Common Cause Magazine articles from December 1992

Common Cause Magazine archives from December 1992

Id, ego and the electorate. (Journal of Psychohistory election 1992 issue)
December 22, 1992... Think of America as a family. A big family. A big, dysfunctional family choking back waves of free-floating anger and resentment as it elects a president. Just when you thought the presidential campaign couldn't possibly be parsed by...

Easy for you to say. (health care reform in Congress)
December 22, 1992... Quietly, House and Senate conferees killed a package of minor health care insurance reforms just before Congress adjourned for 1992. The continuing gridlock might be bad news for the 40 million Americans who have no medical insurance. But not...

Bad reception. (massive U.S. propaganda radio relay station planned in Israel)
December 22, 1992... Another Cold War invention lives on: A U.S. government panel headed by capitalist scion Malcolm Forbes Jr. is pushing hard to build a massive, $300 million radio relay station in Israel's Negev Desert to broadcast prodemocracy propaganda. ...

How it's done. (tobacco industry hardball lobbying tactics)
December 22, 1992... Ever wonder how the tobacco industry manages to block smoking restrictions, hold down cigarette taxes and weaken laws limiting tobacco sales to children? A package of internal documents from Philip Morris USA, obtained and released by the...

Staking a claim: Washington's influence industry invests in change.
December 22, 1992... It's always good business to invest in the future. This year, with 99 open seats in the House and Senate, it was also smart politics. Some political action committees (PACs) marked the "year of the outsider" by funneling extra money to...

Democrats play the soft money game.
December 22, 1992... Given the number of $100,000-plus donors that helped to Gbankroll his victory, President-elect Bill Clinton faces the same question that dogged President Bush: What will his administration do when its major benefactors come calling? By the...

The year of the woman's wallet. (election fundraising in 1992)
December 22, 1992... Like millions of others across the country, two Denver women decided in September to actively support a presidential candidate for the first time. Unlike many others, they announced their arrival in a big way. In a two-page letter that...

Whatever happened to Toby Moffett? (ex-reform Congressman now a lobbyist) (Interview)
December 22, 1992... Eighteen years ago he came to Washington to change the system. Now he's part of it. A smooth, smartly dressed lobbyist is making a passionate pitch to Rep. William Hughes (D-N.J.) for a special break for his corporate client. The lobbyist...

Biting the bullet. (crime policy - Washington, D.C. police chief Isaac Fulwood, Jr.) (Cover Story)
December 22, 1992... For some people it's the fear that does it: a reluctance to go out after dark, a constant tendency to glance back, a lump in the throat as the children go off to school. They may not call it fear; they might talk about taking precautionary...

We're outta here! (modern political secession movements in the U.S.)(includes related article)
December 22, 1992... From the redwood forests to Staten Islands, America suffers from separation anxiety. Ulysses, Kan., population 4,800, is no hotbed of radical politics. Its civic center, a fluorescent-lit, folding-chair kind of place, isn't Independence...

In Common: anti-corruption campaign demonstrates power of grassroots action. (Common Cause)
December 22, 1992... The Common Cause Anti-Corruption Campaign proved to be a powerful presence in this year's congressional campaigns. Thousands of CC members, together with state and national volunteers and staff, combined forces to mount a grassroots...

In the states: lobbyists descend on the statehouse. (Common Cause state-level monitoring successes)
December 22, 1992... This fall independent presidential candidate Ross Perot vowed to send congressional lobbyists into permanent retirement - as exhibits at the Smithsonian. "We're going to get rid of them, and the Congress will be listening to the people," he...

From campaign pledges to political action. (campaign finance reform) (Column)
December 22, 1992... Campaign finance reform is a national priority. The 1992 national election provides die most powerful mandate for cleaning up the system in Washington since the 1974 post-Watergate election. For the first time in 12 years, we will have a...