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Behind the Fillibuster

October 8, 1974
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Sen. Robert Griffin’s (R-Mich.) critical role in sustaining by one vote the minority filibuster tactic which beat back a majority of 65 senators in favor of the consumer protection bill (S.707) is a matter of record. But how and why he fought this bill is an inside story which should interest more than the deceived…

Hidden Inflationary Pressures

October 1, 1974
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In that address before the Rotary Club of New York City. Seymour was clearly indignant. He com­plained that business crimes receive favored treat­ment in the courts. which give much lighter sentences, frequently suspended, than are given to individuals prosecuted for petty stealing. “Businessmen,” he noted sharply. “too often tend to smile understand­ingly at illegal conduct…

Hidden Inflationary Pressires

October 1, 1974
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Before it is possible to expect effective anti-inflationary policies to come out of Washington, the Ford administration will have to ask itself if it is willing to oppose some old or proposed pro-inflationary practices. Here is a handy checklist of pro-inflationary directions which many elected and appointed politicians would rather not talk about with citizens…

South and Consumers

September 28, 1974
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Why do southern senators vote so consistently against the interests of American consumers and for the objectives of corporate lobbyists? Certainly consumers in the south have the same grievances as consumers in the north or other sections of the country. Southern consumers often buy cars that are lemons, receive worthless merchandise, and suffer from price…

Loopholes for the Rich

September 22, 1974
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Corporate income tax payments, as a percentage of federal revenue receipts, have been withering away over the last three decades to a level that would shock millions of individual tax­payers who, quite predict­ably, are holding up an in­creasing share of the federal tax burden. In what must be among the least publicized figures in Washington,…

Safety: GM’s Scapegoat

September 15, 1974
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John Z. De Lorean, the former superstar executive at General Motors until he resigned last year, was in Washington a few days ago making some super good sense. In a Senate briefing, sponsored by Senator Vance Hartke (Dem., Ind.), De Lorean said it was ridiculous to consider sacrificing automotive engineering safety because of the auto…

The Great Energy Gouge

September 8, 1974
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The great energy gouge has replaced the contrived energy shortage of last winter just as predicted by a number of close observers of the oil industry. Now, however, the hordes of reporters who daily covered William Simon and his Federal Energy Office have gone back to other duties. Gouges are not as exciting to report…

Climbing Paper Costs

August 25, 1974
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Congressman Wayne Hays, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing, has been watching the fast-rising price of paper used by the Government Printing Office. As millions of Americans who order government reports and pamphlets know, GPO’s prices have been going through the roof in the past two years. One reason is that the paper companies…

The Paper Rip-Off

August 25, 1974
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Commercial and institutional consumers of paper products are increasingly outraged and despairing over the paper industry’s alleged shortages and its zooming price levels. William White, procurement officer for the Washington Board of Education, says prices have gone up an average of 100% for the school system’s paper in less than a year. School cafeteria paper…

A Memo from Malek

August 18, 1974
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Neglected in the vast materials documenting the Nixonian corruption is the calculated White House criminality against the trust of millions of taxpay­ers who finance the federal government. More evidence of this con­duct is contained in a White House memorandum, dated March 17, 1972, and marked “Extremely Sensitive —Confidential,” from Nixon aide Fred Malek to H.…