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Letter to President Clinton and Senate and Congressional Leadership on Government Surplus Spending

July 19, 1999
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July 19, 1999President William ClintonThe White HouseWashington, D.C. 20500 The Honorable Trent LottMajority LeaderUnited States SenateWashington, DC 20510The Honorable Dennis HastertSpeakerHouse of RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515The Honorable Richard GephardtMinority LeaderHouse of Representatives Washington, DC 20515Dear Gentlemen:New projections of a federal government budget surplus have left Washington aswirl with proposals on how the government should allocate hundreds…

Ralf Hotchkiss & Whirlwind Wheelchairs

July 19, 1999
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It’s a dream media world for Ralf Hotchkiss. When he travels around the United States, television crews meet and follow him. Hordes of reporters attend his events and press conferences. He is on the special invitation lists for the White House, Park Avenue and Beverly Hills extravaganzas, including the Academy Awards Gala and Presidential Inaugurations.…

Letter to Senate and Congressional Leadership on HMOs

July 15, 1999
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July 15, 1999 The Honorable Trent LottMajority LeaderUnited States SenateWashington, DC 20510 The Honorable Dennis HastertSpeakerHouse of RepresentativesWashington, DC 20515 The Honorable Tom DaschleMinority LeaderUnited States SenateWashington, DC 20510 The Honorable Richard GephardtMinority LeaderHouse of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Gentlemen: The business of the United States Senate this week has been reforming HMOs, but…

We Need REAL Public Radio

July 9, 1999
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Ever wonder why radio generally has become so canned, flat and insipid, bereft of local news, and stuffed with commercials, mercantile values, and the same old, tired junk? Not to mention the downright offensiveness of Howard Stern and the other shock jocks? First, for years, more than 90 percent of all radio time is composed…

Corporate Welfare Horror Stories

July 6, 1999
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The first-ever Congressional hearings critical of corporate welfare the hundreds of billions of dollars given annually in subsidies, bailouts, giveaways, tax escapes, etc. were held June 30th by House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich (R-Ohio). And most of the major media organizations did not show up. But C-SPAN did and relayed a remarkable array of…

Testimony of Ralph Nader on Corporate Welfare Before the Committee on the Budget, U. S. House of Representatives, June 30, 1999

June 30, 1999
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Testimony of Ralph Nader on Corporate Welfare Before the Committee on the Budget, U. S. House of Representatives, June 30, 1999

Letter to President Clinton and Vice President Gore Condemning Recent Legislation Limiting Y2K Liability for Corporations

June 29, 1999
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President William J. Clinton Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. The White House Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Clinton and Vice President Gore: The extent of your betrayal of consumers and small businesses over Y2K liability legislation is shocking. By capitulating completely to the excessive demands of wealthy high-tech companies, like IBM, Intel and Microsoft, and…

Truckin’ Past Safety Regulations

June 28, 1999
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It happens week after week in the nation’s capitol and often goes unnoticed by the media. After suffering a family tragedy, due to a preventable act of corporate negligence a group of Americans find one another in their grief and travel to Washington, hold a press conference with a supportive safety group, and visit their…

A Lobbyist’s Dream

June 23, 1999
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The last hours of a state legislative session is a paradise for avaricious corporate interest groups. This is the time when they can sneak through, without public debate or even public notice, some of the most craven laws against consumer or small-taxpayer interests ever enacted. Among the lobbies that ply this just-before-midnight stealth strategy is…

Designated Agency: Real-Estate Ripoff

June 17, 1999
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On June 9, Connecticut became another state in a long list of victims of the real estate industry. On this last day of the session, in the last hours, the Senate passed House Bill 6981 by suspending its normal rules and tacking this anti-consumer legislation on to another bill as an amendment. The bill’s sneaky…