This week in OtherWords, columnist Jim Hightower and cartoonist Khalil Bendib lampoon the latest in airline abuse. If you’re planning to board a plane to celebrate this holiday season with family or friends, I hope that your voyage is as stress-free as possible.

And speaking of this holiday season, please consider making a year-end tax-deductible contribution to OtherWords. Our service is free for newspapers, new media outlets, and engaged citizens. But professional editing, proofreading, and concerted efforts to get new outlets to run these bold opinions requires at least a modest budget. Any amount you can give will be used wisely and effectively to help us expand our nationwide reach. You can make a one-time or a recurring donation on our website or mail a check payable to OtherWords to this address: Institute for Policy Studies; 1112 16th Street, NW, Suite 600; Washington, DC 20036.

For contributions of $100 or more, we’ll send you or someone you designate a copy of columnist Sam Pizzigati‘s latest book: The Rich Don’t Always Win. For contributions of $150 or more, we’ll also include our cartoonist Khalil Bendib‘s latest collection: Too Big to Fail. Both make great gifts.

Scroll down to see this week’s lineup and please subscribe to our weekly newsletter if you haven’t signed up yet.

1. Ripe for Reduction / Miriam Pemberton
   The pending budget deal must include long-overdue military spending cuts.
2. Our National Failure to Commit / Don Kraus
   The Senate hasn’t approved any major multilateral treaties since 1997.
3. Jobs or the Environment? / Lee Ballinger
   Soon it will be too late and we’ll have neither.
4. Billionaires with No Skin in the Game / Jason Salzman
   If the top two percent is up in arms about losing their Bush tax cuts, why aren’t they generating any street heat?
5. In Fact, Fairly Taxing the Rich Won’t Scare Them Away / Sam Pizzigati
   Recent research debunks some of the most common arguments against raising taxes on the richest Americans.
6. The Airline Industry’s Fee-for-All / Jim Hightower
   Nearly every airline these days is addicted to fees.
7. Our Health Care System is Still Sick / William A. Collins
   The health industry is about making money, not healing.
8. Fly the Stingy Skies / Khalil Bendib cartoon

Fly the Stingy Skies, an OtherWords cartoon by Khalil Bendib