NEW: ICE is getting intense backlash for its plan to buy dozens of warehouses across the country and brutally detain tens of thousands more people.
Even Trump-supporting communities are against this: “Nobody wants a prison in their backyard."
Despite benefiting from Trump’s tax cuts, many wealthy corporations continue to pay their workers poverty wages, writes @jwj.org ’s Adam Shah.
Fortunately, local governments have a way to hold those corporations accountable — Bad Business Fees.
A congressional official via @nancyayoussef.bsky.social estimates the Iran war total costs at $1 billion a day.
That's more than enough to cover, for one year: Medicaid for all 16 million people expected to lose it due to GOP budget cuts, and food stamps for all 41 million people who rely on them.
NEW: All of the 20 largest low-wage U.S. companies — including Target, Amazon, and Walmart — have a median pay too low to rent an average 2-bedroom apartment.
These same companies have also helped create 16 billionaires.
@thatchriswalker.bsky.social in @truthout.org:
Donald Trump’s attack on Iran may seem unusually brazen.
In reality, it has simply brought the U.S.’s tradition of militarism into the spotlight, exposing the deeply unpopular and undemocratic nature of U.S. foreign policy.
Khury Petersen-Smith and Azadeh Shahshahani on @truthout.org
NEW: While researchers do important work to try and track it, the full cost of the Iran war will mount for generations to come, writes William Hartung in @forbes.com.
"Once the bombs start falling, the human and economic costs cannot be controlled."
As our government starts yet another war, we can't afford to despair, writes @truthout.org editor-in-chief @neginowl.bsky.social.
"This unaccountable bureaucracy makes it all the more essential that we build grassroots power to force those in power to heed our demands."
This #WomensHistoryMonth we honor the women who are leading the fight for climate justice & gender justice — from Indigenous land defenders to grassroots organizers, farmers, caregivers, and policy advocates. Their leadership, resilience, and vision are shaping a more just and sustainable world. 🌱🌻
NEW: From 2019-2024, average median worker pay at the 20 largest low-wage U.S. companies DECLINED by 4.6% when adjusted for inflation, from $30,474 to $29,087. Their average CEO pay in 2024 was $18.9 million.
@msainato.bsky.social on new IPS @inequality.org findings in @us.theguardian.com:
10 years ago today, Berta Cáceres was assassinated.
Berta spent her life fighting for the environment and human rights, and against tyranny by U.S. empire.
"They fear us," she said, "because we are fearless."
She lives on in today's anti-imperialist movements. Rest in peace. Justice for Berta.
NEW: In the midst of an affordability crisis, the CEOs of some U.S. companies are cashing in — all while paying their workers poverty wages.
In our latest report, @inequality.org’s @sarahanderson.bsky.social sheds light on some of the most egregious offenders.
NEW: Many of the largest low-wage U.S. companies pay their workers so little that they're forced to rely on public programs for basic needs. Yet their CEOs make, on average, 900x more than their median employees.
We need to crack down on this malfeasance, write IPS @inequality.org scholars. REPORT:
NEW: The military systems that the U.S. sent to the Iran region in recent weeks ALONE cost us nearly $60 MILLION per day — just a fraction of the cost of this war.
That ~$60 million could cover Medicaid for 4 million Americans per day, or SNAP for 9.5 million.
From @nationalpriorities.bsky.social:
Amid a sea of misinformation, IPS policy expert Khury Petersen-Smith examines the facts, laying out 5 reasons why a U.S. war against Iran — something the majority of Americans don’t support — is a terrible idea. @inthesetimes.com
We need a big, powerful anti-war mobilization once again—right now. Not to prevent this war, but to stop it.
Amid a massive anti-Iraq war movement in 2003, 72% of people in the U.S. still supported going to war.
Today, even without an overwhelming anti-war movement, only 18% of people support war against Iran.
This war is senseless, illegal, and unpopular. End it now.
"The only thing more dangerous than organized crime is disorganized crime.”
IPS drug policy scholar @sanho.bsky.social joined @aljazeera.com on El Mencho and the disastrously flawed strategy of killing drug "kingpins." Watch:
Groceries, not war.
Health care, not war.
Good schools, not war.
Safe housing, not war.
Clean energy, not war.
Democracy, not war.
We must make it clear, loudly, together: We demand better from our lawmakers.
With monthly car payments reaching record highs, better public transit offers veterans and everyone else direct economic relief.
"More than anything, we in the U.S. need to reckon with the fact that so much of our state wealth, capacity, and technology goes toward burying children in rubble."
@neginowl.bsky.social in @truthout.org:
NEW: It is too late to prevent this illegal war from starting. But as was the case in the run-up to the Iraq War in 2002 and ’03, it is not too late to see that it will have devastating outcomes.
IPS scholars Phyllis Bennis and Khury Petersen-Smith in @thenation.com:
The Supreme Court ruled Trump didn't have the authority to impose his tariffs. Trump turned around and, through another mechanism, reimposed a global 15% tariff.
"Trump is simply graduating from one illegality to another."
From @neginowl.bsky.social, editor-in-chief at @truthout.org: “There is no such thing as bombing a country into liberation.”
A policy actually concerned for Iranians would involve:
- Ending detention and deportation of Iranians in the U.S.
- Lifting the sanctions against Iran
- Refraining from further military attacks on the country
Trump is not helping Iranian people. He’s worsening their suffering. #NoWarWithIran
Almost half of all Americans (48%) disapprove of the U.S. attacking Iran, while only 28% approve.
The U.S. attacking Iran — a country of 90 million people — is aggressive, deeply unpopular, and disastrous for the region and the world.
NO WAR with Iran.
