Well, despite our leading with it each week for what feels like months, congressional leaders still haven’t quite wrapped up a deal on the Biden administration’s jobs and infrastructure agenda.
But while higher wages, better health care, sick leave, and other priorities have hit a wall in Washington — something Khalil Bendib illustrates skillfully in his cartoon — workers across the country are organizing to win them directly. This week in OtherWords, Rebekah Entralgo reports on a remarkable surge of union activism — and explains how the Build Back Better Act, if it ever passes, could help unions grow.
Also this week, William Minter parses some of the extraordinary findings of the Pandora Papers, which turned up foreign dictators sheltering assets all across the United States. Jim Hightower thinks the Supreme Court protests too much. And returning columnist Jill Richardson reads over the latest findings on the January 6 insurrection and wonders if any Republicans still support democracy.
New This Week…
Rediscovering the Power of Unions | Rebekah Entralgo
Better wages and health care may always face headwinds in Washington, but unions are striking to win them directly.
The United States of Tax Havens | William Minter
Like our billionaires at home, foreign oligarchs and despots are sheltering untold sums from taxation across our country.
Do Any Republicans Still Support Democracy? | Jill Richardson
The GOP should heed Churchill’s warning about appeasing authoritarians: “Each one hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, it will eat him last.”
Why Do Supreme Court Justices Keep Saying They’re Not Hacks? | Jim Hightower
Because there’s good reason to believe they are.
President Tom Thumb | Khalil Bendib
Better half a loaf than… one-tenth of one?
In Case You Missed It…
The Hypocrisy of the Federal Spending Debate | Sister Karen M. Donahue
Why is it controversial to spend on social programs but not the Pentagon? Or to subsidize the poor but not the rich?
Public Transit, Built Back Better | LeeAnn Hall
The Build Back Better plan’s historic investment in public transit would have a tremendous positive impact.
The Freedom to Vote Act Is No ‘Compromise.’ Pass It Now. | Lee Harris and Jane E. Thomas
The effort to roll back voting rights is unconscionable, and the federal government has a duty to act — now, before the next election.
When Wall Street Came to My Mobile Home Park | Francine Townsend
Mobile homes provide affordable housing for millions. But for private equity firms, they’re just another asset to squeeze for profit.
