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Unstoppable

Page 23

by Ralph Nader


  weaknesses of, 167–170

  Libertarian label

  voters’ definitions of, 36

  See also Labels, political

  Libertarians, political beliefs of, 13–14

  Libya, 33, 130

  Lieberman, Joseph, 52

  Limbaugh, Rush, 14, 169

  Lincoln, Abraham, 17, 186

  Lind, William, 55–56

  Lindsey, Brink, 183

  Lockheed Martin, 51, 72, 169

  Long, Huey, 140, 148

  Love Canal, New York, 114

  Lovins, Amory, 115

  Lowi, Theodore J., 87

  Luntz, Frank, 30–31

  “Myths About Conservative Voters,” 31

  MacArthur Foundation, 110

  Madison, James, 84, 88

  The Making of a Conservative Environmentalist (Durnil), 173

  Mankiw, N. Gregory, 78

  Marshall, John, 144

  Marx, Karl, 14

  McCain, John, 33, 44, 52

  McCain-Feingold Act, 44

  McCarthy, Daniel, 55–56

  McCarthy, Joseph, 30, 168

  McConnell, Mitch, 31, 125, 172, 179

  McDonald’s, 75, 122

  McGovern, James, 45–46

  McIntyre, Robert, 48

  McKinnon, Ronald, 31

  “The Conservative Case for a Wealth Tax,” 32

  Mead, Margaret, 118

  Means, Gardiner, 102

  Means, vs. goals, 68, 124–126

  Media, 191–192

  big media, 50

  and corporate welfare, 47

  Medical malpractice, 18

  Meese, Ed, 108

  Melville, Herman, 111

  Menger, Carl, 26

  Principles of Economics, 26

  Merrill Lynch, 103

  Meyer, Frank, 26, 27, 29

  Michigan Supreme Court, 62–63

  Microsoft, 90

  Mikulski, Barbara, 52, 62

  Militarism, wars, and the American empire, conference to end, 55–58

  Military budget, 50

  audit, 65, 71–72

  Military financial profligacy, 51

  Military-industrial complex, 9, 34, 51, 177

  Military policy, 34–35

  Military spending, 31

  Minimum-income plans, 170

  Minimum wage, 122

  in California, 63

  and link with inflation, 65, 75–76

  See also Wages

  Mises, Ludwig von, 14, 25, 26

  Human Action, 26

  mischaracterization of, 25–27

  Monks, Robert, 24, 102, 103, 104

  Monnet, Jean, 119

  Monsanto, 106

  Morehouse, Ward, 153

  Moral sentiments, 9

  Morgenson, Gretchen, 77

  Motivation, 191

  Mountaintop removal, 114

  Moynihan, Daniel P., 170

  Muir, John, 112

  Murkowski, Lisa, 43–44

  “Myths About Conservative Voters” (Luntz), 31

  NAACP. See National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

  NAFTA. See North American Free Trade Agreement

  Napolitano, Andrew, 122–123

  It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong, 122–123

  Nation, 34

  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 108

  National Audubon Society, 2

  National Campaign to Reform State Juvenile Systems, 110

  National Commission on Intelligence and Foreign Wars, 93, 131

  National Criminal Justice Commission, 52–53

  National Journal, 1

  National Resources Defense Council, 2

  National Review, 14, 165

  National Rifle Association (NRA), 50

  National Security Agency (NSA), 89, 93

  National Taxpayers Union, 2

  Natural gas fracking, 114

  Neoconservatives

  versus conservatives, 174–177

  and Iraq War, 178

  and war, unconstitutional, 33–34

  See also Conservatives

  New Deal, 140, 163, 171

  New England, 84

  New Left, 168

  New York Stock Exchange, 128

  New York Times, 30, 32, 47, 77, 103, 109, 131–132, 155, 169, 175

  Nixon, Richard, 1, 61, 103, 108, 112, 163, 165, 170

  Norquist, Grover, 6, 48, 129

  Norris, Floyd, 77

  North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 7, 61, 93–95, 174–175, 175–176

  NRA. See National Rifle Association

  NSA. See National Security Agency

  Nuclear power plants, 114

  Obama, Barack, 52, 73, 79, 89, 157

  and Libya, 130

  and war-declaration authority, 176

  Obama, Michelle, 117

  Obama administration, 45, 91

  “Obama’s Lawless War” (Will), 33

  Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 113

  Occupy Wall Street, 191

  OCM. See Organization for Competitive Markets

  O’Connor, Sandra Day, 134–137

  Odom, Howard, 92

  Oglesby, Carl, 55–56

  “On Buyouts, There Ought to Be a Law” (B. Stein), 103–104

  O’Neill, George D., Jr., 55, 56–57

  Open minds, 17

  Open Society Foundations, 108

  Opportunism, 8–9

  O’Reilly, Bill, 100

  Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), 10–11

  Organizations, convergence-only, 134, 184

  OSHA, 110

  Ostrolenk, Michael, 98

  Outsourcing, 174–175

  Owner-shareholders, empowerment of, 66, 102–105

  Pacific Gas and Electric case, 96–97

  Packers and Stockyards Act, 11

  Parenting.com, 96

  Patents, on life forms, 66, 105–106

  PATRIOT Act, 5, 12, 88–89, 127, 129

  Patriotism, corporate, 175

  Paul, Rand, 43, 92, 109

  Paul, Ron, 4, 50, 107, 116, 177

  Paulson, Henry, 73, 149

  Paulucci, Jeno F., 82

  Pentagon, 51

  Perle, Richard, 34

  Perry, Rick, 109

  Pfizer corporation, 63

  Phillips, John, 3–4

  Pinchot, Gifford, 112

  Pioneers, criticism of, 68

  Pitiless abstractness, 10, 17

  Pizza Hut, 122

  Planned Parenthood, 31

  Plutocracy, 140–141

  Poletown, Detroit, 62

  Political beliefs, 13–16

  Pollin, Robert, 55–56, 75

  Populist conservatives, 174

  liberals, and progressives, convergence of, 177–178

  See also Buchanan, Patrick J.; Conservatives

  Populists, 147

  “A Positive Program for Laissez Faire” (Simons), 162–163

  Powell, Colin, 132

  Powell, Lewis, 96–97

  Powerlessness, xii

  and Walmart workers, 17

  Preventive war, 176–177

  Price Anderson Act, 154–155

  Principles of Economics (Menger), 26

  Prins, Nomi, 102

  Prison-industrial complex, 52–53

  Prison reform, 52–53, 107–110

  Pro-Israeli government lobby, 34

  Procedural agreements, 60–63

  Procedural convergence, 66–67

  Progressive Policy Institute, 47, 48, 134

  Progressives, 168–169

  liberals, and populist conservatives, convergence of, 177–178

  Property ownership/rights

  versus control, 144–145, 154

  individual versus corporate, 147

  See also Land ownership, and farmers

  Property redistribution, 150–151

  Proposition 103 (California),
85

  Pryor, Mark, 52

  Public Citizen, 47

  Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, 2

  Public commons, 66, 99–100

  Public sentiment, 17

  Public treasury, fraud against, 3–4

  Public Welfare Foundation, 108

  Rand, Ayn, 14

  Rationalism, 15

  Rawe, John C., 142–143

  Raytheon, 51, 72

  Reagan, Ronald, 1, 10, 33, 38, 39–40, 54, 108, 124, 134, 170, 174, 176, 177, 189

  and air bag installation, 40

  and Clinch River Breeder Reactor project, 2

  and conservative label, 6, 76

  and corporate welfare, 49–50

  Reagan administration, 55

  Reassessing the Presidency, 27

  Reformers, contemporary, and lack of action, 152–154

  Regulatory capture, 24

  Rehnquist, William, 96–97

  Reid, Harry, 125

  Rejectionists, xi

  Republican Party, 12–13, 178–179

  hijacking of, 177

  libertarian-conservative wing of, 13

  Review of Austrian Economics, 162

  Ricardo, David, 26

  Rifkin, Jeremy, 105

  Robbins, Lionel, 26

  Rogers, Will, 53

  Romania, 4

  Romney, Mitt, 76

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 7, 140, 158, 159, 164, 167, 168, 171

  and New Deal, 140, 163

  Roosevelt, Theodore, 111–112

  Röpke, Wilhelm, 26, 27–28

  Rosen, Jeffrey, 32

  Rosenfield, Harvey, 84–85

  Ross, Donald K., 110

  Rothbard, Murray N., 26–27

  Rubin, Robert, 156–157

  Rumsfeld, Donald, 131

  Rural Electrification Administration, 142

  Rusher, William A., 165

  Ryan, Paul, 162

  Safety regulations, 28, 39–40. See also Air bag installation

  Samuelson, Paul, 176

  Sanger, Margaret, 31

  Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 96

  Santorum, Rick, 75–76

  Savage, Michael, 169

  Savings and loans crisis, 157

  Scaife, Richard, 31

  Schmoke, Kurt, 107

  Scholastic News, 41

  Schumer, Chuck, 20–21

  Schweizer, Peter, 8

  Science, 15

  Scowcroft, Brent, 92

  Scruton, Roger, 173–174

  How to Think Seriously About the Planet, 173–174

  Securities and Exchange Commission, 104–105

  Self-reliance, community, 66, 85–86

  Sessions, Jeff, 52

  Shallal, Andy, 183

  Shapiro, Edward S., 139–140, 141, 158, 159

  Sheehan, Cindy, 55–56

  Shultz, George P., 78

  Simons, Henry Calvert, 162–163

  “A Positive Program for Laissez Faire,” 162–163

  Simpson, Alan, 31, 96

  Sixty Minutes (television program), 47

  Skeptics, xi–xii

  Sloan, Alfred P., 145

  Smith, Adam, 6, 9, 14, 101, 142, 162, 163

  and “invisible hand” metaphor, 24, 25, 28

  mischaracterization of, 24–25

  The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 24

  The Wealth of Nations, 24, 25

  Smith, Fred, 3, 62, 124–125

  Snowden, Edward, 89, 131

  Social life, 123

  Social media, 192

  Social welfare/social welfare programs, 28–29, 32, 169–170. See also Liberal programs, corporate exploitation of

  Socialism, corporate, 49

  Solar energy, 74–75

  Soros, George, 93

  Sovereignty, and free-trade agreements, 5, 19, 61

  Soviet Union, 51, 140, 165, 168, 170

  Speculation tax, 76–77

  Sports stadiums, 13, 63, 129

  “Spread of wealth” movements, 140

  Standing to sue, 81–83

  States’ rights, 18

  Steffens, Lincoln, 14

  Stein, Ben, 103–104

  “On Buyouts, There Ought to Be a Law,” 103–104

  Stein, Herbert, 103

  Stereotyping, x, 12–13, 20, 34, 40, 54–55, 77, 119

  Stifling Political Competition: How Government Has Rigged the System to Benefit Demopublicans and Exclude Third Parties (Bennett), 88

  Stigler, George, 24, 155

  Stock market crash of 1929, 158

  Stock markets, 86

  Stock ownership, versus direct ownership, 142

  Stockman, David, 33, 76–77

  Stokes, Fred, 10

  Substantive convergence, 66–67

  Summers, Larry, 176

  Sunstein, Cass, 190

  Switzerland, 94

  Taft, Robert, 163–165, 169, 174, 177

  Taft, William Howard, 163

  Taft-Hartley Act, 164–165

  Taleb, Nassim, 157

  Target (retailing company), 76

  Tate, Alan, 139, 141, 145

  Taxation reform, 65, 68, 76–78

  Taxes, uncollected, 65, 78

  Taxpayers Coalition Against Clinch River, 2

  Tayler, Jeffrey, 56

  Tea Party, 14, 191

  Teamsters, 168

  Tech Freedom, 90

  Technocracy, 151

  Temporary National Economic Commission (TNEC), 7

  Tester, Jon, 52

  Texas State Republican Platform, 2002, 12–13

  The Theory of Moral Sentiments (A. Smith), 24

  Think tanks, 31

  and corporate agenda, 9

  and safety regulations, 28

  See also specific think tanks

  Thomas, Norman, 140

  Thurmond, Strom, 18

  Time, as convergence obstacle, 122

  Time magazine, 47

  TNEC. See Temporary National Economic Commission

  “Too big to fail” banks, 65, 78–79

  Toplin, Robert Brent, 169

  Townsend, Francis, 148

  Toxic soil, 114

  Transpartisan Alliance, 97–98

  Truman, Harry, 185

  Turner, Lynn, 105

  Union of Concerned Scientists, 2

  Unions. See Labor unions

  United Kingdom, 32

  United Mine Workers, 168

  University health insurance, 185

  Unsafe at Any Speed (Nader), 185

  Unz, Ron, 63

  US Bancorp, 79

  US Department of Commerce, 127

  US Department of Defense, 127, 178

  and military budget audit, 65, 71–72

  US Department of Justice, 4, 101

  US Department of the Interior, 127

  US Department of the Treasury, 127

  US Department of Transportation, 53, 54

  Vanden Heuvel, Katrina, 56

  Veblen, Thorstein, 167

  Vidal, Gore, 49

  Viereck, Peter, 26, 29–30, 35, 111

  Conservatism Revisited, 29, 111

  Viguerie, Richard A., 108

  Voinovich, George, 52

  Volcker, Paul, 105, 109

  Wages

  government regulation of, 145–146

  and low-wage policy, of Walmart, 145–146

  See also Minimum wage

  Wagner, Dave, 56

  Walker, Jesse, 56

  Wall Street, 140

  bailout, 5, 73, 103, 148–149 (see also Corporate bailouts)

  financial crisis, 2008–2009, 101, 103, 128, 148–149, 158–159

  Wall Street Journal, 31, 32, 47, 103, 116

  Wall Street speculation, tax on, 76–77

  Wallach, Lori, 19, 94

  Walmart, 75, 122

  CEOs, 76

  low-wage policy of, 145–146

  workers, 16–17

  War, unconstitutional, 33–34, 66, 91–93, 128, 129 />
  War-declaration authority, 45–46, 177

  War on drugs, 66, 107–110

  War Powers Act, 45–46

  War Resolution Act, 130

  Warren, Earl, 164

  Washington Monthly, 108

  Washington Mutual, 103

  Washington Post, 30, 34, 47, 125, 131–132, 149, 190

  The Wealth of Nations (A. Smith), 24, 25

  Webb, Jim, 52–53

  Weill, Sanford, 156

  Wells Fargo, 79

  Western Europe, 16, 32, 165

  Wheat Farming Corporation, 147

  Where the Right Went Wrong: How Neoconservatives Subverted the Reagan Revolution and Hijacked the Bush Presidency (Buchanan), 34, 174

  Whistle-blowing rights, 51–52

  Whitney, Richard, 158

  Who Owns America? A New Declaration of Independence (ed. Agar and Tate), 139–140, 150, 154, 158, 159–160

  Wilkinson, J. Harvie, III, 32

  Cosmic Constitutional Theory: Why Americans Are Losing Their Inalienable Right to Self-Governance, 32

  Will, George, 10, 31, 33, 78, 79, 107, 110

  “Obama’s Lawless War,” 33

  Wills, Garry, 171

  Wilson, George, 56

  Wolfowitz, Paul, 34, 131

  Women, 150

  Woods, Thomas E., Jr., 56

  World Trade Organization (WTO), 7, 18–20, 61, 93–95, 174–175, 175–176

  WTO. See World Trade Organization

  Wyden, Ron, 43–44

  Zakaria, Fareed, 31

  Zeese, Kevin, 55, 56, 107

  Zinni, Anthony, 92, 177, 190–191

  Credit: Beverly Orr

  Ralph Nader is an author, a lecturer, an attorney, and an American political activist in areas of consumer and worker protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government. He is the best-selling author of many books, including Unsafe at Any Speed, a critique of the safety record of American automobile manufacturers. Nader is a four-time candidate for president of the United States, having run as the Green Party nominee in 1996 and 2000 and as an independent candidate in 2004 and 2008.

  Founded in 2000, Nation Books has become a leading voice in American independent publishing. The inspiration for the imprint came from the Nation magazine, the oldest independent and continuously published weekly magazine of politics and culture in the United States.

  The imprint’s mission is to produce authoritative books that break new ground and shed light on current social and political issues. We publish established authors who are leaders in their area of expertise, and endeavor to cultivate a new generation of emerging and talented writers. With each of our books we aim to positively affect cultural and political discourse.

  Nation Books is a project of The Nation Institute, a nonprofit media center established to extend the reach of democratic ideals and strengthen the independent press. The Nation Institute is home to a dynamic range of programs: our award-winning Investigative Fund, which supports groundbreaking investigative journalism; the widely read and syndicated website TomDispatch; our internship program in conjunction with the Nation magazine; and Journalism Fellowships that fund up to 20 high-profile reporters every year.

 

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