Special Features

The House bill too weakly regulates the huge derivatives market, the too-big-to-fail hazard, the executive compensation heist and fails to either provide greater power for shareholders or financial consumers. Reigning in the private credit rating agencies is so weak as to permit substantial continuations of these Wall Street rubber stamps of securities. Moreover the legislation…

November 24, 2009 The Honorable Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, Every year, over 40,000 people die on the highways in our country. About 58,000 workers perish due to workplace-related diseases and trauma. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Occupational Safety and Health…

Among Senator Ted Kennedy’s many accomplishments in the U.S. Senate was a little-heralded but critical boost he gave to the Freedom of Information legislation in 1974. At a time when the opposition to this key bill was in need of a countervailing champion, we visited Senator Kennedy, had a very substantive meeting and secured his…

August 5, 2009 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama, We are writing again to urge you to restore the obliterated rights of victims of defective GM and Chrysler cars. Our earlier letter of July 14 has received no reply. The bankruptcy process for GM and…

Dear President Obama and Mr. Henderson, We are writing to follow up on our letter of May 26. We wish to reiterate our overriding message: Before any irreversible moves are made — including, especially, entrance into voluntary bankruptcy — the GM/task force reorganization plan should be submitted to Congress for deliberative review and decision. We…

May 26, 2009 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Fax: 202-456-2461 Mr. Frederick Henderson General Motors Corporation 300 Renaissance Center Detroit, MI 48243 Fax: 815-282-6156 Dear President Obama and Mr. Henderson, There is no question that the reorganization of General Motors, after decades of managerial failure and amidst…

MEMORANDUM GM DEAL REQUIRES CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW BEFORE BANKRUPTCY FILING TO: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader John Boehner, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Lamar S. Smith, Rep. William Delahunt FROM: Ralph Nader, Sidney Wolfe, Acting President, Public Citizen, Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director, Center for Auto Safety, Robert Weissman, Director,…

May 18, 2009 Senator Chris Dodd U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 448 Russell Building Washington, DC 20510 Congressman Barney Frank House Committee on Financial Services 2252 Rayburn H.O.B. Washington, DC 20515 Dear Senator Dodd and Congressman Frank: The government-led restructuring of Chrysler and General Motors has been twice delegated — first…

January 30, 2009 Dear Mr. Limbaugh, The Associated Press reports your new contract with Premiere Radio Networks will enrich you with at least $38 million a year over the next eight years. You are making this money on the public property of the American people for which you pay no rent. You, Rush Limbaugh, are…

Dear Mr. President: We are writing to urge you to avoid the disregard for international legal obligations that condemned your predecessor. The issue concerns investigating or prosecuting torture. The United States ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT) in 1994. Article 12 of the CAT provides: “Each State Party shall ensure that its competent…