Corporations

Speaking as the co-chair of FreedomWorks on CNBC last December, Dick Armey "spoke glowingly of 'Rx Outreach,' a national mail order program for low-income people that had just been launched by Express Scripts." FreedomWorks was "working with Express Scripts' public relations firm," Fleishman-Hillard, at the time, and "issued a press release praising

"These are heady days on Capitol Hill for business lobbyists," writes Stephen Labaton. "After suffering numerous setbacks in President Bush's first term, business lobbyists now say they have the wind at their backs." In addition to pushing for "tort reform" (which limits what people can collect in damages if they sue a corporation), lobbyists are also getting Congress to ram through new legislation that "would make it significantly more difficult and expensive for poor and moderate-income families to use bankruptcy protection to shield themselves from creditors.

The British government will review its libel laws after two environmental campaigners who were sued by McDonald's won a legal judgment. The European court of human rights ruled "that their rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression were violated when they were denied legal aid," reports Clare Dyer. "McLibel" defendants Helen Steel and David Morris were sued by the fast-food chain for passing out leaflets that accused McDonalds of selling unhealthy food and damaging the environment.

Saying they had "bargain[ed] in good faith," Wal-Mart announced it was closing a store in Quebec whose employees were negotiating the first union contract ever with the giant retailer. Wal-Mart said the move is not a union bust, but due to "the fragile condition of the Jonquiere store." A union spokesperson said, "We're going to carry on with our efforts to organize Wal-Marts." The Canadian firm National PR is helping Wal-Mart with "French-language media outreach" following the announcement.