 2007
Senior Fellow Jonthan Cohn writes about the nation's healthcare crisis in The Boston Globe.
"N.C. rejects politics of fear"
The Charlotte Observer
July 18, 2007
North Carolina should be applauded for rejecting the politics of voter fraud and putting voting rights first.
"Use Libby case to fix sentencing"
Newsday
July 13, 2007
Pundits at both ends of the political spectrum are caught up in the wrong discussion over President George W. Bush's commutation of Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 30-month prison sentence, one that centers on abuse of power.
"Put student loans in federal hands"
Newsday
June 19, 2007
Senior fellow Nomi Prins writes about the harmful effects of privatizing education lending.
"The specter haunting your office"
New York Review of Books
June 14, 2007
Three books about the downsizing of America's workforce are the subject of Senior Fellow Jim Lardner's recent article.
"Homegrown scientific talent not being used"
New Haven Register
June 5, 2007
Senior fellow Algernon Austin writes that America should meet the growing demand for scientists by developing and putting to use homegrown talent first.
"Hedging disaster"
The American Prospect
April 30, 2007
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner writes that, "Hedge funds and private equity operators are driving the wrong brand of capitalism - and pursuing ever-riskier deals that threaten the financial system."
"The democracy of evil"
The American Prospect
April 25, 2007
Senior fellow Sasha Abrmsky reviews Philip Zimbardo's book The Lucifer Effect, and writes about what the creator of the famous Stanford prison experiment says about the Bush administration's responsibility for the torture and abuse in Iraq.
"The other America"
The Guardian
April 21, 2007
Senior fellow Sasha Abramsky argues, "There is far more to America than the knee-jerk reactions of its overseas critics would have you believe."
"Privatizing and profiteering"
The Boston Globe
April 21, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a distinguished senior fellow at Demos and co-editor at The American Prospect. Here he writes, "The deepening college loan scandal is a classic case of what can happen when government uses private companies as middlemen to carry out public goals."
"Cut the crap"
The Guardian
April 16, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky argues that, "Don Imus was always a crude and revolting 'shock jock' - but no-one seemed to mind until he went a step too far."
"Third times the charm"
The American Prospect
April 15, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a distinguished senior fellow at Demos and co-editor at the American Prospect. Here he argues that "For the third time in modern history, a conservative movement and presidency have exhausted themselves."
"Comparative advantage"
The New Republic
April 10, 2007
Jonathan Cohn is a senior fellow at Demos and a senior editor at The New Republic. Here he considers "what Jacques Chirac could teach us about health care."
"Florida's get out of jail card"
The Guardian
April 9, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky writes about Florida Governor Charlie Crist's decision to return the vote to the state disfranchised ex-convists.
"The housing squeeze"
The Boston Globe
April 7, 2007
Robert Kuttner is distinguished senior fellow at Demos and co-editor at The American Prospect. He he writes about the current housing market and its effects.
"Clearing the air"
The Guardian
April 5, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky writes, "Thanks to the supreme court's ruling this week, states and cities across America can finally start tackling climate change."
"Friendly takeover"
The American Prospect
April 4, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos and Co-Editor at The American Prospect. Here he writes that, "the most influential figure setting the economic course of the Democratic Party is banker Robert Rubin. But his counsel isn't likely to help either the Democrats, their constituents, or the economy.
"Overselling capitalism"
The Los Angeles Times
April 4, 2007
Distinguished senior fellow Benjamin R. Barber suggests that today's market are headed for disaster unless there is a shift in focus.
"What's the one thing big business and the left have in common?"
The New York Times Magazine
April 1, 2007
Senior fellow Jonathan Cohn comments on the trend in big business leaders joining the discussion on universal health care.
"Comeback attempt for the labor movement"
The Boston Globe
March 31, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a distinguished senior fellow at Demos and Senior editor at The American Prospect. Here he writes about the reemergence of the labor movement.
"His freedom to choose"
The Guardian
March 29, 2007
Senior fellow Sasha Abramsky writes about the Employee Free Choice Act as an important pro-union bill.
"Gray zone justice"
The Guardian
March 27, 2007
Senior fellow Sasha Abramsky considers why "Califonrnia governors reject parole decisions, even when an inmate has been rehabilitated?"
"Dopey and dumb"
The Guardian
March 21, 2007
Senior fellow Sasha Abramsky writes, "States are passing medical marijuana laws, and the drug can ease suffering. So why is one terminally-ill women being federally prosecuted?"
"The subprime scandal"
The American Prospect
March 19, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a Dinstinguished Senior Fellow at Demos and co-editor at The American Prospect. Here he writes, "the current demise of the subprime mortgage industry is deregulation's latest gift."
"Chaos theory incarceration"
The Guardian
March 16, 2007
In Colorado, a debate over illegal immigrants has led to the re-emergence of leasing prisoners for work. According to Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky, this is not a good thing.
"Under 34, underpaid underdogs"
AFL-CIO.org
March 14, 2007
Tamara Draut is the Director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos. He she comments on the financial obstacles facing young people today.
"Time to rethink unsuccessful war of drugs"
The New Haven Register
March 13, 2007
Senior Fellow Algernon Austin comments on the failure of America's war on drugs and its effects on communities.
"Cheney's still dangerous"
The Boston Globe
March 10, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a distinguished senior fellow at Demos and co-editor at The American Prospect. Here he writes about Dick Cheney's recent humiliations and the continued danger of his lawlessness.
"No news is bad news"
The Guardian
March 10, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky comments on the rising competition from online news sources and its consequences, including an increasingly ill-informed public.
"Plundered at the pump"
The Guardian
March 6, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky comments on the rising price of fuel and its implications for the poor who have no alternative option to driving.
"Waking up in Reno"
The Guardian
March 4, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky writes about Reno, Nevada as "a great place to see the contradictions of the American west."
"Beware of corporate do-gooding"
The Boston Globe
March 3, 2007
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner comments on a wave of major corporations waging corporate "do-gooding" campaigns and warns that such actions are in fact profit-driven public relations campaigns.
"The race"
The Columbia Journalism Review
March 1, 2007
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner comments on the race for newspapers to secure their futures with print-digital hybrids.
"Onus is on Democrats to restore fairness to the lending system"
The Balitmore Sun
February 28, 2007
Jose A. Garcia is a Senior Research and Policy Associate at Demos. Here he writes about the need for Democrats in Congress to turn their attention to restoring fairness in lending relationships.
"Democratic stars aligning"
The American Prospect
February 26, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos and Co-editor at The American Prospect. He he writes about the line-up of Democratic presidential candidates and the prospects of a "revolutionary political year."
"Bright lights in Carson City"
The Guardian
February 22, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky writes about how the Democrat presidential candidates convened in Carson City Nevada to "test their mettle in the west."
"John Edwards serves notice at the first Democratic candidates' forum"
Mother Jones
February 22, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky comments on the First Democratic candidates' forum held in Carson City, Nevada and the gives notice to John Edwards' performance and character as a candidate.
"Prison state"
The American Prospect
February 22, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky writes about Ruth Gilmore's book "Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California."
"Parallel Movies"
The Boston Globe
February 20, 2007
Shari Cohen is the Associate Director of the Fellow Program at Demos. In this piece she comments on the need for more long-term thinking in publicy policy planning.
"Now that's a riot"
The Guardian
February 19, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky suggests that our strongest cultural passions are reserved for sporting events and reality television. In this piece he states states that, "Football riots have a way of making headlines. Now if only classical music riots still did the same."
"The trade quagmire"
The American Prospect
February 19, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow and co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. Here he writes about trade policy.
"Pots calls the kettle crack"
The Guardian
February 16, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky writes about the War on Drugs" and the ways in which it has blurred the lines between "hard" and "soft" drugs.
"America's Dirtiest Secret"
Sacramento News & Review
February 15, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky remarks on issues of hunger and poverty in the United States with a particular focus on Sacramento California.
"A ban on family values?"
CBS News, The New Republic
February 15, 2007
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn wirtes about the ban on gay marriage in the state of Michigan, and comments on the consequences of such a decision on communities as well as the Republican Party.
"Throwing away the key"
The Guardian
February 14, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky comments on California's state prison system, suggesting that the state's 'three strikes' laws are "filling the state's prisons to overflowing and leaving a trail of human misery."
"The real villans of 9/11/ finally revealed"
The Huffington Post
February 14, 2007
Distinguished Senior Fellow Benjamin R. Barber comments on Dinesh D'Souza's new book "The Enemy at Home"
"Hyping the horse race instead of feeding the horses"
The Huffington Post
February 11, 2007
Distinguished Senior Fellow Benjamin R. Barber writes about how the hyped up Democratic horse race is distracting from real issues and new ideas.
"Deconstructing Nader"
The Boston Globe
February 10, 2007
Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner consdiers the role of Ralph Nader in the 2000 election, and the portrayal of Nader in the independent film titled "An Unreasonable Man."
"Generation null"
The Guardian
February 9, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky writes that "Norman Mailer, Orson Welles and the Beatles are mysteries to many of America's undergraduates" and suggests that it is a sign of a narrowing culture.
"How generous is the Bill Gates Foundation?"
AlterNet
February 7, 2007
Allison Fine is a Senior Fellow at Demos. In this piece she argues that there is a serious contradiction within the Bill Gates Foundation, among others, that invest millions of dollars in companies that pollute and endanger many of the areas and communities that the foundation was designed to help.
"The reformer"
The New Republic
February 6, 2007
Jonathan Cohn is a Senior Fellow at Demos and a Senior Editor at The New Republic. Here he considers just "how populist is John Edwards's new health care plan?"
"Attention: deficit disorder"
The American Prospect
February 5, 2007
Distinguished Fellow Robert Kuttner debates Concord Coalition Excutive Director Robert Bixby on the budget crisis and what is necessary to address it.
"Wild for the west"
The Guardian
February 5, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky comments on New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's bid for the White House and how his influence in the west sets him apart from his competition.
"The coming showdown on trade"
The Boston Globe
February 3, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow and co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. He writes on trade politics.
"Bashing Goliath"
The American Prospect
February 2, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky reviews Andrei Marvovits book Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America.
"Your money or your life"
TomPaine.com
February 1, 2007
Cindy Zeldin is the Federal Affairs Coordinator of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos. Here she examines the crisis of health care and its relationship to financial debt in the United States.
"The case for boldness"
The American Prospect
January 29, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow and co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. Here, in response to Bush's health care plan, as unveiled in his State of the Union address, he suggests that Democrats reject the President's plan and push for measures of their own.
"Health of the nation"
The Guardian
January 29, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses the prospects of Universal health care in the United States as an "accidental by-product" of the Bush administration.
"Proud heritage"
The New Republic
January 26, 2007
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn takes a closer look at the term "Liberal," and suggestes that despite the fact that it has in many ways become a dirty word, "liberalism is not something to be ashamed of."
"Shock tactics"
The Guardian
January 26, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky examines the use of Taser guns by police officers and the danger of the increasingly casual use of such weapons on criminals.
"Health insurance dilemma"
The Boston Globe
January 20, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow and co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. Here he discusses the dilemma of health insurance in the United States and weighs in on several proposals for reform.
"Yes, We Need Real Insurance. . .Real Social Insurance"
Cato Unbound
January 16, 2007
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn discusses the definition of "real" insurance, and the cost of healthcare in the United States.
"'Bipartisan' remedy with a hidden agenda"
The Boston Globe
January 13, 2007
Robert Kuttner is a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow and co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. Here he discusses the Concord Coalition's bipartisan approach to Medicare and Social Security expenses.
"King stood with, not above, the people"
USA Today
January 12, 2007
"King's success depended on what few saw and even fewer honor: thousands of dedicated people doing his groundwork," writes Senior Fellow Rich Benjamin who suggests that a large-scale memorial may in fact undermine the legacy of the late civil rights leader.
"Notes from Underground"
The American Prospect
January 10, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses Sudhir Venkatesh's new book Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor (Harvard University Press, 2006) which examines the underground economy of one urban community in the Southside of Chicago.
"Hollywood conservative"
The New Republic
January 10, 2007
Jonathan Cohn is a Senior Fellow at Demos and Senior Editor at The New Republic. Here he discusses Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's healthcare plan for California.
"America's hidden hunger"
The Guardian
January 10, 2007
The US Federal minimum wage has not risen in 10 years. Here Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses how the working poor are finding it more and more difficult to provide for their families.
"Get serious, democrats"
The Boston Globe
January 6, 2007
Distinguised Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner discusses the Democrats' plan to restore pay-as-you-go budget rules, and suggests they first "get serious" about repealing Bush's tax cut for the rich.
"Just say 'failure'"
The Sacramento News and Review
January 4, 2007
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses how the War on Drugs has not lead to a decrease in drug abuse, but rather the squandering of billions of dollars and an over-populated prision system.
"Blue-ing the west"
The Nation
January 4, 2007
Sasha Abramsky is a Senior Fellow at Demos and frequent contributor to The Nation magazine. Here he discusses the Democratic Party's positioning in western states.
"What's bad about GM? The cars"
The Boston Globe
December 30, 2006
Robert Kuttner is a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow and co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. Here he discusses GM's tendency to honor marketing over engineering.
"In China's Pocket"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect, The International Herald Tribune
December 16, 2006
Robert Kuttner is a Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow and co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect. Here he discusses the Bush Administration's policies toward China.
"The Other Rocky"
The Nation, CBS News
December 14, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky asks the questions of whether today's election system is flexible enough to allow the emergence of national leaders and Cabinet secretaries who are thinkers as well as politicians, men and women of principle as well as ambition? His answer: Perhaps, but Anderson and others like him face an uphill path. After all, we have grown used to seeing candidates who appeal to the lowest common denominators in our politics win.
"Frank leadership"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect
December 9, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner discusses Barney Frank's plans to use the hearing process to shed light on the real America, and to address the broad economic concerns that Americans are facing today.
"High college costs sabotage black graduation rates"
The New Haven Register
December 5, 2006
Senior Fellow Algernon Austin writes about the soaring cost of college tuition and the graduation rates of of low-income and minority students.
"Our Economic Quagmire"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect
December 2, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner writes that this past week's decline of the dollar against the euro is rather like the seismic tremors that precede a major earthquake on a fault line. We don't know whether this is the big one. We just know that the big one is coming sooner or later.
"The economic challenge facing Democrats"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect
November 25, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner writes that voters are sick of an economic system that allows moguls to make annual incomes running into the hundreds of millions, for manipulating commerce in ways that leave ordinary people worse off. In an election billed as a referendum on Iraq and Republican corruption (which it certainly was), the sleeper issue was the economy as it affects regular Americans.
"The Other Milton Friedman: A Conservative With a Social Welfare Program"
The New York Times
November 23, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank writes how Milton Friedman, who died last week at 94, was the patron saint of small-government conservatism. Conservatives who invoke his name in defense of Social Security privatization and other cutbacks in the social safety net might thus be surprised to learn that he was also the architect of the most successful social welfare program of all time.
Market forces can accomplish wonderful things, he realized, but they cannot ensure a distribution of income that enables all citizens to meet basic economic needs.
"Populism's revival"
San Francisco Chronicle
November 22, 2006
Senior Fellow James Lardner writes that after a quarter-century of growing economic inequality, America decided to talk about it.
"Caught In The Housing Bubble"
TomPaine.com, La Prensa San Diego
November 20, 2006
Senior Fellow Jennifer Wheary outlines the danger in what has become the "re-refinancing the American dream" strategy. Refinancing has been used to bridge a gap between declining wages and rising living costs. It hasn't closed this chasm, only given families a way to traverse it in the short term.
"Guest Opinion: Montana's Election-Day registration successful"
The Billings Gazette
November 19, 2006
Demos President Miles Rapoport and Former Motanta Secretary of State Mike Cooney comment on the November election results in Montana and the role of the nearly 3,700 people in the state who were able to register and vote on Election Day.
"The Cheney riddle"
The Boston Globe, The American Prospect, Middle East Online, PEJ News
November 18, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner asks if Rumsfeld's abrupt dismissal will finally diminish Cheney's unprecedented dominance of Bush? Or did the always cunning vice president read the writing on the wall and decide that it was time for his good friend Rumsfeld to go?
"Top 10 People Most Affected by Election 2006"
AlterNet
November 17, 2006
Senior Fellow Nomi Prins outlines the ten people most affected by the outcome of the mid-term elections, from Donald Rumsfeld to Jeffery Kindler, CEO of Pfizer.
"Private Lesson"
The New Republic
November 15, 2006
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn writes that that, when it comes to financing Americans' medical expenses, often the government really is better than the private sector. That's just as true for the working-age population as it is for the elderly--a point worth making whenever the next debate over universal health care begins. If Pelosi has her way, it could begin as soon as next year.
"Bipartisanship? Briefly"
Boston Globe, American Prospect
November 11, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner writes that the sunny bipartisan mood will last only until the lame-duck Republican Congress, now repudiated by voters, makes one last effort to lock in such administration goals as permanent abolition of the estate tax, passage of illegal spying on Americans, confirmation of John Bolton as UN ambassador, and the Senate begins exploring the sordid past of Robert Gates.
"Social Change and the Connected Age"
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
November 9, 2006
Senior Fellow Allison H. Fine discusses how the myriad ways, by stealth or sunlight, people around the world are creatively using new digital media to connect with one another, influence their communities, and catalyze social-change efforts.
"Don't blame black culture"
Baltimore Sun, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Contra Costa Times, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, TomPaine.com
November 8, 2006
Senior Fellow Algernon Austin and Jared Bernstein discuss how the "bad culture" arguments about African-Ameircans are misguided at best and destructive at worst. By creating an erroneous causal link between "bad culture" and black poverty, the "Cosby consensus" prevents the country from recognizing success and building on it to create the economic opportunities that are missing for too many African-Americans.
"How One Gubernatorial Race Became About Bush"
The New Republic
November 8, 2006
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn analyzes how Granholm is returning to office largely because her opponents, and the philosophy they embrace, are increasingly in disrepute.
"Walking The Race Line"
TomPaine.com
November 7, 2006
Senior Fellow Rich Benjamin investigates how White voters in the emerging suburbs and exurbs in a handful of states may determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. And their brethren nationwide, strategists believe, hold the keys to the 2008 presidential election.
The rest of America, beware: Centrist racial politics in Exurbland are transforming its voters' hobby horses--school "choice," taxpayer and private property rights, gated communities and "color-blind" indifference--into sacred shibboleths.
"At the corner of Prison Row and Polling Place"
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sacramento Bee
November 6, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses how today, one in four black men throughout much of the South is unable to vote, and a high percentage of poverty-level Anglos and Latinos are also disenfranchised. The result: The electorate is shrunken, and as it shrinks, election results do not reflect the full will or needs of the population.
"Decision 2006: How will we run our elections?"
TheHill.com
November 6, 2006
Demos President Miles Rapoport comments on the November 2006 election as a fundamental moment for deciding the future of our country.
"Recounting Tomorrow's Vote"
TomPaine.com
November 5, 2006
Director of the Democracy Program Stuart Comstock-Gay highlights that there are simply too many potential snafus preventing all votes from being accurately counted. Recounts should be considered not just to ensure the most accurate vote count, but as a critical means of exposing problems with our electoral process, and to create a climate for continued reform and improvements.
"Nervous excitement builds for Democrats"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect
November 4, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner muses that November 2006 will be remembered either as the time American democracy was stolen again, maybe forever, or began a brighter day.
"Year Of The Woman 2.0"
TomPaine.com, AlterNet
November 3, 2006
Senior Fellow Allison Fine describes how the advent of the Connected Age and social media are providing women with opportunity and advantage that gives Year of the Woman 2.0 a new dimension.
"Moral Minority"
The New Republic
November 3, 2006
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn argues that with 90 percent of Americans in their 20s having sex, according to the available statistics, it seems that quite the opposite is true--that only a very small minority of the population disapproves of unmarried twentysomethings having sex. The conservative view, in other words, is a very extreme one.
"A new bargain: YouTube politics"
San Francisco Chronicle
October 31, 2006
Senior Fellow Allison Fine discusses how the cornerstone of the Connected Age is a shift in power from institutions to individuals. The ability to communicate one to many now rests in the hands of people effectively using social media tools such as YouTube, MySpace and FaceBook.
"Registering Indifference"
TomPaine.com
October 30, 2006
NVRI Attorney Lisa Danetz highlights how a decade after the passage of the National Voter Registration Act, battles are being re-fought in less public view around implementation of voter registration in public assistance offices throughout the country. For whatever reason, many states are no longer offering voter registration opportunities at their public assistance offices. And, when made aware of the problem, different states are again reacting differently.
"Hampering the vote"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect
October 28, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner outlines that the real fraud is the theft of our democracy, by deliberate suppression of the right to vote and to have one's vote counted. The popular revulsion against the Bush administration is so powerful that even with these abuses, Democrats are likely to take back the House. Then the recovery of American democracy can begin.
"Fighting For The Middle Class"
CBS News
The Nation
October 26, 2006
Tamara Draut and Barbara Ehrenreich offer insight and anaysis into the economic struggles of the middle class. Ehrenreich is the author of thirteen books, including the New York Times bestseller Nickel and Dimed. Draut is the Director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos, a public policy center based in New York City and the author of Strapped.
"Prospering May Not Make People Happier, but It May Make Them Healthier"
The New York Times, International Herald Tribune
October 26, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow clarifies that, in a nutshell, happiness and welfare, though related, are very different things. For example, growth enables us to expand medical research and other activities that clearly enhance human welfare but have little effect on measured happiness levels.
"Take your time"
Boston Globe
October 24, 2006
Tamara Draut, Director of the Economic Opportunity Program and Jose A. Garcia, Senior Research and Policy Associate of the Economic Opportunity Program discusses how not everyone had a respite during the summer vacation months, nor will they as we approach the winter holidays. While millions took to the roads and skies this summer, many just kept working. Not because they wanted to, but because paid "vacation time" in America is a perk, not a part of the social contract.
"Bush on display"
The Boston Globe, The American Prospect
October 21, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner outlines how a special exhibition, American Democracy in the Bush Years, would feature material on Ken Blackwell and Katherine Harris, with displays of flawed or manipulated voting machines, purged voter lists, excessive ID checks, rubber-stamp courts, and suspensions of civil liberties.
"Doctors join South Dakota's effort to ban abortion"
The New Republic
October 20, 2006
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn discusses how an advertisement in South Dakota by doctors against abortion are pediatric sub-specialists, the kind who spend most of their time treating children with severe congenital health problems, and while they are entitled to their opinion, they should be clear that it's just that--an opinion--rather than objective scientific fact.
"The Moral Minimum"
The Nation, AlterNet
October 19, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky outlines movements for minimum wage across the country and how until recently, whenever Democratic politicians called for raising the minimum wage, Republicans in Congress blocked it. This summer the GOP changed tactics. Faced with an increasingly vociferous movement to raise it, and with attention focused on Chicago's passage of a living-wage ordinance mandating that big-box companies such as Wal-Mart increase pay and benefits, party strategists came up with a novel approach: Support a hike in the baseline pay scale, but tie it to a huge cut in the estate tax for wealthy Americans.
"Downsized but Not Out"
The Nation
October 19, 2006
Economic Opportunity Director Tamara Draut writes with Barbara Ehrenreich writes how the middle class has been roiled in recent years by what the economists call "income volatility," or sudden changes in fortune, usually caused by layoffs. The discarded shrink off in shame--after all, they must have done something wrong--and vanish from the unemployment statistics by going to Circuit City or Starbucks and taking whatever job they can get. To acknowledge their existence would be to admit that the "knowledge economy" is a delusion and to raise a rude finger in the face of the American dream.
"Greasing the Skids"
The Nation, AlterNet, Coastal Post
October 18, 2006
Senior Fellow Nomi Prins writes if detectives from CSI were investigating the plummet in oil prices, they'd look for motive and method. Motive's obvious: strategically important midterm elections. With Iraq and swarming allegations that the Administration has created more terrorism than before, there's not a lot the GOP can control. According to Doug Henwood's Left Business Observer study, there's a 78 percent correlation between the direction of gas prices and approval for the GOP.
"Wal-Mart's Benefits Squeeze"
TomPaine.com, AlterNet
October 16, 2006
Cindy Zeldin, Federal Affairs Coordinator for the Economic Opportunity Program, writes that mega-retailer's abandonment of traditional health insurance in favor of high-deductible health insurance takes the benefits squeeze to a whole new level: it puts a dagger through the heart of the very concept of insurance.
"Cleaning up the mess"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect
October 14, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner comments that if Democrats do take back even one House, they can be thankful that the country has veered back from the precipice of despotism. Then the really hard work will begin to restore fiscal resonsibility and the normal functions of congressional oversight of the executive branch, which have collapsed during Republican control of both houses.
"Voteless In Alabama"
TomPaine.com
October 12, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses how before political pressure led to Vance's backtracking on disfranchisement in Alabama, Vance's decision was founded almost on a technicality, rather than on a principled objection to disenfranchisement per se. nstead of arguing about exactly what crimes involve "moral turpitude," as a society we'd be far better served if our political and judicial leaders were to engage in a genuine debate about the merits and costs of spending an ever-greater percentage of our national wealth on locking people up; if we were to engage in more serious conversations about how best to tackle deep societal problems such as mass drug addiction and the alienation and despair felt by so many millions of poor Americans.
"My View - George Allen and taking it personally"
Alexandria Times
October 12, 2006
Michael Lipsky, Senior Program Director, Public Works comments that no doubt it is part of the human condition that we are limited in the range and depth of the empathy we can experience. But it is also part of our experience that we regularly take stock and rededicate ourselves to our highest values. At the beginning of our New Year, which we are celebrating this week, Jews congregate for just this purpose: to ask forgiveness for things they may have done to hurt others. We also ask forgiveness for the things we have not done, which by their omission may have been hurtful as well.
"Close shameful tutoring gap"
New York Daily News
October 9, 2006
Senior Fellow Jennifer Wheary discusses that while the No Child Left Behind Act promises tutoring to kids in failing schools, as we speak, thousands of eligible students in New York City and around the nation are being denied the help they need.
"Connected Age gives power to people"
San Jose Mercury News
October 9, 2006
Senior Fellow Allison Fine demonstrates how the Connected Age has spurred millions of us to participate politically online every day. Gloriously untrained, we write our own online diaries, in essence producing our own daily op-ed columns. In the past several years, more than a million people have chosen to meet with perfect strangers about their passions through Meetup.com. It's time to turn this serendipity into a voting system that could deliver on the promise of this new century.
"Same song, different scandal"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect
October 8, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner connects the dots on the Foley scandal to the larger theme that in many areas of the administration, the fox is guarding the chicken coop. Mark Foley was chairman of a House caucus on missing and exploited children. This was a party that literally put a pedophile in charge of pedophilia. It's the same party that put the oil companies in charge of energy policy, and invited the drug and insurance industries to write the Medicare prescription bill for their own maximum profit. As investigations have revealed, it put lobbyists for polluting industries in charge of environmental protection.
"Health Insurance Has Its Limits"
The New Republic
October 6, 2006
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn provides yet another story of how even relatively affluent Americans with good health insurance can run into financial trouble because of medical illness--and about why, at some point, the government has to step in and do something about it.
"Activists, Rejoice! We're All Connected Now"
AlterNet
October 6, 2006
Senior Fellow Allison Fine describes how in the click of a mouse we have traveled from an old century to a new one, from the Information Age to the Connected Age, from silent majorities to connected activism.
"A guide to future financial scandals - and how to prevent them"
The Christian Science Monitor, Yahoo! News
October 5, 2006
Senior Fellow David Callahan outlines that instead of again learning the hard way where the opportunities for fraud and abuse exist, Congress needs to get ahead of the curve. In the wake of corporate scandals it should be crystal clear just how important it is to have a government that can protect citizens from rogue businesses.
"The Marriage Placebo"
TomPaine.com, AlterNet
October 2, 2006
Myra Batchelder, Policy Analyst in the Economic Opportunity Program, outlines how if Congress wants to fortify marriage and the family, they should look more closely at the lives and challenges faced by real families in this country, instead of using religious-fundamentalist ideology to help craft policy, which excludes so many. "Healthy Marriage Promotion Activities" divert millions in funding from beneficial programs such as higher education aid, child care, job training and Medicaid that ideally help all families.
"The John McCain charade"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect, CBS Now
September 30, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner calls to watch out for John McCain as he manages to be both the anti-Bush within the Republican Party, and also Bush's enabler. This split role, which his bipartisan fans somehow miss, positions McCain perfectly for 2008 as the guy untarnished by all the bad stuff Bush brought us, but who continues the same regime.
"Can We Afford to Spend So Much on Health Care?"
The New Republic
September 29, 2006
Senior Fellow Jonathan Cohn discusses how as medical care becomes more expensive, the important arrangements for shared protection become more important--because the cost of treating even an illness becomes such a greater threat to an individual's personal income.
"The More We Make, the Better We Want"
The New York Times
September 28, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank outlines how John Maynard Keynes speculated about how the continuation of such spectacular productivity growth might transform our lives.
"Rescuing Morality"
TomPaine.com
September 27, 2006
Senior Fellow David Callahan argues that values remain a potent underlying context for politics. Polls show that church-going whites favor Republicans by a nearly 25-point margin and that the GOP also holds a huge edge among married parents. Unless Democrats can address this deficit, dreams of a new majority will remain just that.
"Bush's options on Iran"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect, Middle East Online
September 23, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner discusses the need for diplomacy with Iran before launching what could well be World War III.
"Top Ten Ways We Got Jacked by Conservatives"
AlterNet
September 22, 2006
Senior Fellow Nomi Prins gives a top ten list of the worst offenses we've seen since 2001 by fiscal conservatives in the United States.
"Rebelling against torture and Bush"
Boston Globe, The American Prospect, Middle East Online, International Herald Tribune
September 16, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner writes that after nearly six years of blind loyalty, Republican moderates in Congress are beginning to rebel against the sheer recklessness of their president, or more specifically, of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the architects of these policies.
"The Sickly State of Health Insurance"
AlterNet
September 12, 2006
In her latest book, Jacked, Senior Fellow Nomi Prins demonstrates how health care in the US has gotten so bad that even the wealthy find themselves gasping at the soaring premiums.
"Prepare for lame-duck jockeying"
Boston Globe, American Prospect
September 9, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner outlines the prospects for Congress' return before the election season kicks into full gear, and quite possibly, Republicans lose their majority in at least one House.
"College Blues"
TomPaine.com, AlterNet
September 5, 2006
Economic Opportunity Program Director Tamara Draut discusses that as the recently released 2006 Economic Report of the President reported that earnings for workers with college degrees declined between 2000 and 2004--yet another thread of evidence in a growing mound that for those just starting out, the golden rules are no longer so golden.
"Book Excerpt: "Stealing Democracy""
PBS Now
September 1, 2006
Spencer Overton is a professor of law at George Washington University specializing in voting rights and campaign finance law. This is the introduction to his book, "Stealing Democracy".
"The Mayor Who Challenged the President"
The Nation
September 1, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky details a speech given by Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson critiquing the Bush Administration in which Anderson declared, quoting Teddy Roosevelt, that silence in the face of injustice "is morally treasonable to the American public."
"Just Try Voting Here: 11 of America's worst places to cast a ballot (or try)"
Mother Jones, PBS Now, AlterNet, TruthOut, Ventura County Reporter
September 1, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky gives us a breathtaking overview of how except for a rudimentary federal framework (which determines the voting age, channels money to states and counties, and enforces protections for minorities and the disabled), U.S. elections are shaped by a dizzying mélange of inconsistently enforced laws, conflicting court rulings, local traditions, various technology choices, and partisan trickery.
"When the Rich-Poor Gap Widens, "Gatsby" Becomes a Guidebook"
The New York Times, International Herald Tribune
August 31, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank discusses that as today's disparities in inequality are once more at record levels, it may be no surprise that there is a resurgence of interest in Gatsby.
"Don't let insurers shirk responsibility"
Newsday
August 30, 2006
Senior Fellow Nomi Prins examines the impact of insurance companies shirking their responsibilities post-Katrina, and the need for lasting reform with more federal and state supervision and fewer leniencies with reinsurance and insurance company price hikes and reneged claims.
"We're a long way from real democracy"
Newsday
August 25, 2006
Cole Krawitz, communications and events associate with Demos and Jay Toole, shelter organizer for Queers for Economic Justice, discuss how de jure and de facto disenfranchisement continues to erode our democracy, particularly for low-income communities and communities of color.
"Long way to go in gender gap"
Newsday
August 24, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Linda Tarr-Whelan calls for an attitudinal shift that celebrates and fundamentally incorporates women's decision-making power, and an end to the hidden costs of gender inequality.
"Nevada Conservatives Against the War on Drugs"
Mother Jones
August 11, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky brings us the story of the shift in voters taste on the war on drugs, and the ever increasing move by Nevada conservatives in supporting making marijuana, in particular, a low priority for law enforcement.
"Speakout: Most ex-felons deserve right to vote"
Rocky Mountain News
August 4, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses how Colorado's Supreme Court ruling denied parolees the right to vote the same week that the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations issued a highly critical report about how the United States treats prisoners and ex-prisoners.
"The Herd Changes Course and Runs Away From S.U.V.'s"
The New York Times
August 3, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank discusses how with the herd now in full stampede, the era of big, gas-guzzling S.U.V.'s may soon be history.
"Powering the Edges"
Boston Globe
July 30, 2006
Senior Fellow Allison Fine illustrates how communities are pushing power to the edges through community empowerment endeavors, online strategies and more in an effort to push power out and share information--to participate, not dictate.
"This Nation's De-Facto Draft Hits Rural America"
Lone Star Iconoclast
July 24, 2006
Senior Fellow Rich Benjamin spotlights how Rural America deserves national attention for sacrificing a disproportionate number of its sons and daughters and the resulting impact on the economy.
"Impending "Realness:" Transgender Communities Dealt a Blow By REAL ID"
San Francisco Bay Times, Democracy Dispatches
July 6, 2006
Communications and Events Associate Cole Krawitz discussed the impact of restrictive voter ID requirements, and REAL ID on transgender communities. Krawitz outlines how REAL ID's implementation will result in grave consequences due to inconsistent requirements among state agencies and databases, and the far-reaching impact the legislation has on the future of our democracy.
"How Much Is That Laptop? It Depends on the Color of the Case. And That's Fair."
The New York Times
July 6, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank discusses how pricing schemes enable companies to attract more buyers, reduce the average cost per buyer served, and free up resources that can be used to support higher quality--more frequent flights for travelers and more sophisticated laptops for computer buyers.
"Blow To Fair Elections"
TomPaine.com
June 28, 2006
Director of the Democracy Program, Stuart Comstock-Gay analyzes how the Supreme Court decision on Vermont's campaign finance law gives money an even larger role in elections. A recent poll shows that 87 percent of Americans like the idea of spending limits, and just as it took three tries to get the Supreme Court to rule the poll tax unconstitutional, this battle is not done, either. Comstock-Gay decrees that perhaps most significantly, this decision should serve as a wake-up call around public financing.
"Tuition 101: Higher rates don't add up"
Newsday
June 27, 2006
Economic Opportunity Program Associate Myra Batchelder and Senior Fellow Jennifer Wheary discuss that while tuition and student indebtedness continue to rise, quality of education, access to full-time faculty and any guarantee that a college diploma ensures financial stability are evaporating--marking this imbalance as cause for concern - and action.
"19th century laws restrict voting"
The Mountain Mail, The Topeka Capital-Journal
June 12, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky outlines how a result of the overlap of mass incarceration with felon disenfranchisement, America faces a shrinking of the electorate and attack on voting rights with only one parallel in the nation's history: during the adoption of Jim Crow at the end of the 19th century, when Southern blacks were, wholesale, removed from the voter rolls.
"Energy Policy Is Far Too Complicated to Be Left to the Politicians"
The New York Times
June 8, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank discusses how, given that widely reported finding that 55 percent of Americans would be willing to support a higher gasoline tax if it reduced dependence on foreign oil, proposing to suspend gasoline taxes in the midst of pervasive energy shortages will strike no one as bold political leadership.
"The Dope Dealer Who Got 55 Years"
The Progressive
June 6, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky outlines how in recent years, some state electorates and legislatures have started to back away from the more extreme aspects of the drug wars, in part because the costs of incarceration are so high. The Feds, meanwhile, have stepped up their campaign. More and more young men and women are going to federal prisons for longer and longer periods of time on drug convictions, including, as with Angelos, marijuana charges.
"Henry Paulson's Treasury"
The Nation, AlterNet
June 6, 2006
Senior Fellow Nomi Prins discusses the appointment of Henry Paulson to replace John Snow as Treasury Secretary and the well-worn path between Goldman Sachs and the White House. Prins highlights how what's good for Goldman isn't necessarily good for Middle America, and the conflict of a man whose entire career has been predicated on successfully promoting corporate welfare over public interest.
"It's Debt-for-Diploma Time Again"
ABC News
June 1, 2006
Economic Opportunity Program Director Tamara Draut discusses the debt-for-diploma system during graduation season. Draut documents how the birth of the debt-for-diploma system is squarely attributable to two factors: soaring tuition prices and dwindling federal financial aid, calling for an end to this system and a return to policies that shapes higher education as a viable opportunity in America.
"Talking Freedom"
TomPaine.com
June 1, 2006
Senior Fellow David Callahan and John Schwarz discuss how, like it or not, the past quarter century--with its strong individualism and distrust of government--may be more indicative of the "default" U.S. political culture than the golden age of liberalism that came before. Along with the call for the common good, they call for owning the concept of freedom, as visionaries like FDR, JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr., once did in inspirationally linking personal liberty and the common good.
"Downscaling the Dreams of Youth"
AlterNet
May 31, 2006
Economic Opportunity Program Director Tamara Draut outlines in Strapped how the debt-for-diploma system is a pernicious beast, stunting young adults' economic progress as they try to start their lives--draining precious dollars out of their paychecks for more than a decade.
"Make Big Oil pay for raking it in"
Newsday, AlterNet, The Progress Report
May 24, 2006
Senior Fellow Nomi Prins discusses the need for a real windfall tax that addresses the growing chasm between the cost of buying and refining crude oil, in order to divert enough money into alternative sources that will ultimately reduce demand and thus prices.
"Young and Uninsured"
TomPaine.com
May 23, 2006
Tamara Draut, Economic Opportunity Program Director, and Cindy Zeldin, Federal Affairs Coordinator for the Economic Opportunity Program, address the stark fact that, with a looming national health crisis, young adults are more likely than any other age group to be uninsured--and the shifts in economic policies behind why this is so.
"Political Invisibles"
Pop and Politics
May 18, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky investigates what it mean when a democracy removes the vote from several million adults, and how the political process is affected when certain groups -- racial minorities and low-income whites, in particular -- bear the brunt of this disenfranchisement.
"Right for the Wrong Reasons: Why Galbraith Never Got the Prize Top of Form"
The New York Times, International Herald Tribune
May 11, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank comments on the work of John Kenneth Galbraith, who died last month at 97, and why he never received a Nobel prize as an economist who recognized a bad allocation of resources when he saw one.
"A better way to prevent student cheating"
The Christian Science Monitor, Yahoo! News
May 8, 2006
Senior Fellow David Callahan comments on cheating as the antithesis of equal opportunity - the notion that we all should have a fair shot at success and that the people who get rewarded are the people who deserve those rewards because they worked the hardest. Callahan calls for faculty to cast the issue of cheating on campus as a matter of justice, and empower students to take action, so that perhaps some day they won't have to spend so much time playing cop.
"Conned: sentenced to uncitizenship"
Open Democracy
April 28, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky details the confusion and misinformation that deprives ex-prisoners of the right to vote damages American democracy, as outlined in his new book Conned: How Millions Went to Prison and Lost the Vote.
"Congress must act to end housing bias"
Newsday
April 18, 2006
Senior Fellow Jennifer Wheary discusses how gaps in homeownership and equity levels are due to serious flaws in the opportunity infrastructure - namely lending practices that create barriers for African-Americans and Latinos who want to buy homes.
"State Governments Overreach in Taking on Problems Best Solved at the National Level"
The New York Times
April 13, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank highlights how recent state actions may not be the most efficient ways of dealing with our most pressing problems. But they are an unmistakable signal of voter impatience with ineffective government at the federal level.
"Budget Cuts Belie Youth Initiative"
Omaha World-Herald
April 4, 2006
Senior Fellow Rich Benjamin exposes how ventures in faith-based politics cannot conceal the president's attention and policy deficits on young people's issues. Benjamin demonstrates how "Helping America's Youth" belongs to a string of White House maneuvers that fake substantive commitment to effective reform.
"Winning over young voters"
San Francisco Chronicle
March 23, 2006
Economic Opportunity Program Director Tamara Draut discusses how more and more 18-to-34-year-olds are realizing there's a big difference between the right to vote and a reason to vote. Though surely it was unintended, our policy-makers have provided this generation with a big reason to vote: economic insecurity.
"Polygamy and the Marriage Market: Who Would Have the Upper Hand?"
The New York Times
March 16, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank discusses how the debut of "Big Love," the new HBO series about a polygamous fictional family in Salt Lake City, has touched off renewed debate. Frank concludes that laws against plural marriage may function as positional arms control agreements that make life less stressful for men, and may help explain their appeal to the predominantly male legislatures that enact them.
"Prison futures"
Sacramento News and Review
March 9, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses how the bureaucratic reforms now taking place in California's correctional system are long overdue and, quite possibly will succeed in making a brutal culture marginally less brutal and significantly more empathetic. Yet, at the end of the day, they are only one part of the equation. The other, finding ways to scale back the size of California's prison population to more historically reasonable proportions--as measured by earlier incarceration trends in the state and the country as a whole and also by comparing America's incarceration rate to that of other industrial democracies--has been largely ignored by the governor and Legislature alike.
"It's undemocratic to deny ex-felons the right to vote"
Baltimore Sun
March 8, 2006
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky discusses how since the 2000 election a much broader policy discussion has arisen involving a critique of the very notion of permanent disenfranchisement for felons. After all, in Florida alone, more than half a million citizens were ineligible to vote because they had been convicted of crimes. Abramsky calls on the country to live up to its democratic promise, and it's crucial because of the vastly disproportionate impact that disenfranchisement currently has on the African-American population.
"Cheney Lectures Us About Responsibility?"
TomPaine.com
March 6, 2006
Economic Opportunity Program Director Tamara Draut responds to Cheney's speech at the 2006 Summit on Retirement Savings, commenting on how he was just giving us a nod. Just showing us that he's "in touch" with the reality that most Americans are caught in a vise grip of dwindling earnings and rising costs. But rest assured: As his remarks made quite clear, this administration isn't going to address these issues.
"The Common Good Depends on Government"
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
February 23, 2006
Michael Lipsky and Dianne Stewart, Senior Program Director and Director of Public Works at Demos, call for nonprofit groups to lead an effort restore widespread appreciation of the critical role of government as a protector of public values and as a place where Americans come together to solve our most pressing problems.
"A Way to Cut Fuel Consumption That Everyone Likes, Except the Politicians"
The New York Times
February 16, 2006
Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert H. Frank discusses how the proposed $2-a-gallon tax on gasoline would make everyone better off, and why it is still seen as politically unthinkable by politicians.
"For democracy, bill is one step backward"
Concord Monitor
February 4, 2006
Ludovic Blain, Associate Director of the Democracy Program, responds to Rep. William O'Brien's claim that only two other states in the nation allow voters to register on Election Day, and that they both require ID.
"Our job is to make sure message endures"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
February 1, 2006
Senior Fellow Rich Benjamin and Mark Winston Griffith honor Coretta Scott King's legacy by calling for progressives to take Coretta's lead by sounding a simple yet powerful call to morality, a call that points out the "culture" of greed, self-indulgence and hedonism so common in our nation.
"Starbucks and healthcare"
Monsters and Critics; United Press International
January 19, 2006
Senior Program Director of Public Works: the Demos Center for the Public Sector Michael Lipsky outlines how Starbucks, the automakers, and others, as signaled by their complaints about healthcare as a cost of production, are becoming allies in the decades-long struggle for national health insurance.
"What King really dreamed"
The Boston Globe, TomPaine.com and civilrights.org
January 15, 2006
Senior Fellow Rich Benjamin discusses how assassins killed Martin Luther King Jr. as he began his most challenging campaign of all: the fight against inequality of capital and opportunity.
Benjamin writes how racial segregation, while endemic to our history, is indeed un-American. Economic inequality is pretty much apple pie; it's taken less seriously by elected leaders, and it has grown more pronounced since King's assassination.
"The question: Is Wal-Mart sincere?"
Newsday
November 25, 2005
Senior Fellow Jennifer Wheary comments on the latest strategy by Wal-Mart, demonstrating that if Wal-Mart stays wrapped up in the media spin and ignores the full range of evidence offered by the independent researchers, the company will fall far short of the ideals it espouses.
"50,000 volts"
Sacramento News and Review
November 17, 2005
Senior Fellow Sasha Abramsky tackles how taser guns have become a favored control device for local law-enforcement officers, but something's gone wrong with this "nonlethal" weapon. In Sacramento, the dead bodies are mounting and news reports from around the country, as well as a growing number of lawsuits, suggest it is often precisely the people most at risk of fatal complications who get Tasered.
"Don't fix deficit by penalizing students"
Newsday, Sacramento Bee, NorthJersey.com, Providence Journal
November 9, 2005
Senior Fellow Nomi Prins tackles the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in revisiting a bill from the summer that cut $8.7 billion from higher education financial assistance programs. Prins outlines how slicing programs hits hardest those who most require aid, contributing to the growing chasm in opportunity for millions of Americans.
"Maxed Out"
TomPaine.com
October 17, 2005
Tamara Draut, Director of the Economic Opportunity Program, exposes the truth behind the new Bankruptcy Bill. A new national household | 
