In the Public Interest

Campaign advisers to Ronald Reagan reportedly are working to blur his extremist right-wing image. The pres­idential candidate is not helping that much, judging by his recent widely publicized comments urging the revoca­tion of life-saving auto-safety stand­ards. Soon, they may be grappling with the image of Reagan’s brutishness. A few days before the Michigan primary, which…

“We’re sailing into somewhat uncharted waters for this summer by letting (airline) carriers decide how to price their product upward. But given the nation’s economic problems and already-high air fares, I don’t feel the carriers will abuse consumers.” With those words, Marvin S. Cohen, chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), announced with his fellow…

One of the most interesting consequences of the recent Big Business Day was the reaction to it by corporation and trade association officials. First, these groups refused all invitations to discuss the role of Big Business in this country. Along with civil rights leader James Farmer and William Hutton of the National Council of Senior…

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…