April 3, 2017 (New York, NY) – Heather McGhee, President of Demos, released the following statement after today’s Senator Judiciary Committee vote on Judge Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court:
Elections are decided by who votes — and increasingly, in America, by who cannot. Barriers to voting participation skew policy outcomes and elections to the right in the United States. One of the most racially discriminatory of these barriers is felon disenfranchisement.
If you’re a senior struggling with credit card debt like Green, you’re not alone. In 2012, for the first time, middle-income households headed by someone over 50 years old carried more credit card debt on average than households of people younger than 50, according to the Demos National Survey on Credit Card Debt conducted with AARP’s Public Policy Institute. Half of those over 50 had medical debt on their credit cards, and a third said they used credit cards to finance daily expenses. [...]
California has a funny habit of anticipating national political trends. Celebrity chief executives with no previous political experience who ride name recognition and controversy to victory? Seen it once or twice before. A spate of deregulatory policy leading to exploitation and corruption, culminating in a crisis? California knows something about that.Immigration and shifting demographics that inspire a “whitelash,” and put anti-immigrant populists in power?
Twenty-seven progressive groups said in a Thursday news release provided to McClatchy that they would join a planned Tax Day protest of President Donald Trump, as liberal activists prepare for what might be the biggest demonstration against the White House occupant since the Women’s March on Washington in January.
Another question is how much the Cuomo and Raimondo plans will truly benefit low-income students. Both proposals are what’s called “last-dollar” initiatives, meaning the states would only pay the balance of tuition after students use up existing state and federal aid, including Pell Grants. These current state and federal programs couldn’t be used to fund other college costs.
Tuesday, March 28 (NEW YORK, NY) – Heather McGhee, President of Demos, a New York-based public policy organization and think tank, issued the following statement after Donald Trump signed the repeal of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplace Executive Order:
The government contracts out hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of business to private entities, who in turn employ a huge share of American workers.
But on Monday, President Trump signed a measure that will make it easier for those same firms to get a slice of that business even if they abuse their employees. [...]
Trumpcare is dead. President Donald Trump is humiliated and so is House Speaker Paul Ryan. The Democrats can hardly believe their luck: The Republicans have hobbled their own agenda, while Obamacare, aka the Affordable Care Act, lives to fight another day. But unlike the law’s previous brushes with death—most notably its bruising encounters with the Supreme Court in 2012 and 2015—this latest example of its resilience represents a turning point, if Democrats choose to seize the opportunity.
March 23, 2017 (New York, NY) – Ahead of the House of Representatives vote on President Trump’s American Health Care Act, Tamara Draut, Vice President of Policy and Research at Demos, released the following statement:
“It is unconscionable that on the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act – which enabled millions of people to finally get affordable, quality health insurance and care – that Congress would vote to jeopardize their health and newly found peace of mind.
March 23, 2017 (New York, NY) – At the conclusion of the four day Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Heather McGhee, President of Demos, released the following statement:
“Today, I had the opportunity to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about Demos’ deep concerns over the nomination of Judge Gorsuch for a lifetime appointment on the highest court.
Friends and foes of Neil Gorsuch lobbied the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday both for and against confirmation of the Colorado-based judge to the Supreme Court.
Heather McGhee, president of Demos, a liberal policy think tank, lambasted Gorsuch for not distancing himself from the court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which struck down limits on campaign contributions.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) confronted Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch about the vicious cycle facing our democracy: of severe concentration of economic power yielding severe concentration of political power.
Thursday, March 16 (NEW YORK, NY) – Tamara Draut, Vice President of Research and Policy at Demos, a New York-based public policy organization and think tank, issued this statement following the unveiling of President Trump’s budget outline to Congress:
“There are approximately zero students that would see a net benefit if this budget were enacted into law,” said Mark Huelsman, senior policy analyst at Demos, a left-leaning think tank. [...]
“Consolidating or reforming campus-based aid programs is not a bad idea, but at the end of the day students have to come out ahead,” Huelsman said. “Indiscriminate cuts to work-study absolutely would harm the low income students or middle class students on campuses who absolutely do receive the money.”
The remarkable advance of same-day registration was not an accident. National organizations, including Demos and Common Cause, and numerous state organizations led the fights in legislatures around the country.
Democratic lawmakers and liberal interest groups are intensifying their pressure on senators to probe Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch’s views on campaign finance law during his confirmation hearings next week. [...]
New York, NY (March 14, 2017) – Today, Demos released a new report entitled Court Cash: 2016 Election Money Resulting Directly from Supreme Court Rulings. The report quantifies for the first time the direct impact of four of the Supreme Court’s most significant money in politics cases on 2016 election spending.
More than 90 percent of voters (including 91 percent of Trump voters) say that it is important for Trump to nominate a Supreme Court justice open to limiting big money in politics.