In the Public Interest

The sneaky and craven Commandante of California, more euphemistically known as California Governor, Pete Wilson, revealed once again a deplorable phenomenon in the body politic; a Governor can be cruel and vicious in his vetoes and the citizenry, that is overwhelmingly in disagreement, feels that nothing can be mounted against such outrages. Our country has…

For years consumer and community groups have teamed up with progressive members of Congress to push for the establishment of “lifeline” banking accounts that would provide low-income families with basic banking services on affordable terms. Invariably, the pro-bank majorities have been able to sidetrack the proposals. Last year Congress passed legislation requiring that all government…

If you ever wondered to what limits of cruelty and greed the Republicans, who control the money committees in Congress, will go, consider the latest display of viciousness. Fresh from raising their own pay and using your billions of tax dollars to build more flawed B-2 bombers that even the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff…

The irradiated food lobby’s response to the wide media coverage of Hudson Food’s recent recall of 25,000,000 pounds of meat associated with the deadly E.coli bacteria reminds me of a television ad years ago for a deodorant. The ad’s underlying message was why wash it when you can spray it. So the irradiation lobby wants…

President Clinton’s call this past week for sweeping tobacco legislation is a half-hearted attempt to fix a fundamentally flawed deal. The state attorneys general deal, announced last June, gave the industry effective immunity from lawsuits for their past and future conduct—as well as a diminution in Food and Drug Administration authority and other benefits—in exchange…

Having experienced unprecedented reversals in the regulatory arena, the courts and the court of public opinion, Big Tobacco is seeking to escape from unbounded liability for the massive damage it has inflicted on human health and from anticipated new regulatory and legislative initiatives. As always, the tobacco companies’ forum of choice is a closed backroom.…

Big banks are rolling in record profits, branching interstate, gobbling up competitors, grabbing for new powers from the regulators and lobbying the Congress for even more of the nation’s economic pie. Rarely have those at the top of the banking heap had it so good. For the customers of these financial giants it is a…

In the mid-1700s, commerce along the Virginia waterfront -­across from what would become the nation’s capital– depended heavily on the Potomac River. By the 1800s, busy wharves and shipyards lined the river banks in Alexandria, Virginia. Today, most of that activity has been supplanted by speedier forms of transportation and little evidence is left of…

Knoll Pharmaceutical Co. has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that charged the company with trying to suppress research showing its prescription drug Synthroid was no better than cheaper nonprescription thyroid drugs. Knoll said it would pay $135 million to patients who file claims under the procedure. What if there are millions of dollars…

One of the most obscure pieces of legislation in the last Congress–an amendment to the Federal Financial Management Act–is about to have a huge impact on the nation’s banking system and millions of unsuspecting consumers. When the amendment takes effect on January 1, 1999, the federal government will shut down its check writing machines and…