By Ralph Nader Most heads of giant corporations are drunk with their own power. These corporate CEOs push the envelope in ways that harm defenseless people. They believe they can get away with anything, and they do, with few exceptions. The few corporate crime prosecutions keep declining from Obama to Trump to Biden, due to … Read more
By Ralph Nader Rick Claypool is a level-headed policy analyst and number-cruncher for Public Citizen, who is known for reporting the decline in corporate crime enforcement with each succeeding Presidency. (Biden less than Trump). His latest report (with Cheyenne Hunt) clearly shows him in an unusually agitated state. Its title is “Sorry in Advance!” Rapid … Read more
By Ralph Nader June 9, 2023 The pace of for-profit technological innovations is accelerating, but to what end beyond corporate sales? The gap between marketing new high-tech products and assessing their intended and unintended consequences has never been greater. Let’s start with the ballooning of augmented reality inside virtual reality. Facebook’s Oculus Rift escapism has … Read more
It is the season of annual shareholder meetings for giant corporations when CEOs go through the motions of elections for their Board of Directors and approval of other resolutions. People who own stock in General Motors (GM) receive the “GM Meeting Information” in an envelope emblazoned with this disingenuous message: “Your Voice/Your Vote/Be Heard. Every … Read more
By Ralph Nader May 10, 2023 Raising the federal debt limit over the years has secured unconditional routine Congressional passage and was endorsed by presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. After all, it allows the U.S. Treasury to pay past and existing bills, not expand future spending. Routine, that is, until the recent arrival of … Read more
By Ralph Nader April 28, 2023 Here is a letter that Steve Clifford and I sent to the CEO Tim Cook of Apple corporation, whose percentage of charitable giving relative to its taxable income is astoundingly low as compared to other corporations noted below. Apple should increase its charitable giving. April 24, 2023 Tim Cook, … Read more
By Ralph Nader April 14, 2023 Spring, the season of renewal, is here. The ants are diligently building their little symmetrical ant hills. The robins are in their nests occupied with posterity. And the anointed members of Congress, after a long recess, aka vacation, return to work on April 17th. The next day, April 18th … Read more
By Ralph Nader April 7, 2023 If there was a giant composite lawsuit against Donald J. Trump, for his over forty years of recurring criminal and civil violations, (while a corporate boss and politician) the only recourse for his lawyers would be to plead the insanity defense. Until this week, in a New York State … Read more
By Ralph Nader March 31, 2023 One measure of corporate power’s dominance is its 24/7 relentless, profit-driven capacity to strike back and prevail over reforms or other efforts designed to give the people voice and fairness. Here are some examples that should give us pause in touting civic victories: A few years ago, during lunch … Read more
By Ralph Nader March 27, 2023 To say that in any self-respecting society law professor Edgar S. Cahn (1935-2022) should have been a Supreme Court Justice and a nationally known public intellectual, who organized communities for justice, is simply to recognize his historic career in concrete American jurisprudence. He and his wife Jean Camper Cahn … Read more