http://www.theittlist.com/ The ITT List is a weblog run by the editors and staff of In These Times magazine. en catherine@null.null 2010-09-02T15:33:57+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_diaspora_the_high_cost_of_cheap_labor/ by Catherine A. Traywick, Media Consortium blogger A new study about the effects of immigration on U.S. employment supports the long-standing arguments of immigration advocates: Rather than displacing American workers, immigrant labor actually makes our economy stronger. Kevin Drum has the details at Mother Jones. Now, with reports that undocumented laborers are a mainstay of disaster relief efforts all over the country, Americans are beginning to get a sense of the unsavory work relegated to many immigrants, and the high price immigrants pay for the simple privilege of employment. Undocumented workers driving wages up Going back to Mother Jones, new research… Catherine Traywick, Media Consortium blogger 2010-09-02T14:33:57+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_pulse_diy_abortions_on_the_border_pawlenty_screws_mn_on_sexed/ by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger Women on along U.S.-Mexico border are buying black market misoprostol to induce abortions, according to a new report by Laura Tillman in the Nation. The drug is easily available over the counter in Mexico. DIY abortion is cheaper—a bottle of misoprostol costs can cost as little as $70, a fraction of the price of a medical abortion. The DIY approach can also be more convenient and private. One abortion provider told Tillman that about 20% of his patients tried misoprostol before coming to see him. He estimates that many others took the drug successfully. Misoprostol… Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger 2010-09-01T15:16:24+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_audit_why_do_deficit_hawks_hate_social_security/ by Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger Last week, Social Security advocates learned something they had long suspected. Arguments for cutting Social Security aren't really about economics or the deficit. They're all about waging war on social services. In short, some very prominent policymakers are out to dismantle Social Security on ideological grounds. The most recent example of this view comes from Alan Simpson, a former Republican Senator from Wyoming who now serves as co-Chair of President Barack Obama's Federal Debt Commission. Earlier this summer, Simpson was caught on video spreading absurd lies about Social Security, but his latest outburst explains why… Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger 2010-08-31T14:16:23+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/playing_ball_with_ubs/ As is my habit, I was avidly reading the business page when I came across this headline:I.R.S. to Drop Suit Against UBS Over Tax Havens UBS? Hadn’t I read those initials in another story of a different sort just a day or so ago? Sure, UBS, or Union Banque Suisse. It’s one of those reclusive repositories where the really rich stash their spondulicks away from busybody tax collectors, divorce lawyers and such.The story referred to earlier attempts by Uncle Sam to get the names of UBS’s American clients. Now Washington was backing off. “The statement by the I.R.S,” said the NY… Pete Karman 2010-08-30T16:07:21+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_mulch_fighting_the_joe_millers_of_the_world/ by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger Joe Miller, Sarah Palin's choice candidate for one of Alaska's Senate seats, does not believe in climate change. That didn't bother Alaska voters: this week, Miller bested Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the state's Republican primary. If that weren't worrisome enough, it also emerged that the fossil fuel industry spent eight times more than environmental groups on lobbying in 2009, the year the House passed the climate change bill. It's been a bad year already for environmental causes, and as the November election edges closer, progressives might want to start working overtime to regain momentum on… Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger 2010-08-27T14:52:13+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_diaspora_immigrants_abused_denied_social_services_in_broken_immigrat/ by Catherine A. Traywick, Media Consortium blogger After decades of misguided policies and patchwork practices, the high human costs of our disordered immigration system are only starting to emerge. Stricter immigration policies and overcrowded detention centers aren't making our streets safer or our social services more accessible. Instead, mounting evidence shows that our immigration policies are just creating a space for immigrants to be brutalized—socially, financially and physically. From reports of sexual abuse inside of detention centers to news of legal residents being denied social services, the ineffectiveness of the prevailing system has never been more apparent, nor the need for… Catherine Traywick, Media Consortium blogger 2010-08-26T15:10:29+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_pulse_stem_cell_hell_bad_eggs_and_diy_abortions/ by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger On Monday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that all federally funded human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research is illegal, thereby throwing the scientific community into turmoil. The judge decided that any experiments on these cells is research “in which a human embryo is to be harmed or destroyed,” and is therefore disqualified for federal funding under an obscure provision known as the Dickey Amendment. Researchers called the ruling “absolutely devastating.” The ruling flies in the face of science and logic. True, a human embryo must be destroyed in order to create a line of… Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger 2010-08-25T15:04:25+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_audit_save_affordable_housing_help_revive_americas_middle_class/ by Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger Over the past decade, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac transformed themselves into some of the worst-run companies in recent history. But contrary to current talking points, the firms' failings had almost nothing to do with their programs for low-income borrowers. As policymakers debate what should be done with the mortgage giants, a battle is now beginning in which the very availability of affordable housing for the middle class may be at stake. A history of affordable housing As Tim Fernholz emphasizes for The American Prospect, before the U.S. government created Fannie Mae in 1938, mortgages… Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger 2010-08-24T15:39:29+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_mulch_green_daydreams_a_clean_gulf_energy_efficiency_and_more/ by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger Yesterday, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) took Obama administration officials to task for encouraging Americans to believe that the majority of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico had dispersed. "People want to believe that everything is OK and I think this report and the way it is being discussed is giving many people a false sense of confidence regarding the state of the Gulf," Markey said. Belief, after all, is powerful force. As coal baron Don Blankenship says, "You have to have your own beliefs, your own core beliefs, your own strengths and do what… Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger 2010-08-20T14:54:23+00:00 http://www.theittlist.com/ittlist/ind/weekly_pulse_killer_summer_heatwaves_air_pollution_and_winger_docs/ by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger "The average death rate in the city during normal times is between 360 to 380 people a day. Today, we have around 700. This is no secret. Everyone thinks we are trying to keep it secret. Look, it is 40 degrees Celsius on the street," Andrei Seltsovsky, head of Moscow's public health department, quoted on Democracy Now! Russia is in the grip of the worst heatwave in its history. The country hasn't seen temperatures like this since record-keeping began 130 years ago. Months of drought have turned the countryside into a tinderbox and wildfires are… Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger 2010-08-11T14:45:04+00:00