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Some Second Thoughts Now That the Voting is Over

November 4, 1984
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The Reagan group is claiming a thunderous mandate. Judging by the way their campaign of fluff, flattery and facade replaced pressing matters of substance, not to mention any specifics of what they planned in a second term, the Reaganites ran a personality parade. Political observers kept reminding us of the gap between voters opposition to…

Who Will You Vote for on Nov. 6th and Why?

October 27, 1984
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Mankato, Minnesota — He was a third year student in college and interested in housing issues. I asked him whom he favored in the Presidential campaign. He replied: “Are you kidding?” I said: “What do you mean?” He replied “Ronald Reagan, of course.” So I started inquiring about which candidate he thought was superior on…

Place Your Bets: Taking Odds on What Reagan Will Do Next

October 24, 1984
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There is an outfit in England that sets odds and takes bets on the outcome of the Presidential race in the United States. If this firm wants to expand its business, it could propose ten-to-one odds that the following predictions will materialize President Reagan gains a second term: President Reagan, despite his pre-election promises, will…

Students Need to Study Records of Presidential Contenders

October 13, 1984
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The question for millions of college students is whether they plan to spend several special hours, as they would do for an average mid-term exam, studying the records of the Presidential candidates before election on November 6. They need to do this if they want to cast their ballot on facts and judgments rather than…

Poor Americans Bear More Than Their Share of Pollution

October 6, 1984
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In the sixties, a book with the title “The Poor Pay More” was published documenting the not surprising point that consumer fraud and injustice bear down disproportionately on low income Americans. Now comes a new report describing how the poor suffer more -from environmental pollution where they work, where they live and where their children…

One Wonders What Reagan Would Do if He Weren’t So Nice

September 30, 1984
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I wonder what children are thinking about the Presidential race between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. Not much, you may say. But the ten and eleven year olds who interviewed politicians at the Democratic and Republican Conventions this summer for their newspaper, “Children’s Express,” told me that maybe grown-ups should start asking. It would be…

Reform Needed to Get Insurance Rates to Drop

September 24, 1984
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Maybe someone can explain the luck of the insurance industry. It receives 12% of the consumer’s disposable income, making that bill the fourth leading expenditure for Americans after food, housing and personal income taxes. Since 1944, it has been exempted from the federal antitrust laws and state regulation continues to he weak and indentured. Numerous,…

Four Year Reagan Review for Reelection

September 23, 1984
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Suppose a poll asked Americans the following question: Would you support a President for re-election if he did the opposite of what he promised to do on important subjects? Most people would probably say no, provided the issues were important to them. Let’s examine the record of Ronald Reagan in this regard. He would balance…

Sanctions, Incentives Force Corporations to Change Behavior

September 17, 1984
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San Francisco — Behind those daffy, twisting television ads for Levis, the jeans of San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co., there are some smart, public spirited people. I had a conversation recently with one of them — the company’s general counsel, Peter T. Jones — and came away even more persuaded that there are not…

Repealing Anti-Rebate Laws Could Save Consumers Billions

September 10, 1984
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Joseph Blumenthal, a semi-retired Miami insurance agent, wrote us in June 1975 with an idea. Why not, he asked, challenge as unconstitutional the anti-rebate laws which prevent insurance agents from giving part of their commission to their customers in order to get their business? Good question. So Public Citizen’s lawyers set out to answer it…