In the Public Interest

Al From, the founder and soul of the soulless Democratic Leadership Council(DLC), assembled his flock in Philadelphia recently and warned his comrades about a takeover of the Democratic Party by “the far left.” Launched in 1985, the “far right” DLC grew to have a controlling interest in the Party through the efforts of then-Governor Bill…

Question: what is the most popular hobby in America today? Answer: Gardening. Gardeners outnumber participants in amateur athletics. Gardening gives off beauty and aroma. Gardening provides edibles worth over $15 billion annually in vegetables and fruits. Gardening provides exercise for those who cannot or will not exercise in other ways. Gardening is a communion with…

Contracting out what the Federal government does and what government needs is a large part of our economy. The former includes letting corporations perform more military and intelligence functions; while the latter has included buying supplies like fuel, paper, food, medicines and vehicles. Taken together, they amount to spending trillions of dollars over the past…

In the past four decades, many millions of manufacturing jobs in this country have been shipped overseas or to South America. This transfer was supposed to be part of the “win-win” process of free trade. But 27 straight years of growing trade deficits with the rest of the world makes one wonder: who’s winning? Conventional…

What’s the most self-destructive thing that consumers carry around in their pockets? It’s those little pieces of plastic-credit cards-that are becoming the greatest menace to the financial health of low, moderate and middle income Americans There was a time when the “plastic money” was considered a convenience for consumers and a boon to the small…

President George W. Bush takes off on our Air Force One to California, spends nine hours in that state and comes back with $5 million in campaign money. He is on his way to raising a historic record $200 million in private, mostly business money. This is the price for selling the U.S. government to…

Unintentionally, the animal kingdom is striking back at homo sapiens who are not yet developing a “wise” response. Recently the Washington Post listed some of them in an article headlined “Why So Many New Infections are Coming from Animals.” AIDS, SARS, West Nile virus, hantavirus, Influenza, Lyme disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob (mad cow disease), and monkeypox are…

The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has a problem. It is loaded with corporate money, full of rich fellowships for Washington, D.C. influence peddlers, masquerading as conservatives, who wallow in plush offices figuring out how to assure that big corporations rule the U.S. and the rest of the world. During the past twenty-two years, the AEI,…

Two views of the nation’s capital were on display last week. At 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the main event was the ceremony for President Bush’s signing of still another massive tax cut designed primarily for the wealthy. On hand were the usual bevy of reporters and cameras to record the event. There were Republican leaders from…

There is little doubt that the Federal Communications Commission, by a split 3 to 2 vote, will open more doors for the giant media moguls to acquire more radio, television and newspaper properties in cities, towns and rural areas of this country. By the same decision, they will close more doors on ideas, speakers, writers,…