In the Public Interest

Better later than never. More than two decades after Michigan’s Supreme Court upheld an egregious abuse of government’s power of eminent domain, that same court acknowledged the error of its ways. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution permits government to seize private property for a “public use,” such as a highway, railroad, or…

The Democratic Party-Party Convention is over and its singular memory will be its predictable banality and the commercialism that mostly financed it. Historically, conventions were newsworthy because there was a struggle over who would receive the nomination and what the Parties would stand for in their platforms. Today there is a coronation for the nominee…

Consumer and community organizations have waged a lengthy and intense campaign to warn the public about the high cost of payday loans and the dangers of being entrapped in spiraling unaffordable debt. Despite these efforts the pay day lenders and their profits are multiplying. The yellow pages in telephone directories are filled with advertisements for…

The widely televised indictment and arraignment of the hand-cuffed Enron CEO, Ken Lay — one of George W. Bush’s closest friends and funders — should not lull anyone into thinking that this is anything but a limited move against corporate crime in an ocean of still-at-large corporate criminals. With trillions of dollars stolen or drained…

Another tort deform bill — just one in a seemingly endless string of attacks on our civil justice system — has failed in the Senate this week. American consumers should be thankful that the so-called “Class Action Fairness Act” was mired in election year posturing by both parties. Some — mainly Republicans and corporations —…

Corporate UNPATRIOTIC BEHAVIOR.July 2, 2004 During this 4th of July weekend, why not assess the behavior of giant U.S. chartered multinational corporations by the yardsticks of patriotism to the supportive country of their birth? These standards for the corporate entities themselves are important for the moral, legal and political persuasion necessary to improve their patriotic…

What is going on among Iraq’s working classes? We do not hear about those workers except for the high number of unemployed. Thanks to the Labor Party Press (www.thelaborparty.org) we learn that George W. Bush’s top representative in Iraq, Paul Bremer, continues to enforce Saddam Hussein’s decree banning unions using military force where necessary. Bush’s…

“Meet the “China Price” or else.” Remember that phrase — “meet the China Price,” because you’ll be reading much more about what it means to this country, its working families and its communities. U.S. chartered corporations are telling their suppliers that if they do not meet the “China Price”, they can either lose business, cut…

Two very different men in their early Nineties passed away last week. Both were active in their unions— Ronald Reagan in the Actorís Guild, Victor Reuther in the United Auto Workers (UAW). Then, needless to say, their paths diverged markedly. Ronald Reagan became the conservative politician with the dulcet speaking voice. Victor Reuther became the…

Unless cooler heads prevail, the American Medical Association is teetering on the brink of public ridicule, mockery and indignation. Resolution 202 has been introduced by Dr. J. Chris Hawk III from South Carolina to the AMA’s Committee B. It is aimed directly at trial lawyers as patients. This resolution sets a new record for loss…