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Monday, August 2. 2010Letter to President Obama Regarding the Talmadge Creek Oil Spill
Dear Mr. President:
The spill of nearly one million gallons of oil from Enbridge Energy Partners’ pipeline into Talmadge Creek in Michigan on July 26 further demonstrates the necessity for you and Secretary LaHood to pay immediate attention to the hapless, industry-indentured Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), which has been, like the Minerals Management Service, in a long fraternal relationship with its industry. Continue reading "Letter to President Obama Regarding the Talmadge Creek Oil Spill" Tuesday, July 20. 2010Letter to President Obama on Professor Elizabeth Warren
Dear President Obama:
It is time for you to give taxpayers, consumers, and investors a reason to believe that you are truly interested in consumer protection by nominating Professor Elizabeth Warren to be the Director of the much-anticipated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Continue reading "Letter to President Obama on Professor Elizabeth Warren" Tuesday, July 13. 2010Letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Fannie and Freddie
Dear Chairman Bernanke:
On July 17, 2008, David Rogers, the respected Congressional reporter for Politico wrote an article titled “Pelosi-Paulson tension Rises,” in which he had the following paragraph: “Earlier in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke assured lawmakers that Fannie and Freddie, the two government-supported enterprises, are ‘adequately capitalized’ and ‘in no danger of failing.’” Continue reading "Letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Fannie and Freddie" Tuesday, July 13. 2010Letter to Bud Selig On "The Worst Umpire Call Since the 1850s"
Dear Mr. Selig:
Now that you have had over a month to absorb and digest the reactions to what a sports writer called the worst umpire call since the 1850s, it is time for you to respect the vast majority of the fans, players and coaches who either believe that umpire Jim Joyce’s call should be reversed as false or who have no objection to such a ruling. Continue reading "Letter to Bud Selig On "The Worst Umpire Call Since the 1850s"" Tuesday, June 29. 2010Questions for Supreme Court Nominee Kagan
Supreme Court nominations are a rare opportunity for millions of Americans to watch, learn and converse about what the Court, the Constitution and the Justices mean for their way of life, their freedoms and their livelihoods.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee should consider asking Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who has been nominated to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, some or all of the following questions. Continue reading "Questions for Supreme Court Nominee Kagan" Friday, May 28. 2010Letter to President Barack Obama on Problems with Airport X-Ray Scanners
May 28, 2010
President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama, It is important for citizens to give their President cautionary alerts about serious potential risks to the public’s health. Enclosed is a letter from members of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) science faculty (including a member of the National Academy of Sciences and an internationally known and respected cancer expert) sent to your science adviser, Dr. John Holdren on April 6, 2010. These scientists express their deep concerns about the rapid deployment of the full-body backscatter x-ray scanner in U.S. airports without sufficient safety review by an impartial panel of experts. A call to Dr. Holdren’s office reveals that he is studying the letter and has not yet responded to the UCSF scientists. Another highly respected radiation expert, Dr. David Brenner of Columbia University’s Center for Radiological Research has also raised serious concerns about exposing millions of airline passengers to radiation without an independent scientific review. Security experts have also questioned the effectiveness of these scanning devices concluding that the devices can be easily defeated by concealing explosives in body cavities. It was wasteful enough for the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) to install the “puffer” security devices at U.S. airports and then withdraw them because they were found to be “unreliable” at a cost of $30 million to taxpayers. Now, a far larger amount of taxpayer money is being spent on these scanning devices by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which claims it is not obligated to observe the Administrative Procedures Act. I suggest that you give your attention to this emerging risk. Preventing cancer should be a presidential priority. Sincerely yours, Ralph Nader PO Box 19367 Washington, DC 20036 Letter from UCSF faculty to John Holdren Tuesday, March 2. 2010Nader Excoriates Dodd For Lack of Fidelity on CFPA
March 2, 2010
The Honorable Senator Christopher Dodd Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 448 Russell Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Dodd: On January 19, 2010, I wrote to you about news reports that you were considering dropping the proposal to create an independent and free-standing Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). In the last few days news reports indicate that you are advancing the notion that the CFPA should be housed within the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is always a step short and a day late in protecting consumers. To house the CFPA within the Federal Reserve is to doom it to failure. Continue reading "Nader Excoriates Dodd For Lack of Fidelity on CFPA" Thursday, February 18. 2010Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader Calls President Barack Obama’s Loan Guarantee for Nuclear Power Plants Monumental Mistake
President Obama’s support of loan guarantees for the construction of new nuclear power plants is a monumental mistake. It is a decision that is bad for consumers and taxpayers, and it is wrong-headed from an environmental and national security perspective.
Providing $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to help the Southern Company build two reactors in Georgia is the last thing the Obama Administration should be doing. There is no place for new nuclear power plants in our country’s energy future. Continue reading "Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader Calls President Barack Obama’s Loan Guarantee for Nuclear Power Plants Monumental Mistake" Tuesday, February 16. 2010The Case Against Corporate Speech
The Wall Street Journal Opinion, February 11, 2010
By Ralph Nader And Robert Weismann Last month, by a vote of 5 to 4, the U.S. Supreme Court gave carte blanche to the world's largest corporations to spend unlimited sums of money to support or oppose candidates for elected office. Big Business domination of Washington and state capitals will now intensify. Continue reading "The Case Against Corporate Speech" Thursday, January 21. 2010Statement of Ralph Nader on Supreme Court Decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission shreds the fabric of our already weakened democracy by allowing corporations to more completely dominate our corrupted electoral process. It is outrageous that corporations already attempt to influence or bribe our political candidates through their political action committees (PACs), which solicit employees and shareholders for donations. With this decision, corporations can now also draw on their corporate treasuries and pour vast amounts of corporate money, through independent expenditures, into the electoral swamp already flooded with corporate campaign PAC contribution dollars.
This corporatist, anti-voter decision is so extreme that it should galvanize a grassroots effort to enact a Constitutional Amendment to once and for all end corporate personhood and curtail the corrosive impact of big money on politics. It is indeed time for a Constitutional amendment to prevent corporate campaign contributions from commercializing our elections and drowning out the civic and political voices and values of citizens and voters. It is way overdue to overthrow “King Corporation” and restore the sovereignty of “We the People”! For more information or to arrange interviews contact: Ralph Nader 202-387-8034 January 21, 2010 Tuesday, January 19. 2010Nader calls on Senator Dodd to fight for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency
January 19, 2010
The Honorable Senator Christopher Dodd Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 448 Russell Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Dodd: The Washington Post and several other newspapers report that you are considering dropping the proposal to create an independent and free-standing Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Continue reading "Nader calls on Senator Dodd to fight for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency" Monday, December 21. 2009Testimony of Ralph Nader and Robert Weissman on "The U.S. Government as Dominant Shareholder: How Should the Taxpayers' Ownership Rights be Exercised?"
Before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, December 16, 2009
Continue reading "Testimony of Ralph Nader and Robert Weissman on "The U.S. Government as Dominant Shareholder: How Should the Taxpayers' Ownership Rights be Exercised?"" Tuesday, December 15. 2009Remarks by Ralph Nader on the Passing of Sol Price
Sol Price, founder of the Price Clubs, was often seen as a moderately gruff man but with a heart of gold. He gave large sums of money to job training and other needs of inner city youth and child advocacy groups. He sought to alleviate poverty no matter who were the victims, including afflicted Palestinians.
His biting sense of business humor was legendary. Mr. Price, a lawyer, had many causes, pressing for a tax on wealth and reforming the grand jury system which he deemed procedurely very unfair. He never could get a member of Congress to introduce a tax on wealth, no matter how many times he went up to Capitol Hill to urge such legislation. He was an entrepreneur and a businessman for many seasons, an original thinker and doer. His career shames the misbehavior of the Wall Street and other executives whose reckless mismanagement and huge self-enrichment brought down our economy. Friday, December 11. 2009Statement of Ralph Nader on the Passage of H.R. 4173
The House bill too weakly regulates the huge derivatives market, the too-big-to-fail hazard, the executive compensation heist and fails to either provide greater power for shareholders or financial consumers. Reigning in the private credit rating agencies is so weak as to permit substantial continuations of these Wall Street rubber stamps of securities.
Moreover the legislation does not reinstate the proven Glass-Steagall separation of commercial and investment banking as strongly urged by Paul Volcker, economic advisor to President Obama. The best part of the legislation is the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, but only if Elizabeth Warren becomes its first Administrator. Tuesday, November 24. 2009Letter to President Obama RE: Appointments to NHTSA and OSHA
November 24, 2009
The Honorable Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, Every year, over 40,000 people die on the highways in our country. About 58,000 workers perish due to workplace-related diseases and trauma. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are charged with preventing these casualties along with injuries and illnesses of even greater number. Continue reading "Letter to President Obama RE: Appointments to NHTSA and OSHA" |
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