Last week, my colleague Hanna Homestead laid out the stunningly high cost of Donald Trump’s occupation of DC. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to skewed spending priorities.
This week in OtherWords, Sonali Kolhatkar notes that both border crossings and crime have been falling for some time. Yet ICE agents are still getting whopping $50,000 signing bonuses — and often being hired on the spot at job fairs. “Imagine public school teachers, librarians, nurses, or child care workers being offered $50,000 bonuses and on-the-spot hiring,” she writes. “Isn’t it time we flipped our priorities?”
Of course, you might not make it to the job fair at all if you’re trapped in your current job by a “noncompete clause.” One in five American workers are bound by these agreements, notes Roosevelt Institute president and former FTC official Elizabeth Wilkins. Ostensibly designed to keep CEOs from sharing trade secrets, what these contracts really do is lock ordinary workers into lower-paying jobs. The Biden administration tried to ban them, Elizabeth says, but the Trump administration might side with employers.
Also this week, Sulma Arias shares a lesson from her home country — and a warning for the United States — about how strongmen rulers can never provide the security that community can. And Jim Hightower lambastes the Texas GOP’s latest gerrymandering scheme.
New This Week…
Let’s Fund Real Public Safety, Not ICE | Sonali Kolhatkar
We should be funding schools, health care, and education, not $50,000 signing bonuses for ICE agents.
Employers Want to Trap You in Dead-End Jobs. Will Trump’s FTC Help Them? | Elizabeth Wilkins
I worked for the Federal Trade Commission when we banned employers from trapping workers with “noncompete clauses.” Now that victory is in danger.
The Country of My Birth Is Losing Its Democracy. It Can Happen Here Too. | Sulma Arias
Without a community, we look to “strongmen” to save us. What we really need is each other.
With Gerrymandering, Your Local Rep. Isn’t Local — And Isn’t Yours | Jim Hightower
This GOP ploy is stripping away America’s fundamental principle of representative democracy.
In Case You Missed It…
CEOs Are Getting Richer. Everyone Else Is Falling Behind. | Sarah Anderson
At the 100 largest low-wage corporations, the average CEO now makes 632 times more than a typical worker. And Americans are fed up.
Trump’s Invasion of D.C. Costs Over $1 Million a Day. What Could That Fund Instead? | Hanna Homestead
Deploying the National Guard against D.C.’s unhoused population costs four times more than simply housing them. And that’s true across the country.
I Did My Dissertation on Housing Displacement. Then I Experienced It Myself. | Andréa Wilson
If someone like me can get trapped in the cycle of housing instability, anyone can. But the solutions are out there.
Trump Wants You Talking About Nonexistent Crime, Not His Medicaid Cuts | Peter Certo
The president is sucking up oxygen with bogus crime stories because he doesn’t want you talking about his Medicaid cuts — or Jeffrey Epstein.
