IPS Blog

This week in OtherWords, David Elliot highlights some of the hidden costs of the nation's supersized military might and Raul A. Reyes applauds the Associated Press style book update that may herald the end of "illegal" people in the mainstream media. If you're an editor still seeking Tax Day pieces to run over the weekend or next Monday, be sure to take another look at last week's special edition and to check out Sam Pizzigati's latest column.

OtherWords intern Alana Baum is nearing the end of her spring term with us. She has done an outstanding job from the moment she arrived. We are now seeking new interns who can join our team in 2013. Ideal candidates are progressive news junkies and wordsmiths who are either based in the Washington, D.C. region or close enough to commute once or twice a week for their first month. Information about what's involved and how to apply can be found at the bottom our About page. Please help spread the word.

Here’s a clickable summary of our latest commentaries and a link to our new cartoon. If you haven't already subscribed to our weekly newsletter, please do.

1. On Tax Day, Consider the Hidden Costs of War / David Elliot
   The benefits Uncle Sam pays out to Vietnam veterans continue to rise.
2. Nixing the I-Word / Raul A. Reyes
   The AP is improving the immigration debate by declaring that its reports will no longer refer to any human being as "illegal."
3. The Left and Right Agree: It’s Time to Break Up the Banks / Amy Dean
   It's not a fringe idea anymore.
4. Supremely Confused about Marriage Equality / Donald Kaul
   Expanding the franchise would make the institution stronger, not weaker.
5. Shouldn’t We Base Our Tax Policy on More than Hunches? / Sam Pizzigati
   The latest economic evidence supports raising taxes on the richest Americans.
6. Big Ag’s Legal Engineering / Jill Richardson
   Just because Monsanto has patents and lobbyists doesn't mean that it should be allowed to wriggle out of our system's checks and balances.
7. Texan Turf War / Jim Hightower
   In the land of prickly pears and scrappy people, Dallas authorities are demanding that all homeowners plant "traditional" grass in their yards.
8. Our Empire Addiction / William A. Collins
   Maintaining steady access to a bounty of natural resources is the major goal of this global control.
9. Illegal Immigration / Khalil Bendib cartoon
   
    

This week in OtherWords, we're running a Tax Day special edition. Sam Paltrow-Krulwich talks about the "gay tax" her family must pay until the nation fully embraces marriage equality, Scott Klinger highlights the declining share of tax revenue that American corporations contribute, and Gerald Scorse calls for parity between the taxes on income from wealth and work.

Speaking of taxes, here's a friendly reminder: OtherWords is a free and non-profit editorial service funded by tax-deductible donations from people like you. Please consider making one today.

Here’s a clickable summary of our latest commentaries and a link to our new cartoon. If you haven't already subscribed to our weekly newsletter, please do.

1. Transplanting Taxes from Corporations to the Rest of Us / Scott Klinger
   American taxpayers are increasingly picking up the tab for unpaid corporate taxes.
2. The Gay Tax / Sam Paltrow-Krulwich
   Marriage equality is about civil rights — and tax justice.
3. Futile Military Financing / Chris Toensing
   Almost all the $3.1 billion in yearly U.S. aid to Israel is now slated for weapons.
4. New Health Care Taxes: A Poor Prescription / Gerald Scorse
   Hitting the rich on Medicare blurs the case for a major tax reform.
5. We’re Watching a Great Depression Re-Run / Donald Kaul
   Virtually everything about the economic catastrophe of the 1930s has a precise parallel in today's major political dilemmas.
6. A Wall Street Powerhouse Attorney Talks Sense / Sam Pizzigati
   Taxes can do more than simply raise revenue.
7. A Recipe for a Sounder Diet / Jill Richardson
   There are ways to make healthy food affordable that don't require abusing farmworkers.
8. Fracking Free Speech / Jim Hightower
   The gagged townspeople of Sanford, New York are suing their town board over the infringement of their First Amendment rights.
9. Under-Taxing the Rich Is Uncivilized / Emily Schwartz Greco and William A. Collins We all pay for those cuts down the road.
10. Taxing Economics / Khalil Bendib Cartoon
    
    
    

This week in OtherWords, Jill Richardson makes the case for raising chickens in your backyard and Sam Pizzigati discusses Ford's worker-financed bailout.

Donald Kaul is taking a spring break this week and will be back on April 3, when we'll run a Tax Day special edition.

Here's a clickable summary of our latest commentaries and a link to our new cartoon. If you haven't already subscribed to our weekly newsletter, please do.

1. A Plateful of Justice / Javier Rojo
   The people that wash your dishes and the folks who cook and serve your food deserve better.
2. Ditching ‘Rape Culture’ for Good / Alana Baum
   From HBO's "Girls" to CNN's coverage of the Steubenville case, it's time for people to start talking about rape in a more productive way.
3. A Dubious Honor / Wenonah Hauter
   How can Smithfield rank so high on Fortune's list of most-admired companies?
4. Don’t Cheat Your Grandma / Martha Burk
   One idea for cutting Social Security that's gaining popularity in Washington would hurt the elderly, especially older women.
5. When Workers Foot the Bill for Bailouts / Sam Pizzigati
   U.S. executives, including Ford CEO Alan Mulally, are personally profiting off their employees' pain.
6. Why I’m a Chick with Chicks / Jill Richardson
   As a visit to my Cluckingham Palace coop proves, small-scale chicken raising is compatible with modern city life.
7. Obama’s Unethical End Run / Jim Hightower
   Obama's transparent deception on special-interest money.
8. A Tortured History / William A. Collins
   Could you or I be kidnapped and waterboarded and still have no right to sue?
9. Invisible Hand University / Khalil Bendib cartoon

This week in OtherWords, Jo Comerford likens the imminent across-the-board budget cuts to a truck careening toward a brick wall and Jill Richardson explains what’s wrong with an ingredient found in most liquid soaps that Americans use.

Below you’ll find links to our latest work. If you haven’t already subscribed to our weekly newsletter, please do.

1. A Global Spotlight on Voter Suppression / Ron Carver
   Heinous schemes to limit the right to vote keep appearing in state legislatures.
2. We’ve Got to Get Out of That Place / Usha Sahay and John Isaacs
   Rather than prolonging the quagmire in Afghanistan, Obama should take this opportunity to finally to honor his commitment to bring our troops home.
3. Why Use a Bludgeon When a Calculator Will Do? / Jo Comerford
   Some lawmakers have an almost-mythical resistance to raising revenue at a moment when affluent individuals and big corporations have the lowest tax burden in more than half a century.
4. Give the Post Office a Break / Donald Kaul
   If the Postal Service were run like Congress, postal workers would only show up on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays — except when they were on vacation, which would be a lot.
5. A Triumph of Sewage and Stench / Sam Pizzigati
   It takes more than a nice cruise ship buffet to make a billionaire.
6. We’re All Guinea Pigs / Jill Richardson
   I don’t want to expose the most precious people in my life to an endocrine disruptor.
7. The Organized Sports Racket / Jim Hightower
   Big sports teams toss unwise investments to taxpayers and let them fumble.
8. What Post-Racial America? / Emily Schwartz Greco and William A. Collins
   It will take more than President Barack Obama’s tenure to vanquish American prejudice and racial injustice.
9. Declaring Victory in Afghanistan / Khalil Bendib cartoon

This week in OtherWords, Donald Kaul puts the brutality of drone warfare into historical context, Jill Richardson explains why you should compost and replace your lawn, and Jim Hightower says that a $9 minimum wage would still be too low.