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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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  • From Cairo and U.S.: Interviews on Egypt

    Philip Rizk is an independent blogger and filmmaker based in Cairo. Rizk is editing video of some of the most critical parts of the protests. He is reporting on the Egyptian government apparently releasing criminals against protesters, looting, lack of police protection and other critical events. He can also address economic inequality, the lack of…

  • Egypt: Resources and Interviews

    Professor of political science and international studies at Richmond University and currently visiting at the American University in Cairo, Sheila Carapico told the Institute for Public Accuracy shortly before phone lines were cut: “Earlier this week Hillary Clinton said that Egypt is ‘stable’ — but Egyptians are not interested in stability. They’re interested in change.…

  • Anti-Drone War Protesters Given Time Served

    AP is reporting: “A judge says protesters’ moral opposition to drone warfare overseas didn’t absolve them of guilt for trespassing at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada in April 2009. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace William Jansen delivered a 20-page ruling Thursday finding a group dubbing themselves the ‘Creech 14’ guilty of trespassing at…

  • Obama Economic Policy: Change or More of the Same?

    Rick Wolff is author of the book Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It. He said today: “Some 20-30 million unemployed, underemployed, and no-longer-even-looking workers were not worth addressing nor offering any new governmental program … . The past program of Bush and Obama to rely on the…

  • The Mideast * “A New Era” * From Cairo

    Seif Da’Na is an associate professor of sociology and international studies at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside specializing in Mideast and North Africa. He said today: “Repercussions of the Tunisia example will be deep and significant and will be felt throughout the region. The uprising signifies not only the failure of the neo-liberal economic model that…

  • Social Security Cuts Hurt Future Recipients

    Vice president for income security policy for the National Academy of Social Insurance, Virginia Reno said today: “There’s much talk about cutting Social Security to reduce the deficit. Deficit commission co-chairs, Bowles and Simpson, said cuts are needed to ensure the future of our children and grandchildren. Yet, their benefit cuts fall directly on those…

  • Is Manning, Alleged WikiLeaks Source, Being Held Illegally?

    David MacMichael, who commanded the facility where Manning is being held, last week wrote a letter to General James F. Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps. The letter reads in part: “I wonder, in the first place, why an Army enlisted man is being held in a Marine Corps installation. Second, I question the length…

  • The Real Context of the GE Appointment

    Thomas Ferguson said today: “Volcker out and Immelt in, because the administration now wants to emphasize ‘recovery’ and ‘jobs’ instead of ‘crisis stabilization’? Since when did any stabilization not include jobs as a top priority? What we actually have here is the disappearance from the scene of the best known and most visible critic of…

  • Interviews Available with Tunisians: “A Third Way”

    In Tunisia, activist Houeida Anouar said today: “Ben Ali has left, but we still have his party. People are in the streets every day now calling for officials from this party to step down from the interim unity government and for that party to be dismantled. This party is very powerful, with offices in every…

  • As House Votes to Repeal “Obamacare,” Vermont Moving Toward Single Payer

    Margaret Flowers is congressional fellow for the 18,000-member Physicians for a National Health Program; Mark Almberg is the organization’s communications director. Flowers said today: “The Republican repeal of the health law in the House yesterday would initiate a race to the bottom. Their plan to open the sale of insurance across state lines would lead…

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