In the Public Interest

Traffic jams are like ocean waves; they come in various sizes. The one that clogged together on the afternoon of October 7th, the Friday before Columbus Day weekend, near Boston’s Logan airport can be compared to a tidal wave. I know because I was there, starting at 3:30 p.m. After two hours and forty minutes,…

Once again, Congress has proven to the nation it is incapable of reforming itself. The demise of both the lobby reform bill and the campaign finance bill highlight the fact that politicians, left to their own devices, can not be relied upon to end the corrupting role that special interest money plays in undermining our…

With all its customary problems, Congress has a new one — it cannot get anything of consequence done and can scarcely use its public hearing function to highlight what should be done. This paralysis is called gridlock and some old Washingtonian hands have urged scrapping our separation of powers government and amend the constitution to…

Question: When does President Clinton really become a tiger on the back of Congress? When getting health insurance reform through the legislature? When getting labor law reform through Capital Hill? When getting campaign finance reform through the national legislature? Legislation for the people that is being blocked? Oh, not at all. He becomes the Arkansas…

The Hearing room in the Senate Office Building had plenty of empty seats. At the press table that day (September 19, 1994) there were no reporters from the New York Times, the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal. After all, the Hearing, chaired by Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH) only dealt with the exploitation and…

The 32 member Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform, chaired by Senators Bob Kerrey (D-NB) and John Danforth (R-MO) had its first public hearing a few days ago to see where and how to cut social security, medicare, medicaid, food stamps and veterans benefits. No one mentioned the three taboos. The Senators were self-righteous…

The Washington-Wall Street ballyhoo of early results under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is underway in a big way. From press releases to dutiful business writers and columnists to cartoons, the story is that all three nations — the U.S., Mexico and Canada are reaping the benefits of expanded trade. Wait a minute!…

Labor Day has come and gone. For most people it represents a day off. For most merchants it represents a day of sales for more selling. But Holidays, especially national ones, were usually established for remembrance as well. Labor Day, in this regard, is being shortchanged. The nation’s labor confederation, the AFL-CIO, headquartered in Washington,…

A None of the Above (NOTA) line on the ballot — is a proper and long overdue expansion of voting choice at a time when citizens are staying away from the polls in droves because of their disgust, distrust, despair and disillusionment with tweedledum–tweedledee politics. Presently, from forty to eighty percent of eligible voters, depending…

This past May the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the genetically engineered “Flavr Savr tomato” by the Calgene Corporation. This tomato, marketed under the brand name “MacGregor’s,” cost $95 million in research and development to isolate and reverse a gene to delay its ripening by five extra days on the vine while maintaining its…