"We've got to deal with the conflicts. If I hire S&P or Moody's to be my consultant and show me how I can do this and that to get an investment-grade rating or [an] even higher rating, they obviously have a conflict of interest there."
"That's right. I think the compensation model... where the issuer pays for the rating is really at the heart of the conflict problem..."
Work by Demos and its partners suggests that millions of low-income Americans can be brought into the political process through proper implementation of an often-neglected provision of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) that requires states to provide voter registration services to applicants and recipients of public assistance benefits. And the time is ripe to ensure that voter registration is provided at public assistance offices.
Democracy works as intended when all citizens are able to participate and make their voices heard. While the United States has come a long way in expanding the franchise over the past 220 years, barriers to participation still exist and these barriers disproportionately affect low-income citizens. In 2008, the registration gap between low-income and high-income citizens was over 19 percentage points.
Already, some states are making changes. A legal settlement in Missouri led to more than 200,000 voter-registration applications from welfare offices in less than two years. A settlement in Ohio has led to more than 100,000 this year. Lawsuits are pending in Indiana and New Mexico.
Regulators can cap leverage if bank poses 'grave threat' to system
Speier, who allowed that the overall bill is good, added that the rationale behind a detailed leverage cap is to keep big banks from growing so dangerously large that, if they were to fail, they'd cause collateral damage to the markets. During the height of the boom leading up to the financial crisis, many investment banks hiked their leverage to as high as 50-to-1.
Demos reports that in 2008 over 11 million low-income adult citizens remained unregistered to vote and the registration gap between low-income and high-income citizens was over 19 percentage points. And changes in how voter registration is done at public assistance agencies can has already shown dramatic results in other states.
In Ohio registration at public assistance agencies has soared following a settlement of a Demos case over compliance with federal voter registration laws at public assistance agencies.
Election Day Registration (EDR) is a variety of Same Day Registration (SDR) that allows eligible voters to register and cast a ballot on Election Day. This “how-to guide” on EDR implementation and administration distills election officials’ first-hand insights into the effective implementation of EDR. We focused here on key issues such as poll worker recruiting and training, avoiding confusion and congestion at the polls, serving special populations, and preserving the integrity of elections.
It may be a cliché that we are a nation of immigrants, but statistics show that it is as true today as in any other period in our history. And while Americans may debate the best way to bring noncitizens into the civic life of our communities, there is widespread, strong agreement that when someone from another country takes the affirmative step to take the oath of loyalty and become a citizen of this country, he should be welcomed and encouraged to be a part of our country and our social and political life.
The resolution authority proposal is "a bit of a red herring" when it comes to credible ways to end TBTF, said Heather McGhee, Washington director of Demos, a public policy organization. It won't work, she said.
The Census Bureau should be commended for taking action. "For too long, communities with large prisons have received greater representation in government on the backs of people who have no voting rights in the prison community," said Brenda Wright, director of the Democracy Program at Demos, a research and advocacy organization. "The Census Bureau's new data will greatly assist states and localities in correcting this injustice."
The Merkley-Levin proposal would target major Wall Street banks, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which became bank holding companies in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.
Industry lobbyists and congressional aides have suggested, however, that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley could shed their bank holding companies and in the future escape the outright ban. They would still be subject to potentially higher capital requirements set by the Fed.
Building on Living Longer on Less, the first report in a series examining the financial vulnerability of the elderly, this report examines the economic security of African-American and Latino senior households.
Today's young adults are coming of age in a tough economy, on the heels of 30 years of declining economic opportunity and security for all but the most affluent and most highly educated. These changes are quite evident in Ohio, where the once-mighty manufacturing sector that provided better-than-average jobs in the 1960s and 1970s has eroded, hitting young adults particularly hard.
Demos, headquartered in New York City, grew out of a series of meetings of scholars, activists, journalists and elected officials who were concerned about the ever-increasing influence of the right on public policy. "The thinking was that there should be more moderate, liberal and left-of-center voices," said Miles Rapoport, the group's president. The group was formed in 2000, a year that would later see the disputed election that gave the presidency to Mr. Bush.
The Great Recession of 2008 and its after-effects still are radically impacting the lives of millions. While men initially bore the heavier burden, women are now increasingly falling victim to unemployment, fore- closure, and eviction. Low-income women have been hit particularly hard. Women’s History Month provides an apt occasion to consider both what low-income women have at stake in current debates over the economic policies that shape our lives, and how they can gain a greater voice in those debates.
One person, one vote? Not in Connecticut. Not in most places.
When the bill had its first hearing at the Capitol last week, only one person testified. Brenda Wright, who works for Demos, a research and policy organization, told the judiciary committee that "crediting incarcerated people to the wrong location has the unfortunate and undemocratic result of creating a system of ‘representation without population.'"
The antiregulatory mania of the past three decades and the stagnant wages of most American workers during that period have left families at the mercy of an increasingly predatory financial sector. As a briefing paper by the progressive think tank Demos noted: