In the Public Interest

How can government and corporate officials become more sensitive to the an­guish, hopes, ideas and strengths of the people? This is one of the cardi­nal, age-old questions of justice and democracy, par­ticularly in a society where huge organizations are headed by remote, often inaccessible rulers with more power than they can responsibly use. It is…

How many times have you wondered how to find the best auto repair shops, plumbers, banks, health insurance, pharmacies, TV or appliance repair outlets, household movers, employ­ment agencies, nursing homes, hospital emergency rooms and other services in your community? Robert M. Krughoff also wondered, and two years ago he resigned his federal job in Washington…

The increasing corporate grip over some labor lead­ers is troubling consumer, environmental, health and tax reform groups. Big business strategists, exploiting the conditions of unemployment and utilizing a very accommodating White House, are using scare and divide-and-rule techniques as their major tactics. GEORGE MEANY, head of the AFL-CIO, recently demonstrated a confused perception of the…

“Tax reform” is a phrase that means all things to all people, especially in Wash­ington. To corporations, “tax re­form” means lower taxes and special loopholes al­legedly to give them more incentive to make money from consumers To the average taxpayer, “tax reform” means repeal­ing those loopholes and spe­cial provisions for the rich and powerful so…

The stage is set for a dramatic struggle between Gerald Ford and consumer forces in Congress over the price of energy in this country. As if to punctuate the onset of this “battle of the billions,” the giant oil companies’ recent price in­creases signaled the second lap in their drive for $1­per-gallon gasoline. President Ford’s…

Why can’t we buy can­ning jar lids? That’s the question asked by home canners around the country in letters that are flooding government agencies and consumer groups these days. G.A. Bell of Alexandria, Ky., writes to call “atten­tion to a situation which is putting an obstacle in the way of the home gardening program. This…

Mildred E. Hershner of upstate New York wants us to do something about law­yers. She, like many con­sumers, writes to complain about lawyers — their in­competence, their delays, their fees, or their deceit, as the particular case may be. These people express their feelings with indigna­tion and frequently lump to­gether all bar associations and all…

Hysterical Mike McCor­mack, the Democratic con­gressman and darling of the nuclear power industry, was at his most feverish pitch recently at a re­sources conference in We­natchee, Wash. Along with a salvo of McCarthyite accusations against critics of the giant energy utility corporations, he had this nonsense to say: “Reducing our imports by a million barrels…

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is not exactly a household phrase. But the technical codes and standards it develops for industry and government affect the pock­etbooks and safety of most consumers. THE ASME has issued standards for gas pipelines, boilers, plumbing, food and drug equipment, hoists and cranes and hundreds of other parts and…

It is time for the Congress to take on the Nixon-shaped Supreme Court before more doors to the courthouse are closed to all citizens and taxpayers except the rich and the super-rich. In a series of decisions over the past year, Chief Justice Warren Burger and a majority of his associates seem determined to reverse…