As Michael Lipsky explained today, "One would think it hard to find a politician who opposes reducing preventable dangers to children. [Pompeo] has stepped up to this challenge."
There is an April 6th hearing on the Democrat’s appeal of the Indiana Recount decision that allowed White to proceed as Secretary of State. The next question, apart from the allegations in the indictment, is whether White was eligible to be on the ballot at all.
This report makes the case that we should create jobs for the unemployed directly and immediately in public employment programs that produce useful goods and services for the public’s benefit.
To focus an investigative spotlight on an entire religious or ethnic community is a violation of everything America is supposed to stand for.
It has often been the case in America that specific religions, races and ethnic groups have been singled out for discrimination, demonization, incarceration and worse. But there have always been people willing to stand up boldly and courageously against such injustice. Their efforts are needed again now.
On March 29th, 2011 Public Works hosted a webinar on ways to take advantage of tax season as an opportunity to communicate a different story about the role of taxes in our country. While it focuses on Tax Freedom Day, it includes universal examples for any situation. This guide provides strategies for creating a better conversation about taxes. It examines the most common anti-tax narratives, offer lessons on how to respond to hypothetical questions, and include tips on avoiding common communication pitfalls.
Reflecting on the current anti-government sentiment, Patrick Bresette—Associate Program Director of Public Works: The Dēmos Center for the Public Sector— calls for a need to rebuild trust in government by rebuilding trust in each other: finding shared goals, identifying common purposes and promoting the belief that problems can be addressed together.
In November, after the elections, it wasn't so clear how the tenor of our public debate would be shifted. Four months later, at least for the short term, the answer is staring us in the face. An agenda is being presented, in the budget amendments in the House of Representatives, in the conservative echo chambers and media outlets, in Madison, Wisconsin and in states around the country. The contours of this agenda are very clear, and they threaten to steal our country's soul from the inside out.
For American corporations, the action is increasingly elsewhere. Their interests are not the same as those of workers, or the country as a whole. As Harold Meyerson put it in The American Prospect: “Our corporations don’t need us anymore. Half their revenues come from abroad. Their products, increasingly, come from abroad as well.”
There are a slew of 401k reform plans out there, ranging from modest proposals for automatic employee enrollment (but undercut by the employee's right to opt out) to replacement of the 401k by a new system run by the government or a nonprofit organization. (For a useful description of the various ideas, see a study by Robert Hiltonsmith for Demos, a liberal think tank that espouses total overhaul.)
The Authorities Budget Office released a report today that identifies state and local authorities that have not filed a budget, annual and/or audit report for the most recent reporting period as required by new Public Authorities Law.
The Authorities Budget Office released a report today that identifies state and local authorities that have not filed a budget, annual and/or audit report for the most recent reporting period as required by new Public Authorities Law.
Available financial aid covers only a fraction of what community college students pay for their education. To finance their studies, many of them enroll in school only part time and/or work more than 20 hours per week, strategies that increase their likelihood of dropping out. To help address this problem, this report highlights strategies adopted by higher education institutions to increase the financial resources of their students. The practices outlined either help students access existing financial aid or provide students with new types of aid.
This guide includes strategies for defending public services and the revenues needed to support them. Produced during the anti-government, budget-slashing political climate of 2010-2011, this report advocates for affirming the role of public services, systems, and structures. It examines dominant narratives about public budget challenges, and offers lessons from success stories in several states. Ultimately, Americans must reconnect the dots between the shared goals and desires they have for their communities and the public tools and resources necessary to achieve them.
Putting our nation on a path of broad prosperity will require generating new jobs, investing in key areas, modernizing and restoring our revenue base, and greatly increasing the cost efficiency of the health care system. Achieving these goals, however, will require an informed and engaged public to help set national priorities.
By 1995, there were more 401(k)s plans than traditional pension plans. Now there are about twice as many. And they're not working out that well, Robert Hiltonsmith, a policy analyst at the think tank Demos, shows in his paper "The Failure of the 401(k)."
The failure, experts say, basically, is this: The typical worker approaching retirement needs about $250,000 in a 401(k). Most don't come close. The average is closer to $98,000 - only a bit more than a third of the recommended amount.
By 1995 there were more 401(k)-type plans than traditional defined-benefit plans. Now there are about twice as many. And as Robert Hiltonsmith, a policy analyst at the think tank Demos, documents in a new report, they’re not working out that well.
Retirement experts say average workers approaching retirement need about $250,000 in their 401(k)s to maintain their standard of living. They don’t have it. The number is closer to $98,000—not much more than a third of the recommended amount.
Let’s talk about deficits for a moment. Not that $1.3 trillion federal shortfall that’s in the news these days (A CBS News poll shows that only a handful of Americans think that’s an urgent problem.) No, I’m talking about the gap between how much money people have presently put away for retirement and how much they would need to save to maintain their standard of living when they finally stop working. That deficit comes to a whopping $6.6 trillion, according to a new report by Demos, a New York think-thank.
A Retirement Funding Boost. Let’s overhaul the fabled 401(k), the retirement plan that was never meant to be a mainstay of long-term savings. Some 40% of Americans don’t even have access to them at work, with minorities, young people and low-income workers showing the lowest participation rates, according to Demos, a New York-based policy center. Why not make a tax-free contribution to all Americans in a no-fee, universal savings account?
"401(k)s fail millions of retirees," decries a new report from Demos.org. Its argument: America's retirement plans don't provide security because of their high fees. Not to mention that their "benefits vary with the size of employer and employee contributions and the volatile swings of the stock market," according to a press release from the organization.