In the Public Interest

Nashville, TN — Here in the heart of country music land, the nation’s insurance and hospital lobby is testing out a new tune of privilege in the form of Senate Bill 2283. Under the pretense of encouraging these companies to obey the law, this proposed legislation would shield a mass of internal documents from the…

It is annual bonus time on Wall Street. The Washington Post reports that these staggering bonuses paid to brokers and executives are viewed even by those who receive them as “absurd” and “outrageously” large. There is so much surplus money around that, the Post says, that “$10 million apartments in Manhattan, $3 million beach houses…

In a recent New York Times column, Frank Rich bemoaned the absence in public life of anyone who has the “standing to lead us to judgment of him?” (meaning Clinton and his current personal imbroglio). Rich ticked off established names in the press, politics, celebrity clergy, who no longer qualify for a variety of tarnished…

The release by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) of shocking documents by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco company that focused on the youth market for cigarette addiction again teaches groups too willing to settle for too less with this industry that political momentum and public opinion are still growing. Every month, the tobacco companies are losing ground in…

The availability of bank credit and services is the life blood of local communities. When banks curtail loans to small businesses, homeowners and development and housing projects, neighborhoods can deteriorate rapidly. That’s why community groups are concerned when big multi-state banks announce plans for mergers and acquisitions. It means less competition and the potential for…

In the pantheon of 20th Century American leaders, Esther Peterson, who passed away Saturday at the age of 91, occupied a uniquely versatile place. Few if any individuals made so many significant contributions for so long on behalf of workers, consumers and women in so many diverse arenas-including government, civic and business. Her range included…

I could scarcely believe the huge headline in the movie section of the December 7th New York Times. The full page ad screamed “12 DAYS TILL CHRIS-MOUSE.” Below it was the head of a little rat leaning over a dark wall on which was emblazoned the title of the movie — Mouse Hunt, now playing…

A relative of mine, who has young children, asked me recently to give her a list of “attributes and talents” that her offspring should possess before they reach the age of eighteen. Here are my suggestions: 1. They should understand why they should respect their parents who spend much time nurturing, teaching and loving them.…

The business pages are full of stories about people’s socialism (taxpayers) coming to the rescue of imploding corporate capitalism. Stock markets in Asia and North America go up when government ministers and potentates at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicate taxpayer bailouts are on the way. Just in the past three weeks, the Japanese government…

He was unusual from the start — Ralf Hotchkiss — wheelchair liberator for the world. I first met Ralf at Oberlin College over 25 years ago where he was majoring in physics and moving about the campus in a wheelchair after a bicycle accident rendered him a paraplegic in high school. After graduation he came…