In the Public Interest

Voters, according to the national polls, are not being stirred by any of the presidential candidates. But one significant shift is showing up in political reports from several industrial states: More blue-collar workers are listening to the Ronald Reagan rhetoric and liking it. This phenomenon—observed eight years ago on the Wallace campaign—should concern organized labor.…

On March 14, 1980, John Swearingen, chairman of the board of Standard Oil of Indiana (AMOCO), had this exchange on the Phil Donahue show: Donahue: You know, one of the biggest misgivings people have, I think, about the oil companies is that you appear to make more money every time OPEC raises its price. You…

CLAIRFIELD, Tenn.—Amid the Cumberland Mountains, with much rural land and few rural people, the hunger is for land. Shelby York, a self-styled old-timer working with a community development group, says that people here see land as more valuable than money. The difficulty is that most of the land is owned by coal or land corporations…

General Motors’ top bosses, Thomas Murphy and “Pete” Estes, could save a million lives and prevent millions of serious injuries worldwide in the next 30 years. This preservation of life and limb is long overdue. Many highway casualty losses in the ’70s could have been averted if GM had put air bags on all its…

As the consumer drive to deregulate the trucking cartel builds momentum in Congress, it is useful to inquire who is supporting continued regulation. Ronald Reagan, John Connally, General Motors and, of course, the American Trucking Association favor the 45-year-old Inter­state Commerce Commission’s regula­tory maze which prohibits price competition and restricts entry into the huge non-agricultural…

CHICAGO, ILL.–George Travers of Commonwealth Edison Co.–the utility industry’s most prolific operator of nuclear plants–believes the anti-nuclear opposition in the Midwest has become more intense. He should know. His job is to represent his boss, James O’Connor, at public meetings where indignant citizens ask him hard questions. (O’Connor prefers to hobnob with Chicago’s leading politicos…

Sir Isaac Newton watched the falling apple and his observation made scientific history. A young pilot lay in the hospital in 1917 recovering from a mid-air collision with another pilot training over Texas. He, too, thought about his fallen Jenny and how he managed to survive a downward spin from 500 feet with only two…

Washington, D.C.–With bluster and paranoia, the lobbyists at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce across from Lafayette Square are grinding out background memos alerting their members to the latest cataclysmic event in their Chamber Of Horrors. It’s Big Business Day, April 17, 1980–a national teach-in on the powers, abuses and needed reforms of the giant multinational…

It was a rare scene but it may be just the beginning. A group of small business firms convened a press conference at the Capitol recently to charge Big Business with using industry standards and certifications to block innovative and less-expensive products. Sponsored by Reps. James M. Shannon, D-Mass., and Robert T. Matsui, D-Calif., the…

These are political election times and candidates are looking for formulas that work with the voters and count with the money backs at the same time. There is a feeling among too many incumbents and challengers that public mood and private money have to be captured simultaneously to win at the polls. The Proxmire model…