Forget that old line about "What's good for GM is good for America"
How the social glue of America is being dissolved
Also in this issue
- DON'T PREACH, MINISTER!
- BEHIND "DUKE'S" TEARS
- PESTICIDE TESTING ON KIDS
- HALLIBURTON'S "TCNs"
- SEPARATING US FROM THEM
What the hell's happening here? Why is my bank in the tank? And my house and job? And my retirement money? Even my state's teetering on the brink of broke! Who did this to us? Fair questions, but we're not getting honest answers. 
BEHIND "DUKE'S" TEARS
By now, nearly everyone has heard the saga of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the powerful Republican Congress critter who has tearfully confessed to taking at least $2.4 million in bribes to funnel untold millions of our tax dollars into the coffers of Pentagon contractors. Duke's fall made a spectacular sob story for the media but it would be a more riveting drama if the media had probed beyond the tears.
Duke was a member of the elite subcommittee that doles out tens of billions of dollars a year to military contractors, including a super-secret "black budget" of $28 billion a yearblack, as in darkness. This is a recipe for corruption, made worse because the workload of Pentagon auditors has increased dramatically since 9/11 but the number of auditors has been slashed by two thirds.
When the Pentagon was asked about this secretive process, a spokeswoman said it would be "inappropriate" to comment.Well, excuse us for prying...but we taxpayers foot the bills! What's inappropriate is that a hidden system allows Congress critters and corporations to self-deal with our money.