Elon Musk may have left the White House for now, but his damage will be long-lasting. This week in OtherWords, David Douglas examines one of Musk’s most controversial moves: gutting the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
David has worked in nonprofits promoting clean water access for over 40 years. He says that Musk’s attack on USAID amounted to the world’s richest man gleefully depriving food, water, and medicine to the world’s poorest people, pointing out alarming studies that millions could die as a result.
But it’s not too late, David says, to tell Congress to restore funding for that mission.
Meanwhile, Farrah Hassen looks at the state of homelessness one year after the Supreme Court greenlit localities to criminalize people without shelter. Unsurprisingly, homelessness is even higher now than it was then, she says. And that’ll continue to happen until we get serious about guaranteeing housing as a human right.
Also this week, Brakeyshia Samms explains why Trump’s tax cuts aren’t meant for working people, especially Black women like her. And Jim Hightower highlights some creepy new MAGA initiatives around child rearing.
New This Week…
Musk’s Deadliest Legacy | David Douglas
Gutting USAID will cause millions of deaths from disease and starvation. But it’s not too late to change course.
Criminalizing Homelessness Doesn’t Work. Housing People Does. | Farrah Hassen
A year after the Supreme Court greenlit crackdowns on people living without shelter, homelessness has only gotten worse.
Trump’s Last Tax Cuts Failed Americans Like Me. Let’s Not Repeat the Mistake. | Brakeyshia Samms
Black women are among the most underpaid people in the country — so when a policy works for us, it works for everyone. Unfortunately, Trump’s tax cuts for the rich don’t.
MAGA to Women: Stay Home And Have Babies! | Jim Hightower
The right is engaging in the creepiest social engineering of all: re-engineering the American family.
In Case You Missed It…
Six Ways Trump’s Budget Will Hurt Rural America | Michael Chameides
Republicans in Congress are jamming through a sweeping bill to fund handouts to the rich — at the cost of jobs, health care, and food in rural America.
Hiding Exploitation Behind an App | Lena Simet
After expenses, workers for companies like Uber often make well below the federal minimum wage. But many are now fighting back.
This Federal Budget Will Be a Disaster for Black Workers | LaToya B. Parker and Dedrick Asante-Muhammad
The GOP reconciliation bill will widen the racial wealth divide — all to make wealthy heirs richer.
When Religious Employers Get a Pass, Workers Pay the Price | A.J. Schumann
Increasingly, religious employers are claiming “religious liberty” to deny workers basic protections. That’s exploiting religion, not practicing it.
