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Testimony of Ralph NaderBefore the Committees on Finance and Revenue, and Economic DevelopmentDistrict of Columbia City CouncilNovember 28, 2005 Members of the Joint Committees, thank you for giving me the opportunity to present testimony. I would ask that my testimony be made part of the official record of this hearing. Last year in the District,…

Do new technologies trump power and decentralize it as some technophiles believe? Not if repressive power gets there first. Here are three examples from the federal government where either corporate or political power has blocked technology from helping you assess your elected Representatives and receive a more efficient government. 1. Log onto the website of…

S.3143 Consumer and Shareholder Protection Association Act of 2002 (Introduced in Senate) October 17, 2002 Mr. WELLSTONE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To provide for the establishment of the Consumer and Shareholder Protection Association, and for other purposes. Be it…

Corporate scandals, the threat of war in the Middle East and a sagging stock market are squeezing the flow of funds from foundations and other charitable donors across the nation. As a result, many worthwhile non-profit enterprises that depend on the generosity of these donors for survival are facing perilous times. One of these organizations…

Dear Senator: Even as veteran observers of the Congressional appropriations process, we are shocked, and outraged, by the provision in the Defense Appropriations bill that would have the Air Force lease Boeing 767s at a price dramatically higher than the cost of direct purchase. We are writing to urge you to take to the floor…

Richard A. Grasso, chairman and chief executive officer of the New York Stock Exchange and his merry band of traders must believe that Robin Hood had it all wrong. Grasso and company want to take from the working families, small business people and the other taxpayers of New York and give to the wealthy investors…

STEP BACK FOR a moment and contemplate what corporate hucksters are doing to American childhood. Bypassing the parents, these companies brazenly market directly to children, starting at age two. These marketeers (with the advice of the child psychologists on their payroll) wrap these youngsters in a commercial cocoon for an average of 30 hours a…

Privacy is high on the list of rights Americans cherish. Now, the right to our privacy — like many of those rights we take for granted — is at risk. Federal agencies, led by the Federal Reserve Board, have proposed a “Know Your Customer” regulation that would require banks to monitor their customers’ accounts, presumably…

Social Security places government in one of its noblest roles: as an institution that offers a bedrock financial guarantee to all members of society that they need not fear the financial consequences of growing old or disabled. That’s quite the opposite of the U.S. government’s all too familiar role as a provider of corporate welfare,…

Desperately seeking to find an issue that puts President Clinton on the defensive, Senator Robert Dole wants to repeal the 4.3-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax that was enacted in 1993. Desperately determined never to let his Republican opponent outflank him from the right, Mr. Clinton is willing to go along — kinda that is. This is what…