MASSIE RITSCH Ritsch is communication director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which operates the OpenSecrets.org web page featuring in-depth information on money in politics. He said today: “When Obama said over a year ago that he would aggressively pursue an agreement to take public financing, he probably didn’t think that he could raise nearly…

The lead story in the New York Times today is headlined “Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back.” It reports: “Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam…

On Wednesday, Obama met with his newly named “Senior Working Group on National Security.” The following are available for interviews: STEPHEN ZUNES Zunes is professor of politics at the University of San Francisco and a contributor to Foreign Policy in Focus. He said today: “Earlier in his campaign, Obama’s senior advisers included some of the…

DOUG HENWOOD Henwood is author of the book Wall Street and editor of Left Business Observer. He said today: “Stagflation, that vexing combination of stagnant economy and rising inflation, is back in the news for the first time since the 1970s. And it is a problem. But, unlike the stagflation of the 1970s, this time…

The America’s Health Insurance Plans convention will take place later this week at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The program features former U.S. senators John Breaux and Bill Frist, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, President Bush’s former counselor Dan Bartlett and the Democratic National Committee’s former chairman Terry McAuliffe. A host of…

RAED JARRAR Earlier this month, Jarrar accompanied two Iraqi parliamentarians in their meetings in Washington, D.C. and New York City; the parliamentarians testified before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee about U.S. bases in Iraq. Jarrar said today: “The leaks we’ve seen lately that the U.S. government is seeking 58 permanent bases seem dubious. For one…

WENONAH HAUTER Executive director of Food & Water Watch and author of the new book Zapped! Irradiation and the Death of Food, Hauter said today: “As stores and restaurants around the country pull tomatoes from shelves and menus in response to the recent salmonella outbreak, American tomato farmers are poised to lose their livelihoods and…

MICHAEL RATNER President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Ratner said today: “Finally after almost seven years of litigation the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision has upheld the rights of the Guantánamo detainees to challenge their detention in federal court by writs of habeas corpus. The Court finally said enough is enough and that…

McClatchy reports in a piece headlined “U.S. security talks with Iraq in trouble in Baghdad and D.C.” that “Iraqi lawmakers say the Bush administration is demanding concessions that are unacceptable, among them: dozens of semi-permanent bases from which U.S. forces can launch missions with no prior consent from Iraq’s government; complete immunity for U.S. troops…

The Politico reports: “Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush on Monday night, reading the resolution into the Congressional Record. … Kucinich has introduced a similar impeachment resolution against Vice President Cheney. That resolution was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, which has taken no action on the measure. Speaker…