OUCH!

OUCH!

• OUCH! #135 CAN MONEY IN POLITICS KILL YOU?- Can money in politics kill you?
• OUCH! #1 Keeping Students' Interest: Money in politics can make your student loans cost more- Right now, Congress is figuring out how much extra it’s going to cost students and taxpayers to pay for college, because private banks don’t want the government to lower the interest ra
• OUCH! #3 A REAL 'LEMON' OF A LAW- Members of Congress and used-car salesmen. It's not clear which group is more mistrusted by Americans for all their devious practices. But, believe it or not, now they're combining forces!
• OUCH! #5 CONTAMINATING THE LAW- Remember the old adage about not wanting to see how sausage--or legislation--is really made? What happens when the people who make sausage also make legislation?
• OUCH #6 THE FAVORED FIVE PERCENT- Just under five percent of the public makes $100,000 a year or more, according to the I.R.S.
• OUCH! #7 "WE'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!"- What Congress giveth, Congress also taketh away. Especially when Congress has a popular piece of legislation to move AND big campaign contributors are concerned.
• OUCH! #9 THE PAJAMA GAME- What matters more to this Congress--pajama safety standards that have saved dozens of children from deadly burns over the past 25 years or the generous campaign contributions made by the cotton ind
• OUCH! #10 FAST CASH- Imagine stopping at the ATM at your local gas station late at night to get $20 to pick up diapers or milk and being hit by an extra charge of $3.90 because you're not at your local bank.
• OUCH! #11 NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT- It's the fall classic. Congress is rushing to adjourn so members can rush home to campaign for re-election.
• OUCH! #12 SENIORS PAY MORE FOR MEDICINE- In the back-room bargaining over Congress' $500 billion omnibus spending bill, one large group of average citizens--the more than 200,000 senior and disabled citizens enrolled in Medicare HMOs in t
• OUCH! #13 NEWT'S FRIENDLY SKIES- Call it Newt Gingrich's parting gift to the special interests.
• OUCH! #14 BUDDY, CAN YOU SPARE A BILLION?- Every year, the average American taxpayer shells out more than $1000 in federal income taxes so the government can keep some very important taxpayers on welfare.
• OUCH! #15 REAP WHAT YOU SOW- Three years ago, Congress adopted the "Freedom to Farm Act," phasing out the system of commodity price supports and acreage set-asides that has protected the nation's farmers from the vag
• OUCH! #16 Rx: REFORM- Should Medicare cover the cost of prescription drugs?
• OUCH! #17 THE CABLE GUYS- Remember the Telecommunications Act of 1996?
• OUCH! #18 TWISTED ARMS AND BACK SLAPS- Every year, approximately 650,000 Americans get hurt on the job--not from accidents and related hazards--but from the simple physical demands of their work.
• OUCH! #19 MOVE ON, BUT NOT TO THIS!- It's almost enough to make you wish they were still stuck on impeachment. But when congressional leaders said they were going to get back to business, they must have meant it.
• OUCH! #20 LET THEM EAT (ORGANICALLY GROWN) CAKE- It's been three years since Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act, but the Environmental Protection Agency still has yet to take steps to reduce pesticide use and protect children, who ar
• OUCH! #21 JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THE 'LOOTING DECADE' WAS OVER...- "Suppose you go to Washington and try to get at your government," Woodrow Wilson said back in 1912 when he was running for President.
• OUCH! #22 GUNS AND MONEY- It's hard to find an issue where public opinion and organized money are more starkly opposed than guns.
• OUCH! #23 WHO PAYS FOR Y2K?- Y2CARE
• OUCH! #24 Get Your Peanuts, at Extra Cost- NUTS TO YOU
• OUCH! #25 Al Gore, AIDS Drugs and Pharmaceutical Money- GORE'S PATENTED MONEY MOVES
• OUCH! #26 Is it Hot Enough for You?- HEAVY WEATHER AND LIGHT TRUCKS
• OUCH! #27 Who's Left Out of Health Care Reform?- NOT COVERED
• OUCH! #28 Meals and Entertainment Provided by Uncle Sam- HAVE ANOTHER MARTINI, ON US!
• OUCH! #29 Chemical Industry Keeps You in the Dark- IGNORANCE IS BLISS
• OUCH! #30 Bankruptcy Deform- "PAGES AND PAGES AND PAGES OF ADVANTAGES..."
• OUCH! #31 Dangerous Drugs Approved by the FDA- RECKLESS DISREGARD
• OUCH! #32 Special Interests Need a Raise?- MINIMUM WAGE, MAXIMUM GALL
• OUCH! #33 In Mega-Banks We Trust- BRAVE NEW WORLD
• OUCH! #34 Digital Signatures and Old-fashioned Scams- JUST SIGN ON THE ELECTRONIC LINE
• OUCH! #35 Your Thanksgiving Holiday- STUFFING THEMSELVES AT OUR EXPENSE
• OUCH! #36 Who's Voice Matters on Trade- TRADING PLACES
• OUCH! #37 McCain's Money Mess and You- THE BUSINESS OF CONGRESS
• OUCH! #38 Bush Follows the Money- If you've ever doubted that campaign contributions buy influence with politicians, check out this revealing fact, uncovered by Michael Isikoff in Newsweek: George W.
• OUCH! #39 Corruption Perception Index, NH-style- NEW FEATURE: The Corruption Perception Index
• OUCH! #40 $75 billion for some, 33 cents for others- A snapshot of the Senate at work: Last week, this august body, which has at least ten times as many millionaires as their proportion in the general population, voted
• Corruption Perception Index CPI #2
• OUCH! #42 Patients rights vs Insurers money- INSURANCE ASSURANCE
• CPI #3- Amount of miles 90-year-old great-grandmother Doris `Granny D' Haddock walked per day during her trek across the country to raise attention
• OUCH! #44 The Drug War's Misguided Priorities- ADDICTED TO CASH
• CPI #4- Average number of young people in the U.S.
• CPI #4- Ratio of extreme weather related disasters worldwide, 1990s versus 1950s, a probable result of global warming: 5:1.1
• OUCH! #47 Who Dodges the I.R.S?- Worried about getting audited, now that you've filed your tax returns?
• CPI #6- Percent of Americans who believe Elian Gonzalez’s father should be granted permanent custody of the six-year-old boy: 76.1Contributions f
• OUCH! #49 MILLIONS OF CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS MARCH ON WASHINGTON- Close to a million moms marched on Washington and other cities this Mothers Day, demanding sensible legislation out of Congress on the issue of gun safety.
• CPI #7- Number of new roller coasters opening nationwide this summer: 41.1 Number of roller coasters at permanent amus
• OUCH! #51 CONGRESSIONAL CANDYLAND- You've heard of sweet-talking politicians. How about sweet-taking pols?
• CPI #8- Increase in campaign fundraising by congressional candidates for the 2000 elections over fundraising for the same time period in the 1998 elections: 37 percent.1
• OUCH! #53 THE REAL DRUG CZARS- Americans pay up to twice as much for the same drugs sold in other countries, including Canada.
• CPI #9- Pharmaceutical industry’s profit margin in 1999: 18.6%.1 Fortune 500 median profit ma
• OUCH! #55 THE VIEW FROM THE SKY-BOX- Now that the corporate sponsors of the Republican convention have packed up their trade show and are moving it over to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles, it i
• CPI #10- Number of times Governor George W.
• OUCH! #57 BIG BANKS ON CAMPUS- Off to college? Or just wondering how you're going to pay for your kid's degree?
• CPI #11, Political Olympics- Pole Vault. Most campaign cash given to self, vaulting candidate into contention: Jon Corzine, Democratic Senate candidate, NJ: $33 million.
• OUCH! #59 TIRED OF THIS?- About two weeks after his three-year-old son, Nicholas, died after being thrown from his car seat in a Ford Explorer that rolled over three times after a tire blew o
• CPI #12, Soft Promises- Date that Time Warner announced that the company would no longer make soft money contributions to the political parties: 11/17/99.
• OUCH! #61 THE BEST CONGRESS MONEY CAN BUY- Members of Congress shrugged their shoulders and procrastinated this week, putting off tough budget and tax decisions until after Tuesday’s elections.
• OUCH! #62 BUY-PARTISANSHIP, ALIVE AND WELL- While the nation's attention has been riveted on the presidential vote recount in Florida, on November 15th President Bill Clinton quietly signed a new law that mean
• OUCH! #63 MONEY VOTES EVERY DAY- In those first days after the November 7 election, when Floridians were getting a quick lesson in their unreliable ballot-counting system, Florida Secretary of State
• CPI #13, Bush's Payback Time- Expected price tag for Bush-Cheney inauguration: $30 million.1 Portion coming from private contributions: 100%.
• OUCH! #65 TRUST THE AIRLINES?- Remember back a few weeks to the holiday season, when you and millions of other Americans shared the joy of digging deep to pay for airline tickets to visit family?
• OUCH! #66 OF PARDONS AND PRISONS- America, the land of the free, imprisons more people per capita than any other country in the world.
• CPI #14, California Power Lines- Which direction California’s 1996 electricity deregulation law was supposed to make consumers’ costs go: down.
• OUCH! #68 Tax Cuts for Campaign Contributors- Yesterday President George W.
• OUCH! #69 BANKRUPTCY DEFORM REDUX Putting Credit Card Companies First- With all the great issues pressing the nation -- a slowing economy, concern about the solvency of Medicare and social security, 40 million people lacking health insu
• CPI #15, Oily Math- Percentage of Sen. Frank Murkowski’s (R-AK) campaign funds that come from the energy industry: 37.
• OUCH! #71 In Their Own Interest- During the first week of debate on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill, the Senate voted to protect themselves from multi-millionaires
• CPI #16, DeLay-style Delay- How much the 2000 elections cost: $3 billion.
• OUCH! #73 BUDGET ECLIPSE Solar, Wind & Other Alternative Energy Research Slashed-
• CPI #17, Time is Money- How much of their campaigning time one out of four candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives spend fundraising: 50%+.
• OUCH! #75 DEFENSE BONANZA Missile Defense Shield Means Billions for Contractors- Defense campaign contributors, start lining up, hands out. President George W. Bush announced in a speech last week that the U.S.
• OUCH! #76 BUSH AND HIS MERRY MEN- On Tuesday night May 22nd, in Washington, DC, the Republican National Committee held a "Presidential Gala," featuring George W.
• CPI #18, Who Gives, Who Gets- Average after-tax income of the poorest 20% of all American households in 1979: $10,900 (in 1997 dollars) 1 Average after-tax inco
• OUCH! #78 STOP AND HURRY UP Bush's Stalls and Speeds- Just days after admitting that global warming is a real threat, President Bush announced that he was committed to ... studying the issue further.
• CPI #19, Fresh Polls- Percentage of the public that thinks politicians often do special favors for people and groups who give them campaign contributions: 80%
• OUCH! #80 RISKY BUSINESS Who's Watching Out for You?- Regulating use of cellular phones by drivers would be too costly, concludes a study by Harvard’s Center for Risk Analysis (HCRA)...funded with, ahem, $300,000
• CPI #20, And Justice for Some-   Average amount raised by winning candidates for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court in 1994: $287,000.
• OUCH! #82 TRAVELERS CHECKS- It's August, and vacation beckons.
• OUCH! #83- Dear OUCH! subscriber,
• OUCH! #84 THE AIRLINE BAILOUT- Eleven days after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Congress rushed through a $15 billion bailout of the airline industry.
• OUCH! #85 THE HIGH PRICE OF CIPRO- Today, a 60-day supply of Cipro, the anthrax-fighting antibiotic made by Bayer, would cost you just under $700.
• OUCH! #86 TAX CUTS STILL? SCURRILOUS SQUIRRELS- America is at war. The economy has been officially in a recession since March.
• OUCH! #87 READING BETWEEN THE LINES- This week, David Rosenbaum of The New York Times nailed the story. "Since Sept.
• OUCH! #88 WHAT GETS ON THE 'FAST TRACK' IN CONGRESS?- Should Congress hand over its power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations," under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, to the President so he can
• CPI #21 A HAPPY AND PALINDROMIC* NEW YEAR TO ALL FROM PUBLIC CAMPAIGN!- January 7, 2002· Example of a palindromic year: 2002. A palindromic Washington, DC zip code: 20002.
• OUCH! #91 THE ENRON SCANDAL- If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog, President Harry S. Truman once said.
• OUCH! #92 SHAFTING THE STATES?- In New York City, 30,000 homeless adults and children are currently seeking aid in city shelters on a daily basis--an all-time high.
• OUCH! #93 CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS GO FOR GOLD- The new three-and-a-half mile road connecting Utah Highway 167 to Snowbasin Ski Resort, venue for the 2002 Olympics' downhill and Super-G skiing events, looks ordina
• OUCH! #94 THE ENRON WHOPPERS- Over the last ten years, Enron Corp., its employees and their spouses, gave almost $6 million to federal parties and candidates, slightly more than half of that in s
• OUCH! #95 FUELING FEARS- Are you worried about global warming?
• OUCH! #96 REFORM OF NO ACCOUNT- If you thought that the Enron scandal might prompt Congress to stop playing patsy to wealthy special interests, consider how big money has skewed some of the big Enr
• CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX #22 POWER LINES- Number of top 100 Bush Administration officials who were either affiliated with or had professional/economic interests in the energy indust
• OUCH! #98 THE FARMER IN THE TILL- When the Senate voted on the farm bill last February, it included a cap of $275,000 for subsidy payments to individual farmers.
• CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX #23- Number of U.S.
• Ouch #100, CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX: WE'RE 100!- Size of fine Merrill Lynch, contributor of more than $2.3 million to federal candidates and parties since 1999, agreed to
• Ouch #101 WALL STREET WINNERS AND LOSERS- [Note: This one's a little longer than usual, for obvious reasons...]
• Ouch #102, A DOLLAR A DAY KEEPS RX REFORM AWAY- Last month President George W. Bush singled out a fellow American for his thanks in front of a crowd of 6,500. He didn’t thank him for his service to
• Ouch #103, FOOTING THE BILL- Imagine being a Member of Congress and having to sell the following bill of goods to your constituents while you’re home on August recess.