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A Consumer Advocate’s Mailbag

March 1, 1983
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Often, magazine and newspaper editors describe the letters-to­-the-editors column as among the most widely read sections of their publications. What is therefore astonishing is the relatively small space that many large newspaper editors provide for publishing cogent letters from their readers. Unless there are too few letter-writing readers, why is it not considered advisable to…

Bailing Out the Big Banks

February 22, 1983
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A chance encounter with a major Canadian financier aboard an AMTRAK train chugging its way through a heavy snowstorm to Washington can lead to candid conversation. The financier was appalled at the imprudent loan practices of the large American and Canadian banks. “They’re acting as unrestrained as some of their major debtors,” he observed, adding…

Female Stereotypes Persist

February 15, 1983
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Do women’s consumer dollars buy less value in the marketplace than do men’s dollars? In all too many instances, the answer is still “yes.” Our inquiry into this persistent discrimination against women assembled cases which many women unfortunately can relate to from their own experience: A federal judge’s wife says that she never brings in…

Redskins: A Sociological Phenomenon

February 8, 1983
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It did not start with the Super Bowl and it has not ended with the Super Bowl. What the Redskins are doing to Washington, DC’s residents is becoming a sociological phenomenon. Of course, all the ingredients for regular hoopla were there. At the start of the season almost no one expected the Washington Redskins’ football…

No Shift in the Power Base

February 1, 1983
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Recent speeches by Ronald Reagan and Democratic politicians have brought Americans a sample of their thoughts about “getting this country moving again.” Big business executives also weighed in with their “Bipartisan Appeal To Resolve the Budget Crisis,” led by five former Secretaries of the Treasury and Peter G. Peterson, former Secretary of Commerce. My attention…

The Natural Gas Price Gouge

January 25, 1983
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The dentist was distraught and it was not about cavities. This dentist was part owner in several oil wells in western Pennsylvania and the mixed-in natural gas was being flared off–just burned away. Even though his wells were very close to gas pipelines, there were no willing buyers for this gas. The gas was for…

Stacking the Deck Against Consumers

January 18, 1983
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If only the two scenes could be seen side by side. On one side would be pictures of badly injured men, women and children trying to have their day in court against heavily organized manufacturers charged with making or selling hazardous autos, drugs, power presses, chemicals, power lawnmowers and a myriad of other misconstructed products.…

Drew Lewis’ Service to GM

January 11, 1983
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Drew Lewis, the Secretary of Transportation has submitted his letter of resignation to President Ronald Reagan after serving 23 months. In that period he has wrecked more havoc on the Depart­ment’s crucial safety responsibilities and programs than all of his predecessors combined back to 1968. In early 1981, after being in office less than a…

Choices Wherever You Look

January 6, 1983
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The college teacher was scanning the financial pages of his newspaper. “It’s enough to drive you bananas.” He was utterly befuddled by the different interest rate and financial service combinations being offered by the banks, money market funds, savings and loans and brokerage houses which are making newspapers richer with their large space ads. “How…

Cynical Pay Raises for Congress

December 17, 1982
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Lobbyists for Common Cause, the citizens group, suffered from an uncommon pause of common sense when they stood outside the House of Representatives on December 14th urging the legislators to raise their own pay by $9138 a year. “Sycophantic”, declared an advocate for a citizen group opposing the salary hike. Another opponent argued that the…