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  • Election Reforms: Falling short

    WASHINGTON — Proponents of progressive election reform gave cautious approval to the recent report issued by a commission assigned to investigate the improvement of federal elections. Many critics, however, point to several obstacles that remain in the way of free and fair elections throughout the United States. The report, issued by the National Commission on Federal Election Reform headed by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, was presented to President Bush. Among its recommendations are provisions regarding increases in equipment standards and stepped-up federal funding for the administration of elections.

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  • Son of Star Wars: Another arms race?

    WASHINGTON — Reports emerging from the Pentagon about plans to test a “Space Bomber” are drawing accusations that the U.S. government is attempting to engage in another arms race. The bomber, a spacecraft reportedly capable of destroying targets on the other side of the globe within 30 minutes, is a key component of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s plan to modernize U.S. weaponry. The satellite is currently under production by NASA and Lockheed Martin, a leading military contractor. Pentagon claims that the bomber can cause greater and deeper ground damage from a virtually unassailable height have many critics questioning it as…

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  • ExxonMobil: Facing a boycott

    ExxonMobil, one of the biggest corporations on the planet, is now facing a boycott spearheaded by activist groups protesting the company’s policies at home and abroad. The boycott was launched by PressurePoint, a grassroots organization looking to “take real action on climate change and corporate influence,” according to Chris Doran, campaigns director for the group. “The U.S. government’s climate change policy is the ExxonMobil policy,” Doran says. “What sort of democracy do we have when one company can buy off our political process for its own gains?” ExxonMobil is a charter member of the Global Climate Coalition, an influential industry…

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  • Beyond the Ford-Firestone Uproar: Critics blast lack of regulation, accountability in SUV safety

    WASHINGTON – Recent congressional hearings probed the accountability of Ford and Firestone in many incidents where car or tire malfunctioned, causing injury or death. The hearings also questioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal government’s chief regulator of automobile safety, and its role in providing the public with adequate information. While the blame-placing among corporate executives and congressional subcommittees occurred on Capitol Hill, several analysts decried the lack of accountability being demanded of the corporations involved. Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, pointed to a lack of regulation of sport utility vehicles and rollover standards.

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  • NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM

    Questions from IPA appear below in bold HEADLINE: NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM DEBT RELIEF TO POOR COUNTRIES AND OXFAM EDUCATION NOW AWARD INTRODUCTION: MARTA ARIAS LOCATION: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, WASHINGTON D.C. BODY:

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  • Ten Real Reasons To Impeach Clinton

    We all seem to have lost our sense of proportion. Why are the political leaders of the United States and the major media talking of impeaching Bill Clinton for lies about sex, surely not the most important sins of his administration? If Clinton is to be impeached, why do it for frivolous reasons? I can think of at least ten reasons to impeach him, for acts far more serious than his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky or his lies to Kenneth Starr. I am speaking of matters of life and death for large numbers of people. 1. Clinton approved, very early…

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  • Autopsy Of A Disaster: The U.S. Sanctions Policy On Iraq

    For a shorter version of this timeline, click here. Myth: The Sanctions Will be Lifted When Iraq Complies with the U.N. Inspections April 3, 1991: U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 687 which states that upon “the completion by Iraq of all actions contemplated in” specific paragraphs of the resolution, “the prohibitions against financial transactions … shall have no further force or effect.” The paragraphs cited have to do with weapons inspections. Other paragraphs in the resolution have to do with “return of all Kuwaiti property seized by Iraq” and Iraqi liability for losses and damage resulting from Iraq’s occupation of…

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  • Can Obama Be FDR? — Or is he Hoover?

    RANDALL WRAY, WrayR at umkc.edu Currently in New York, Wray, is professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He recently wrote the piece “With $300 Billion, The President Could Reduce Unemployment to Zero,” which was published by TruthDig and is available on Wray’s blog: http://neweconomicperspectives.blogspot.com He said today: “President Obama gave a good,…

  • Lessons of 9/11

    DAVID POTORTI, [in NYC] dpotort at gmail.com, ANDREA LeBLANC, aldvm at comcast.net, PAUL ARPAIA, paularpaia at mac.com Potorti, LeBlanc and Arpaia (who is recently back from Afghanistan) are members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group whose family members were killed in the attacks. The group recently issued the following statement: “The members…

  • What Kind of Spending Creates the Most Jobs?

    HEIDI GARRETT-PELTIER, hpeltier at econs.umass.edu Assistant research professor at the Political Economy Research Institute, Garrett-Peltier is author of several reports on employment impacts of spending including “The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities” (with Robert Pollin) and “Pedestrian and Bicycle Infrastructure: A National Study of Employment Impacts.” She said today: “Many people…

  • Left-Right Coalition Urges $380 Billion in Cuts to “Polluting Technologies”

    McClatchy reports that “the bipartisan ‘super-committee’ of six Democrats and six Republicans has a goal of finding at least $1.5 trillion more in deficit reduction by Thanksgiving … will hold its first meeting on Sept. 8 [Thursday].” A coalition of organizations from both sides of the political spectrum recently released Green Scissors 2011, a report…

  • Who Will be Hurt by Obama Administration Ditching Clean Air Plans?

    Reuters reports: “President Barack Obama unexpectedly asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to withdraw a plan to limit smog pollution, handing a big win to business and Republicans…” BILL GALLEGOS, via Bobbi Murray, murratus at earthlink.net Gallegos is executive director of Communities for a Better Environment, which “organizes in working class communities of color…

  • Jobs Numbers, Labor Day

    MAX FRAAD WOLFF, mfwolff at aol.com Wolff is an instructor at the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School University and senior analyst with Greencrest Capital. He just wrote a blog entry analyzing jobs numbers released this morning: “For the second time in monthly jobs report history we have created no new jobs.…

  • U.S. Massacre and Cover-up in Iraq Exposed by WikiLeaks

    RAED JARRAR, jarrar.raed at gmail.com An Iraqi-American blogger and political analyst based in Washington D.C., Jarrar was in recently in Iraq. He said today: “This week, a U.S. diplomatic cable that was made public by WikiLeaks confirmed the news that in March 2006 U.S. troops handcuffed then executed eleven Iraqi civilians in Al-Ishaqi, north of…

  • Disaster Management Funding: “Cut Fossil Fuel and Nuclear Subsidies to Pay for Disaster Clean-Up”

    AIMEE ALLISON, aimee at rootsaction.org Allison, co-executive director of Roots Action, said today, “Let big oil/coal pay for hurricane damage. Government welfare for oil, gas, coal, and nuclear should be eliminated. If cuts are to be made to reduce the national debt, they should begin with these kinds of subsidies, rather than in useful programs…

  • * 25 CEOs’ Pay Exceeding Corporate Taxes Paid * Nurses Protest Wall Street

    SARAH ANDERSON, CHUCK COLLINS, via Lacy MacAuley, lacy at ips-dc.org Anderson and Collins are among the authors of an Institute for Policy Studies report released today titled “Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging.” Among the findings: “The 25 tax-dodging CEOs the IPS report spotlights averaged $16.7 million in pay last year,…

  • 40 Years Since “Powell Memo” Laid out Corporate Agenda

    In 1971, Lewis F. Powell, then a corporate lawyer and member of the boards of eleven corporations, wrote a memo to his friend Eugene Sydnor, Jr., the director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, titled “Attack of [sic] American Free Enterprise System.” The memorandum was dated August 23, 1971, two months prior to Powell’s nomination…

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