Ralph Nader's Blog, page 57

Letter to Airline CEOs

Dear Mr. CEO,



Most airlines treat unused non-refundable tickets with the fine print dictate of monetary confiscation after one year of issuance. That is, if a passenger buys a non-refundable ticket to somewhere and for some reason does not use that ticket to fly on the prescheduled date, she/he has one year to use it, adjust for any price changes and pay a $100-150 or so ticket change fee. After a year if the ticket is not used the dollar value of the ticket is kept by the airline. No refund.



Over the many years, during and after the paper ticket era, customers would throw their unused tickets in their drawer and either miss the one year deadline because they had no need to travel or forget about what and when they purchased their tickets.



The confiscated sum of monies retained by the airline industry because of this one year dictate must amount over time to billions of dollars.



Would you reveal how much you have kept or retained from these unused, non-refundable tickets for the years 2007, 2008, 2009? If you agree to do so publicly, it will have an added benefit to nudge your customers into being more time-sensitive with the ticket money they entrust to you.



If you do not agree to pull away the curtain of secrecy over these data, would you reveal these dollar amounts if significant shareholders, both institutional and individual, in your company were to make this request?



Thank you for your response.



Sincerely yours,

Ralph Nader

Congressional Tyranny, White House Surrender

Paraphrasing Shakespeare, something is rotten in the state of Capitol Hill. A majority of Congress is just about to put the finishing touches on an amendment to the military budget authorization legislation that will finish off some critical American rights under our Constitution.
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Update Report #4 to

Our two representatives at the annual Cisco shareholders' meeting (December 7, 2011) at San Jose, California filed with this report:



CEO John Chambers declined to announce any increase in dividends or special dividends. He conditioned any consideration of dividend increases on the Congress and the President approving a tax holiday for the repatriation of Cisco profits parked overseas. He added that until they "get an answer on repatriation, it's hard to answer" what is the proper balance between acquisitions, buybacks, dividends and cash accumulation.
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Time to Save the Post Office

The battered national consensus behind a national universal postal service--conceived by Benjamin Franklin--is heading for a free fall due to bad management, corporate barracudas and a bevy of editors and reporters enamored with the supremacy of the Internet which makes up their world.


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Not Made in America

"Here, look at this handsome L.L. Bean catalog and tell me what you want for Christmas," said a relative over Thanksgiving weekend. I started leafing through the 88 page cornucopia with hundreds of clothing and household products, garnished by free gift cards and guaranteed free shipping. I wasn't perusing it for any suggested gifts; instead, I was going through every offering to see whether they were made in the U.S.A. or in other countries.



This is what I found: over 97 percent of all the items pictured and priced were noted "imported" by L.L. Bean. The only ones manufactured in the U.S. were fireplace gloves, an L.L. Bean jean belt, a dress chino belt, quilted faux-shearling-lined L.L. Bean boots (made in Maine), a personalized web collar and leash (for your pet), and symbolically enough, the "made in Maine using American-made cotton canvas are the Original Boat and Tote Bags" to carry all those goodies coming in from China and elsewhere.
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Let Them In!

By Ralph Nader

From New York City to Oakland, and several cities in between, the police, on orders from city officials, have smashed the Occupy encampments and evicted the protestors from public parks and spaces. More politicians from Congress to the state and local level want the Occupy people OUT!



Well, why don't they start letting them into the places where decisions are being made against their legitimate interests? Let them IN to:


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Letter to Members of the Congressional Super Committee

As the November 23rd deadline approaches for the "super committee" to find $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts over the next 10 years, I am writing to urge the members of the committee to consider options to cut government spending and raise revenue that extend beyond those typically discussed on Capitol Hill and in the media. Members of Congress - both Democrats and Republicans - often appear to be struggling to find deficit-cutting proposals that will either go far enough or attract bipartisan support. I have two proposals that should on the merits - absent the undue influence of special interests in our nation
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Repression Expands Resistance

From Oakland, California to New York City, the police, ordered by politicians, have smashed through Occupy encampments. Noted for their rigorous non-violence and orderly arrangements - tents with medical assistance, legal aid, libraries, media relations and sanitation controls - the Occupy protestors are being shoved out of their public places all over the country.



The Mayor of Oakland admitted to the BBC in an interview that mayors, police and other security officials have been in contact with each other regarding how to deal with the removal of the protestors, including an 18 mayor conference call she participated in recently.



The police power is always the first response to a mobilized citizen action that refuses to go away. Even a protest against corporate greed and governmental complicity shattering the economy and millions of livelihoods, which has widespread support by the American people, faces police intervention.


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Overcoming Corporatism

The organizers of the spreading Occupy initiative are taking their awareness and moral indignation right to corporate territory--Wall Street, the corporate lobbies in Washington, D.C. and their likes around the nation. The denizens of corporate territory have taken notice, with varying degrees of alarm, hoping that wintry weather will thin out the encampments.
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The Road to Twenty One Presidential Debates

What people would not want Presidential Debates in multiple cities all over America in September and October 2012? Why, the people at the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). CPD is a private corporation created in 1987. It is controlled by the Republican and Democratic Parties and acts as the iron gatekeeper regarding the number of debates, who is chosen to ask the questions and who is excluded from most important forums for reaching millions of people interested in the presidential elections.
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