In the Public Interest

Remember the day after the election last November, a triumphant newly elected (for the first time) President George W. Bush introduced to a national television audience a beaming Karl Rove as “The Architect” of his winning campaign. Did you know that you, the taxpayers, paid for his salary and benefits while he was running George…

Rose Ann DeMoro is the Executive Director of the California Nurses Association (CNA) — the country’s fastest growing union. Since 1992, union membership has grown from 13,000 to the present 63,000. And it was since 1992 that the nurses became more prominent in participating in and running their own unions. No coincidence. Whether it is…

A few years ago Time-Warner’s Fortune Magazine headlined a cover story on the staggering pay spiral of top corporate bosses and why nothing will be done to stop these over-the-top compensation packages. “Whew” I reacted — this coming from one of the nation’s premier business publications — is a pretty good confirmation of a century-long…

On June 28, 2005 you addressed the nation in prime time about the situation in Iraq. You called the casualties, destruction and suffering in that country “horrifying and real.” Then you declared: “I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it,” you asserted and went on to explain your…

Ah, summertime reading. Set aside the e-mails, close down the computer and pick up some good books. Here are some worthy suggestions ala non-fiction: 1. Harper’s editor, Lewis H. Lapham, has written ‘Gag Rule — On the Supppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy. ‘What a sharp, concise pen, he has. “Dissent is Democracy.…

Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian from Texas and an obstetrician who has delivered over 6000 babies, is trying to deliver our farmers from a bureaucratic medievalism in Washington that keeps saying “No” to growing industrial hemp. Many farmers want to grow this 5000 year old long fiber plant that has been turned into thousands of…

It was a simple idea with long arms and legs. It came to eighth grade teacher, Randy Wright in Ashland, Virginia during a night time dream. He related it to his students who agreed to take it forward as part of their civics class. They took the concept in early 1998 to their members of…

The horrific Republicans had another two weeks of victories over the hapless Democrats. After seven Republican and seven Democratic Senators forged the compromise that averted a showdown against the filibuster, the Republicans moved the confirmation of the worst nominees for the federal circuit courts of appeals which the Democrats had vigorously opposed before they were…

One of my favorite publications–one that you may never have heard about–is the Co-op America Quarterly: Economic Actions for a Just Planet. The current issue is devoted to “The Promise of the Solar Future.” Co-op America brings together buyers and sellers who want products and services that are environmentally benign and made by companies and…

Veteran Car and Driver Magazine editor, Brock Yates, used to lead the notorious Cannonball race across the U.S. non-stop wildly violating every speed limit with his competing buddies. In the Sixties, he would take out after my championing safer, more fuel-efficient and less polluting cars as undermining the auto industry through federal regulatory standards. Mind…