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If you listen to the experts, the presidential election comes down to one thing: the economy. The job market is awful, and both of the major party candidates talk a lot about what they propose to do to strengthen the middle class.
Disabled on the Job, Fired without Severance or Benefits
Jorge Parra, a welder at General Motors’ South American Colmotores subsidiary, performed manual labor at an assembly plant near Bogotá until he was disabled. The Colombian underwent three surgeries and now walks with a cane and has several screws in his spine. GM fired him when he could no longer work due to his repetitive strain injuries. He wound up with no medical benefits or severance pay.
Chicago and the Psychology of Teacher Bashing
Last year, state lawmakers in Illinois did their best to make a Chicago teacher strike impossible. They passed a new law that required at least 75 percent of the city’s teachers to OK any walkout in advance.
Joe Walsh’s Greatest Hits
When you hear the name Joe Walsh, you may think of the Eagles guitarist. But Joe Walsh is also the name of a tea-partying Republican lawmaker from Illinois. That Joe Walsh has released several of his own hits — really, really offensive hits.
Ryan Runs Into the Truth
To borrow from President Lyndon Johnson’s colorful analysis of a Nixon speech, “I may not know much, but I know chicken [droppings] from chicken salad.”
Cigarettes: The Killer that Won’t Die
Would you believe that 45 million adult Americans still smoke? That’s about one in five of us grownups. Worldwide this killer habit ends about six million lives each year. But what’s most disturbing — 10 percent of victims never even took a puff. They got their cancer from second-hand smoke.
Second-Hand Smoke
More Than 46 Million Americans Still in Poverty
As state anti-poverty programs around the country confront severe budget cuts, today’s report indicates income inequality has reached an all-time high.
Record Poverty Persists While Gap Between Rich and Rest of Us Increases
Sadly, those who “occupied” Wall Street and city squares across the country in 2011, were right: All of the income gains have concentrated at the top, while the rest of us saw a deterioration or stagnation in our wages and income.
This Week in OtherWords: September 10-16, 2012
Katie, a young writer who is also a stand-up comedian, has shared an “unedited” (that is, a painfully honest and entertaining) draft of Ann Romney’s speech with our readers.
