Here’s a simple test of integrity: When a corporation dumps five thousand pounds of toxic pollution out into the air or water that moves through our communities, should they be required to tell what they’ve done, or should they be allowed to keep it a secret?

The Bush White House says that the corporation ought to be able to keep that five thousand pounds of poison a secret, so that people might breathe the poison in, or drink it in their water, and never know the poison was there. Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, Republican congressmen who are running as presidential candidates in 2008, agree with that position. On May 18, 2006, they voted against an amendment by Congressman Frank Pallone that would have reversed the Bush White House’s decision to allow up to five thousand pounds of pollution to be released into the environment without being reported.

Democrat Dennis Kucinich voted against them, in favor of the amendment. You can count five thousand pounds of poison as a good reason to vote for a progressive like Kucinich instead of a right wing politician like Paul, Tancredo or Hunter. (Sources: League of Conservation Voters, National Environmental Scorecard, 2006; Library of Congress)