In the Public Interest

Last January, Jimmy Carter said, “I would like to be known as the foremost protector of consumers.” Well, he now has a Presidential opportunity to defend the health, safety and economic rights of the biggest group in America from the ravages of monopoly, market chicanery, product hazards and the corporate-indentured agencies of government. Based on…

In any analysis of the recent election returns, the burgeoning importance of issues being decided by direct popular vote — the other elections, they might be called — deserves more than passing notice. For these referenda on consum­er, tax, environmental, spending, ener­gy and government disclosure subjects reflect the growing maturity of the citi­zen action movement.…

LONDON — A profile in political courage may be emerging from Britain in the form of Mr. Tony Benn, the United Kingdom’s Minister for Energy. The issue is whether Britain should initiate its commercial fast breeder reactor program or proceed with a national debate over this risk-laden technology with full disclosure of information by the…

The notice was on the letterhead of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW). It read: “Asbestos: The Deadly Killer,” followed by these words — “We invite you to a screening of a slide show explaining asbestos — its dangers and what workers can do .to protect themselves. Thurs., Oct. 14, 1976, Conference Room,…

Congress has been taking its lumps lately in the polls and in the political campaigns. Much of this criticism is deserved. But it should not obscure the very fine work done by individual members of Congress. Now that the current session has ended it is time to note a few exam­ples: 1. REP. TOM HARKIN,…

Mike Horrocks is a patient man. He has to be. For as the major domo of our Public Citizen Forum, he invites high government officials to appear and then waits for their response. He invited Jimmy Carter and after some waiting the Democrats’ candidate came, spoke and answered questions at the Forum on August 9.…

It was the picture that was worth a thousand words. There was our Vice-President giving the finger to some hecklers at a Binghamton, New York, rally for Robert Dole. It was the finger that received the publicity, largely due to some very quick photographers, but it was the facial expression of Nelson Rockefeller that seemed…

There are over 100,000 law students currently in the nation’s law schools but few can experience what less than 400 law students go through at the Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. The first two weeks of law school are spent living with families in Washington’s slums to get a feel for the poor…

The papers are heavy these days with reports of corporate crimes and other derelictions. Members of Congress in public and in private are more and more troubled with the unchecked power of corpo­rations to ravage the political, economic and envi­ronmental rights of citizens. Even some who call themselves conservatives are troubled by the growing gap…

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — “Imag­ine having to go to Washington to ob­tain reports about Canadian meat plants that our government holds se­cret from its own people.” This was the astonished reaction by a participant to remarks made at a spirited conference on freedom of information versus government secrecy, during the Canadian Bar Association’s annual convention. There…