IPS Blog

In this week's OtherWords editorial package, Matias Ramos weighs in on President Obama's new immigration policy and Janet Redman looks at what's at stake in this week's Rio+20 environmental summit. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven't signed up yet, please do.

1. The Elephant in Rio / Janet Redman
   Don't bank on a new "green economy" to solve our climate challenges.
2. Obama's DREAM Gambit / Matias Ramos
   With this new immigration policy, Obama is galvanizing his reelection prospects and potentially boosting support for many Democratic congressional candidates in November.
3. Low-Wage Nation / Peter Edelman
   Poverty and inequality are threatening our democracy.
4. Making the World Safer for the Next Bernie Madoff / Joe Newman
   Lawmakers are pushing a bill that would hand the oversight of investment advisers to an organization with an inherent conflict of interest.
5. Running for Magician-in-Chief / Donald Kaul
   Republicans are embracing a dangerous Marxist philosophy.
6. Wisconsin's Alien Seed / Jim Hightower
   There can be no joy in the fact that money rules.
7. The War on Drugs Is the Dumbest of Them All / William A. Collins
   We went through this exercise once before with Prohibition.
8. Broken Planet / Khalil Bendib

In this week's OtherWords editorial package, Robin Broad and John Cavanagh explain why a Canadian company's lawsuit against the government of El Salvador threatens democracy everywhere. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven't signed up yet, please do.

1. Mining Gold, Undermining Democracy / Robin Broad and John Cavanagh
   Neither foreign investors nor unelected tribunals deserve the power to trump democratically elected leaders.
2. Wisconsin Wakeup Call / John Stauber
   It's too simple to say that money bought this election.
3. Clearing the Air / Andrew Korfhage
   Many health care organizations have joined environmental advocates like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council in supporting a new EPA rule that would curb the deadly pollution spewed from the next generation of coal-fired power plants.
4. Blowing a Chance to Save American Jobs / Dave Hamilton
   Congress must renew a successful tax credit supporting the budding wind power industry.
5. Recalling the Gilded Age / Donald Kaul
   Americans just won't take greed from their next-door neighbors.
6. These Steaks May Stick to Your Ribs / Jim Hightower
   While meat glue is widely used, corporations peddling molded meat aren't eager to let us consumers in on their little secret.
7. Our Press Freedom is under Fire / William A. Collins
   In its latest assessment, Reporters Without Borders ranked the United States No. 47 for media freedom.
8. Solidarity in Reverse / Khalil Bendib

This week's OtherWords editorial package tackles several challenging food issues. Jim Hightower explains why he's worried about a new kind of corn in a short column accompanied by Khalil Bendib's cartoon. Three op-eds address New York City's proposed soda ban, mad cow disease, and federally funded programs that feed kids in need during the long summer break. And Donald Kaul responds to readers who reject his personal take on a vegan diet. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven't signed up yet, please do.

1. Behind Super-Sized Sodas, a Deeper Danger / Sam Pizzigati
   If we really want to narrow our waistbands, we have to narrow the income gaps that divide us.
2. The United Nations is Failing Syria / Frank Jannuzi
   Now is the time for the world's leaders to show support for human rights in practice, not just words.
3. Not Only the Cows Are Mad / John Stauber
   Our government must stop relying on an inadequate testing system and outlaw the feeding of cow blood, fat, and protein to cattle.
4. Summertime Hunger Spike / Marian Wright Edelman
   There simply aren't enough programs available to serve all the children who need them.
5. Bitter Broccoli / Donald Kaul
   Life without funny is too great a price to pay for good health.
6. Mother Nature Doesn't Quit / Jim Hightower
   So much of Monsanto's poison was spread in the past decade that weeds naturally developed a resistance to it.
7. Send in the Drones / William A. Collins
   Running the world is a lot of work.
8. Killing Fields / Khalil Bendib

In this week's OtherWords editorial package, Salvatore Babones calls for a flat tax on Social Security that would enable the government to make the payroll tax cut permanent. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven't signed up yet, please do.

1. Social Security's Dual-Income Trap / Salvatore Babones
   Families with two breadwinners can end up paying more than twice as much in Social Security taxes as families with just one income.
2. Pentagon Spending Spree / Elizabeth Rose
   Throwing money at the military doesn't buy us safety.
3. The Changing Face of America / Marc Morial
   While the African-American and Latino communities are growing, our fight for civil rights and equality is far from over.
4. Diplomacy Is the Only Way Forward with Iran / Laicie Olson
   The parties must come to a compromise through negotiations.
5. Walmart's Unsurprising Bribes / Donald Kaul
   Bribery is as American as apple pie.
6. Lobby Responsibly / Jim Hightower
   Anheuser-Busch and other big brewers blocked a Nebraska bill that would have curbed sales targeted at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
7. What Medical Mistakes? / William A. Collins
   Privilege rules at U.S. hospitals and patients are at the mercy of powerful players who operate with impunity.
8. United States of Walmart / Khalil Bendib

In this week's OtherWords editorial package, Margot McMillen explains why the opposition to a new kind of genetically engineered corn is growing as fast as the hardy superweeds it's supposed to destroy. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven't signed up yet, please do.

1. Crushing College Dreams / Marc Morial
   On the very day that student loan debt reached the $1-trillion mark, Senate Republicans blocked a vote to extend the 3.4-percent interest rate on student loans for another year.
2. We Can't Afford Energy Subsidies and Tax Breaks / Ryan Alexander
   Energy subsidies are obsolete, ineffective, and a huge waste of valuable public resources at a time when we are rummaging through the couch cushions to find loose change to pay for our ballooning deficits and debt.
3. Let's Resist Herbicide-Resistant Crops / Margot McMillen
   For farmers, fishermen, and consumers working to rebuild the fragile local food economy, a new kind of corn engineered to withstand toxic weedkillers is a disaster.
4. The Truth's Liberal Tilt / Jason Salzman
   There's no media bias in citing facts about Obama's record.
5. Remembering Charles Colson / Donald Kaul
   Tricky Dick's master of dirty tricks became a Christian prison reformer but was no saintly do-gooder.
6. Feeding Obesity / Jim Hightower
   The "Heart Attack Grill" takes pride in food that's deep-fried.
7. The State of the Military-Industrial Complex Is Strong / William A. Collins
   If weapons orders get diverted, so do campaign contributions.
8. Passing the Top Hat / Khalil Bendib