This week, OtherWords is running an op-ed by Raul A. Reyes that sums up Mitt Romney’s lackluster efforts to win over Latino voters and a commentary by Dashka Slater about the disappearance of the kinds of jobs that traditionally provided low-income Americans with economic mobility.

Next week, we’ll start distributiing our commentaries and cartoons on Wednesdays. Please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see our latest offerings appear on Monday Oct. 1. They will appear at OtherWords.org on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

Also that day, the Institute for Policy Studies will release the first congressional report card that grades lawmakers on what they’ve done to narrow our country’s economic divide. The report card will identify the members of Congress most friendly toward the “1 percent” and the “99 percent,” based on their positions on 40 legislative actions. It will also provide grade-point averages for each state’s congressional delegation.

We’ll send out a link to this report in the Oct. 3 OtherWords newsletter. News outlets seeking advance information should contact Lacy MacAuley, the IPS media manager, at lacy@ips-dc.org

As always, I encourage you to subscribe to our weekly newsletter and visit our blog. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do.

1. The Islamophobe Fringe / John FefferThe deeper reason for the heated response from the Muslim world is not so much Western rhetoric but Western policy.
2. Romney’s Losing Bid to Win the Latino Vote / Raul A. Reyes
   Romney needs to up his game — pronto.
3. Armed with Irony / Ryan Alexander
   If lawmakers really want to stop blank checks for spending binges, they should start with the Pentagon
4. A Vanishing Act for Good Jobs / Dashka Slater
   For those on the economic ladder’s lowest rungs, the middle rungs have almost completely disappeared.
5. The ‘Self-Made’ Hallucination of America’s Rich / Sam Pizzigati
   Like Mitt Romney, most Americans who amass grand fortunes have a substantial head start.
6. A Memo to Mitt and Ann / Katie Halper
   Pretend that you like people.
7. The Price of Admission / Jim Hightower
   Across our country, women are walking away from Regal Cinema’s pretentious abrogation of our Fourth Amendment rights.
8. Just Don’t Say Climate Change / William A. Collins and Emily Schwartz Greco
   Global warming can’t be legislated away.
9. Vote for This Clown / Khalil Bendib (Cartoon)

Vote for this Clown, an OtherWords cartoon by Khalil Bendib