In the Public Interest

The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) has long run on the motto – “Leave No Child Behind.” But that phrase was given much higher visibility as the slogan of the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, who as governor left more than a few children behind in Texas. CDF was not pleased with the appropriation of…

Is the cure worse than the disease? An old cliche perhaps, but it seems a particularly apt question in the current debate over food irradiation. Irradiation may appear to many as a miracle means of swiftly removing bacteria from food supplies, but underneath the hype lie major questions about the economic, health and social costs…

Vice President Dick Cheney is a dinosaur living in the age of mammals. Imagine a public official uttering the following: “Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.” “We … safeguard the environment by making greater use of the cleanest methods of…

The nuclear accidents at Chernobyl in the Ukraine and at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania were stark reminders of the dangers, and presumably of sufficient magnitude to reinforce the need for the tightest safety and non-proliferation safeguards possible. But is our government actually serving as a watchdog over nuclear power facilities in the U. S.…

Sanford Weill, CEO of Citigroup, the giant multi-national financial conglomerate, took home the fattest compensation package among the nation’s corporate executives last year, $224.4 million. Weill may be the “poster child” for executive compensation excesses, but boards of directors of other major corporations have not been timid about dipping into their company’s treasuries to shower…

Is Mad Cow Disease just a European phenomena or is it something that should trigger a significant upgrading of U. S. public health efforts? It is true that so far, the U. S. has escaped the epidemic and its human counterpart, variant Cruetzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD). But is this the result of vigilance by our public…

Emboldened by a complacent Congress and regulators who serve as little more than industry cheerleaders, banks continue to pile more fees on consumers. The latest evidence of the fee gouging comes from a nationwide survey conducted by the U. S. Public Interest Research Group which found that surcharges imposed on automated teller machines (ATMs) have…

Columnists and commentators who view themselves as Democratic Party supporters are in an uproar over George W. Bush signing the Congressional repeal of the ergonomics rule. This OSHA regulation is designed to urge and press employers to reduce repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. There are over one and a half million such…

When a new Administration comes to Washington, the media devotes a lot of resources to coverage of appointees to Cabinet-level positions. The American public quickly gets a pretty good idea about who theseofficials are, what they have done and what they might do as key members of an incoming Administration. Unfortunately, this same media scrutiny…

Sometimes, you can’t tell the Washington players by the color of their jerseys. For decades, the Republicans have laid claim to the title as the “tough on crime” party. Now, a report issued by the Justice Policy Institute finds it’s not the Republicans, but the Democrats’ recently departed President Clinton who has title to what…