Op-Eds

The Chips Are Down

Jun 24, 2026 · Paul Krugman

Rural hospitals are closing. So are rural futures.

Jun 13, 2026 · Site Administrator

When a county loses its emergency room, it loses more than beds. It loses obstetrics, trauma response, and the confidence of young families deciding whether to stay. Policy debates treat rural healthcare as a budget line...

Childcare is infrastructure, not a lifestyle perk

Jun 12, 2026 · Site Administrator

Parents missing shifts because a sitter canceled is not a personal failure—it is a systems failure. Childcare deserts map cleanly onto workforce shortages and educational gaps.Other countries treat early care as public i...

Stop romanticizing the gig economy

Jun 11, 2026 · Site Administrator

Flexibility without benefits is not liberation—it is risk transfer. Delivery drivers, rideshare operators, and platform workers patch together income without sick leave, workers' comp, or predictable hours.Companies clas...

Public libraries deserve surge funding

Jun 10, 2026 · Site Administrator

Libraries loan more than books. They loan Wi-Fi hotspots, meeting rooms, legal templates, and quiet. During heat waves they are cooling centers; during recessions, job centers.Budget cuts treat libraries as discretionary...

Housing policy must include renters

Jun 9, 2026 · Site Administrator

Homeownership dominates political rhetoric, but renters are nearly forty percent of households. They face rising rents, weak eviction protections, and limited pathways to stability.YIMBY without tenant safeguards can acc...

We are underinvesting in trade education

Jun 8, 2026 · Site Administrator

Electricians, welders, and HVAC technicians keep daily life functioning. Yet high schools shrink shop programs while pushing every student toward four-year degrees—often with debt and uncertain returns.Apprenticeships co...

Climate resilience starts on the block

Jun 7, 2026 · Site Administrator

Federal climate plans grab headlines, but neighbors feel floods, heat, and smoke first. Block associations plant shade trees, clear drains, and check on elderly residents during heat advisories.Municipal budgets should f...

Mental health care cannot be optional

Jun 6, 2026 · Site Administrator

Waitlists for therapists stretch months. Crisis lines save lives but cannot replace ongoing care. Stigma has softened; access has not kept pace.Integrating behavioral health into primary care, expanding Medicaid reimburs...

Immigration powers our caregiving economy

Jun 5, 2026 · Site Administrator

Immigrant workers disproportionately staff nursing homes, harvest food, and clean hospitals. Policy rhetoric rarely acknowledges dependence on their labor while pathways to citizenship stall.Humane immigration reform is...

School lunch debt shames children for poverty

Jun 4, 2026 · Site Administrator

Students denied hot meals because of cafeteria debt learn a lesson schools should never teach: your family's finances are public property.Universal school meals remove stigma and improve attendance. Several states have p...

Broadband is a utility, not a luxury

Jun 3, 2026 · Site Administrator

Remote work, telehealth, and homework all assume reliable internet. Rural and low-income neighborhoods still lack affordable high-speed access—a digital divide that reproduces inequality.Municipal broadband and federal b...