A new report by Demos and the Center for Governmental Studies that shows that current (February 2005) legislation and proposed initiatives on redistricting in California all fail to sufficiently address the needs of the public, and suggests clear guidelines for much fairer redistricting.
In response to ever-increasing financial pressures, families have come to depend on high-cost credit as a way to bridge the gap between stagnant or decreasing incomes and rising costs. How are families coping with their new burden? To hang on to the American Dream, to be part of the ownership society, homeowners are depleting their homes’ equity to pay off a growing mountain of unsecured debt —a financial strategy fraught with serious consequences.
In this preliminary analysis, Demos finds that the right to provisional ballots was violated across the country on November 2, 2004. While all the data on provisional balloting have yet to be collected and assessed, available evidence suggests that Congress and the states must revisit provisional ballot statutes, regulations and procedures if the original "failsafe" voting mandate is to be fully realized.
The link between corporate practices and the economic security of Americans has become a major focus of public debate over the past several years. The off-shoring of new kinds of jobs has garnered the most attention, but cutbacks in employee health benefits and the under funding of pension plans has also drawn scrutiny at a time when corporate profits have been robust and executive mismanagement has been widespread.
Millions of citizens were disenfranchised in the 2000 election when they were denied their right to vote. In response, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), which purported to correct many of the country's more egregious election problems. One of HAVA's signal promises was its so-called "fail-safe" voting provision. As of the first federal primary election this spring, no registered voter would be turned away from the polls because her name was not found on the voter lists.
While Florida’s purges of felons from voter rolls in 2000 have received national attention, little is known about the procedures other states use. To shed some light on these procedures, we surveyed the purge processes of 15 states.
Over the 1990s, credit card debt among young Americans rose dramatically—leaving many young adults over-extended and vulnerable to financial collapse. This briefing paper documents the rise in credit card and student loan debt between 1992 and 2001 and examines the factors contributing to young adults’ increased reliance on credit cards. Rising costs combined with slow real wage growth and skyrocketing college debt have eroded the economic security of today’s young adults.
In November 2004, California will vote on Proposition 62: “The Voter-Choice Open Primary Act.” Currently, voters may vote for the nominees of only one political party. Proposition 62 would replace this “modified-closed” system of party primaries with one in which all candidates for state or federal offices (except for presidential electors) run in a single primary election and only the top-two vote recipients are allowed to run in the general election.
This report takes a long-term view to expanding the middle class and creating more security among those who do achieve a middle-class life. Looking ahead to where the United States should aspire to be a decade from now, the report advances policy proposals that would be phased in over time and are bold enough to fully meet the challenges at hand. The agenda focuses on higher education, home ownership, and adequate income – three strategies that have historically been pivotal to the expansion of the middle class.
Many citizens are anxious not just about the security of their jobs and adequacy of their incomes, but also about related issues: high levels of credit card debt, healthcare and childcare costs, and the affordability of homes and college tuition. These day-to-day worries are increasingly accompanied by a deeper anxiety -- that the middle class way of life in America is endangered; that it is harder for many Americans to get into the middle class, and harder for those in the middle class to stay there and feel truly secure.
There has been a fundamental shift in our nation's priorities for ensuring access to higher education. In the 1970s and 1980s, most aid was awarded in grants, while loans remained relatively low. Over the last two decades, federal aid has shifted away from grants to loans, pricing out students from low-incomes and leaving the average college graduate with over $18,000 in student loan debt. Unless dramatic new investments are made, America's promise of equal opportunity and social mobility remains in great peril.
Credit card companies are preying on the American public and need to be reined in. Fueled by steady deregulation of the industry, credit card companies increasingly charge excessive interest rates and fees, making it harder for families to get out of debt and back on the path to savings. It's time we stand up against usurious practices and give families a real chance to get ahead.
Current public policies fall far short of addressing the basic disconnect that exists between an economy that produces a high number of low-wage jobs and a society where the cost of living has risen considerably in many areas, driven by the increased prices for housing and health care. The minimum wage, instituted in 1938, has failed to keep pace with inflation and doesn't protect against poverty. It has lost 24 percent of its purchasing power since 1979.
The federal government helps Americans build personal wealth in a variety of ways, most notably with tax breaks related to homeownership and retirement savings. However, most of this assistance goes to people who are already doing well. In 2003, the federal government spent $110.5 billion in homeownership incentives, the bulk of which accrue to better-off families. For example, nearly 90 percent of the mortgage interest deduction benefit accrues to tax filers with adjusted gross incomes over $50,000. Homeowners are even able to deduct mortgage interest on second residences.
An exploration of the importance of social trust in U.S. society and troubling ways in which rising economic inequality since the 1970s has helped to decrease trust between Americans.
Executive Summary
Americans face twin crises of social solidarity. The first is a crisis of declining trust. The second is one of increasing inequality. This working paper explores how these two problems are part of the same syndrome.
As policymakers, election officials, and the public consider whether New York should change the way in which voters are allowed to register to participate in elections, and bring New York State election law into compliance with the Help America Vote Act, the following report provides an analysis of the potential impact of election day registration (EDR) in New York.
EDR in New York has the potential to increase voter participation for New Yorkers by as much as:
As policymakers, election officials, and the public consider whether New York should change the way in which voters are allowed to register to participate in elections, and bring New York State election law into compliance with the Help America Vote Act, we provide an analysis of the potential impact of election day registration (EDR) in New York. The current system of registration is one in which citizens must register 25 days before election day in order to be eligible to vote.1 Under EDR this advance registration barrier would be eliminated as citizens could register on election day.
Voter registration is intended to ensure that voters who are eligible to vote are able to do so, and that non-eligible individuals cannot cast ballots. A voter registration list enables election workers to authenticate eligible voters at the polls. Voter registration also serves to provide lists of persons (i.e., registered voters) who should receive notices informing them when elections are forthcoming, and where they should go to vote.
This brief examines the relationship between criminal justice practices that disproportionately target people of color, and disenfranchisement laws that deprive citizens convicted of felonies of their right to vote.