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Will Bernie Sanders Take on Hillary?

May 29, 2015
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Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is off and running after his formal announcement for the presidency this past Tuesday before 5,000 cheering supporters in Burlington, Vermont. He is starting from the region that launched the American Revolution and he is promising to “begin a political revolution to transform our country economically, politically, socially and environmentally,” with…

The Other One Percent

May 22, 2015
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As a high school student, I came across an observation by Abraham Lincoln who said that “With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.” Today “public sentiment” would be called “public opinion.” Over the years, I have been astonished at how less than one percent of the citizenry, backed by the “public…

Can the Gyrocopter Gang Start a Political Reform Movement?

May 15, 2015
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Last month when Florida postal worker, Doug Hughes, landed his tiny aircraft, known as a gyrocopter, on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol with 535 letters addressed to every member of Congress, the conversation should have been about his desperate message. Instead, his letter to each Senator and Representative arguing for an end to the…

Suddenly, Baltimore – Wonder Why?

May 8, 2015
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Suddenly, the mass media is writing about or televising the conditions in West Baltimore. Conditions that Washington Post columnist, Eugene Robinson, summarized as decades long “suffocating poverty, dysfunction and despair.” Suddenly, reporters and camera teams are discovering Baltimore’s inner city—crumbling or abandoned housing; mass unemployment; too many merchants gouging the locals (the poor pay more);…

Obama: Debate Senator Warren on Global Economic Pact

May 1, 2015
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May 1, 2015 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama: You have taken a strong across-the-board position favoring the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) nearing completion and scheduled for a fast track clearance vote in the Congress. Indeed, you have descended admirably from your presidential perch to take…

Obama, Corporate “Free Traitors” and You!

April 24, 2015
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The pro-big business President Barack Obama and his corporate allies are starting their campaign to manipulate and pressure Congress to ram through the “pull-down-on-America” Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade and foreign investment treaty between twelve nations (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam). The first skirmish…

For the Conference on the Israel Lobby—Press Blackout at the Press Club

April 17, 2015
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Following the heavy coverage of AIPAC’s (the virulently pro-Israeli government lobby) multi-day annual Washington convention in March, the mainstream media might have been interested for once in covering alternative viewpoints like those discussed at the April 10th conference “The Israel Lobby: Is it Good for the US? Is it Good for Israel?” (Israellobbyus.org). Fairness and…

The Decision in the General Motors Bankruptcy Case

April 16, 2015
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Statement of Ralph Nader Today’s court ruling that has granted General Motors (GM) a legal shield from lawsuits involving billions of dollars stemming from the company’s decade of cover-ups regarding its faulty ignition switches is another outrageous chapter in the mismanagement of its 2009 bankruptcy and restructuring. Under this ruling, “New GM” is not liable for the grossly negligent actions…

Letter to Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Airlines

April 13, 2015
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April 13, 2015 Richard H. Anderson CEO, Delta Airlines P.O. Box 20980 Department 980 Atlanta, GA 30320-2980 Dear Mr. Anderson, We have received communications from people within your company expressing concerns about your aging MD-80 aircraft fleet. As you know, Delta is a principal user of this McDonnell Douglas aircraft. We understand that the FAA,…

Letters to a President: Return to Sender

April 8, 2015
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April 8, 2015 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama, I am enclosing a copy of Return to Sender: Unanswered Letters to the President 2001-2015 (Seven Stories Press), which contains over 100 letters that I sent to you and President George W. Bush (from 2001 to…