Correspondence/The Nader Letters
CORRESPONDENCE The Nader Letters No one was more surprised than I that Ralph Nader publicly ignored "Congress, Nader, and the Ambulance Chasers," my cover story in the September 1990 American...
...constitute "tithing" because tithing, in my semantic usage, connotes a greater degree of regularity than I believe characterizes trial lawyer underwriting and giving to your operational entities and projects...
...Both follow...
...Trial lawyers who signed up for LIFT or ADOPT had a fixed sum of money withdrawn automatically from their bank accounts and deposited with the LIFT/ADOPT trust fund account...
...its footprints are everywhere...
...I do not understand this sentence...
...In the early 1970s the energy crisis, in combination with strict new emissions standards, ushered in the dark days of the automotive age as symbolized by the mighty Ford Mustang becoming a Pinto clone...
...The simplicity of this method of financing, and the power inherent in it (I was told that six out of eight members of the Texas Senate whom LIFT took on in 1970 were defeated by ATLA-supported candidates), were factors that led me to testify as a whistle-blower, before the Senate Commerce Committee in May of 1971...
...Since this quote was reused in the Boston Globe last month, I need to have a short note from you declaring its inaccuracy...
...I would be surprised, frankly, if the trial lawyers did not show appreciation to you for your helpfulness to them...
...In nine years as a full-time (6 yrs...
...You do not say what your position was in the early 60s...
...Stay tuned, and don't throw away your electric blanket yet...
...Julian Simon's thesis, though perhaps somewhat awkwardly stated by Mr...
...Here is the paragraph that Nader in his letter to Joost calls "drivel": Today, Nader's denial of trial bar support is ludicrous...
...Unless the bureaucrats and members of Congress succeed in regulating the auto industry to death, look for automobiles to continue to improve...
...Wulfmghoff makes two political assumptions: that the nuclearindustry will remain stunted despite continuing technological improvements, and that the global warming theory will become institutionalized...
...The auto industry itself, in the last two decades, has borne out Simon's and my "superstition...
...Dear Ralph: Thank you for your letter of December 19, 1990...
...Sincerely, Robert H. Joost Michael Fumento Replies Regarding the letter from John A. Owen in last month's Correspondence chiding me for not paying more attention to hydrogen in my November TAS piece on alternative fuels: The estimates I've heard on using hydrogen to power cars put it at twenty years away...
...I did not say that trial lawyers "tithe" to you, although I said (and believe) that dedicated trial lawyers . . . do "tithe" to the Attorney's Trust Fund in Washington and to the State associations...
...Michael Fumento Littleton, Colorado...
...Washington, D.C...
...You say in your letter that Imly position on . . . no fault etc...
...Let me reconstruct what I said, and what I did not say, to Robert England of The American Spectator...
...I would like very much to meet with you, as you suggest in your letter...
...You have never supported, to my knowledge, a no-fault auto insurance bill or law, although I have heard that you support the Michigan no-fault law...
...Dear Bob: Joe Page told me that he spoke with you about the quote attributed to you in the Spectator (see drivel attached) and you observed that, as the quote re-lates to me, it was not accurate...
...I told the reporter that the trial lawyers have a great sense of self-preservation...
...Clearly the Jarvik-7 artificial heart was a dismal failure, but does anyone doubt that someday artificial hearts will be practicable...
...Wulfmghoff ("that the problems of the future are bound to be solved in the nick of time by our scientists and engineers"), is neither superstition nor a psychological disorder, but demonstrated fact...
...I described LIFT and ADOPT to the reporter for The American Spectator, and I called them tithing at that time...
...He may prove right on both, but since the science behind no-nukism and the "greenhouse effect" is faulty, I hold out hope that our country will come to see the light...
...Even if it were half that time, it would have no bearing on the Clean Air Act—which was the focus of my article, and which unfortunately passed just as it looked as if it were about to die...
...Washington, D.C...
...Their gifts to you do not, in my judgment...
...From that $40,000, the lawyer gives $5,000 to the national ATLA PAC [Assn...
...If you can get Joe to lunch someday, give me a ring...
...And, yes, look for cars one day to leave behind fossil fuel much as ships left behind sails, an inevitable process that nevertheless took over a hundred years to complete...
...Those batteries, as I noted, are improving slowly but surely...
...employee of NACCA [ATLA's predecessor]/ATLA, I was struck by how willing certain key members were to contribute time and money to individuals and projects that might strengthen the underpinnings of the system through which many of them achieved great wealth...
...Today, cars are faster, safer, more fun, and less polluting than ever...
...The fact EVs are being used as fleet vehicles as never before indicates they are making progress...
...The way your name was mentioned convinced me that the leaders of NACCA/ATLA regarded you as a resource subject to their control, provided they made sure you received needed financial contributions...
...Robert Joost, who was chief counsel for the Senate Commerce Committee during battles over federal no-fault auto insurance in the 1970s, says that Nader is "an agent at large" for the trial bar, and that they return the favor by "tithing...
...Nader's move followed an article in the Boston Globe ("Tougher Time for Ralph Nader," November 5), which picked up Joost's quote from The American Spectator that Nader was "an agent at large" for the trial bar...
...I described LIFT and ADOPT in my testimony, on May 7, 1971, but I did not use the word "tithing" to refer to trial lawyer contributions to these Funds...
...and part-time (3 yrs...
...Ultimately, superconductors that operate at near room temperature might be used in a battery that is almost 100 percent efficient and knock internal combustion engines off the map...
...CORRESPONDENCE The Nader Letters No one was more surprised than I that Ralph Nader publicly ignored "Congress, Nader, and the Ambulance Chasers," my cover story in the September 1990 American Spectator—especially since my sources reported he was furious...
...In fact, it would have been impossible for you to have a position then because the modern concept of no-fault auto insurance was not developed until 1964, with the publication of Basic Protection for the Traffic Victim by Judge Keeton and Professor O'Connell...
...I did not mention this to the Spectatorreporter, but I am intrigued by the fact that you seem to turn up, in the last three years, in each State where the trial lawyers are on the defensive because there is a no-fault or choice no-fault bill or referendum pending: California (1988), Rhode Island (1990), and Arizona (1990...
...Sincerely, Ralph [Ralph Nader] December 24, 1990 Ralph Nader, Esq...
...Regarding Donald R. Wulfinghoffs pessimistic remarks in the January issue: It's true that, whether a car runs on gasoline or on electricity powered by a non-nuclear, non-hydro plant, it results in the burning of fossil fuel and the production of carbon dioxide On the other hand, the conversion of fossil fuel into electricity that is then pumped into an EV battery is a vastly more efficient process than the direct burning of gasoline in an internal combustion engine...
...of Thal Lawyers of America Political Action Committee], $5,000 to the state ATLA organization, and $5,000 to Nader, Joost says...
...Back in 1971, I was told, at a meeting of ATLA Key Men, that the trial lawyers in Texas had formed a group called "LIFT" (Lawyers Involved for Texas), and that the trial lawyers in Ohio had formed a group called "ADOPT" (Attorneys Devoted to Ohio People Totally...
...If you supported, by public testimony and appearances, a "fixing" of the Michigan no-fault law or the enactment of a fair bill that allows consumers to choose for themselves the kind of auto insurance they will buy, you (continued on page 40) THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR MARCH 1991 would prove, at least to me, that you are in fact independent of the trial bar...
...I had dinner with Joe Page last Friday, and he said he would try to arrange a meeting...
...If you really support the Michigan no-fault law, you should urge the Michigan legislature to amend the law to fix it...
...I did not mention it in my 1971 testimony, but I believe that NACCA/ATLA leaders, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, regarded you as one of "their" assets...
...19, 1990 Robert Joost, Esq...
...Most privately owned vehicles spend much more time sitting still than operating, and during that time photovoltaics implanted in the roofs, hoods, and windows could be refueling the batteries...
...In late December I learned from Robert Joost, one of my sources, that Nader was seeking a written retraction of Joost's comments in my article...
...Further, Mr...
...Which is why I could not believe that you were quoted accurately, not to mention their absurd attribution of the figures used in the attached, marked paragraph...
...Nader's request for a retraction came in a letter to Joost on December 19, in which he suggested a meeting, to be arranged by one of Nader's friends, Georgetown University law professor Joe Page...
...You have done great things for consumer protection, but you have consistently contributed to blocking, auto insurance reform...
...Donald Stedman, you still end up with a net carbon dioxide improvement with EVs...
...The development of these Funds may have been the beginning of tithing for personal profit/group aggrandizement...
...You may only be guilty of "conscious parallelism" rather than intent to deceive the American consumer, but you must realize what a god-send you have been to the trial lawyers...
...My position on product liability, no fault etc...
...You promote, with pure and idealistic motives, objectives which permit them, with possibly less pure motives, to make a great deal of money...
...I used the word tithe to mean a regular voluntary transfer of money to an organization or individual to be used towards the realization of a shared objective...
...Robert Stowe England Arlington, Virginia Dec...
...Good to locate you, even for this reason...
...The proceeds of LIFT and ADOPTwere used in attempts to defeat legislators opposed to trial lawyers...
...Or even better, a letter to the Spectator...
...In January, Page told Joost that the meeting was off, reports Joost, who then asked The American Spectator to publish Nader's letter to him and his reply...
...For example, I got the impression that a lot of time and money had been spent advising, encouraging, and supporting a lawyer named Ralph Nader—a lawyer who was not afraid to challenge the Nation's largest manufacturing company, who organized a crusade for safety, who believed the tort liability system should be preserved and strengthened, and who attacked insurance companies...
...The Michigan no-fault law is now grievously wounded (because the Supreme Court of Michigan gutted its threshold and ruled that the determination of whether the threshold had been met should be a question of fact for the jury rather than a question of law for the judge...
...Electric plants are 60 to 70 percent efficient, internal combustion engines about 20 percent...
...Joost replied on Christmas Eve with a letter clarifying his position...
...My forthcoming book will have a chapter on electromagnetic fields...
...From a $100,000 court award, $40,000 goes to the lawyer...
...One should not make the mistake of confusing the failure of a given invention with failure of an idea...
...I did not use the word to mean a 10 percent contribution...
...has been consistent since before we met in the early Sixties...
...All the other fuels described in the article are currently being used in either commercial or passenger vehicles...
...Supporting good no-fault or choice no-fault would give you a chance to do great things for insurance consumer protection and for motorists...
...In my opinion, leading trial lawyers contribute money and resources to you now, to an even greater extent than in the 1960s...
...has been consistent since before we met in the very early Sixties...
...No practical car will ever run entirely on photovoltaics, but an EV's battery certainly could be supplemented by them...
...Even allowing for power loss in the transfer from power plant to EV and for the higher carbon dioxide level of coal burning, according to such authorities as Dr...
...hydrogen is not and thus can only be considered experimental...
...After all, Nader's trademark is the ad hominem attack...
Vol. 24 • March 1991 • No. 3
