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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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  • Afghanistan: * Just War? * Five Times GDP

    DANIEL C. MAGUIRE Maguire is professor of moral theological ethics at Marquette University and is the author of The Horrors We Bless: Rethinking the Just-War Legacy. He recently wrote that in Obama’s Nobel Prize address the president “hoisted his petard on the classical ‘just war theory,’ a theory that, properly understood, condemns his decision to…

  • Copenhagen: * Rich Dumping on Poor? * Police Arresting Activists

    The Guardian (UK) today published a piece headlined “Friends of the Earth Among Activists Barred from Copenhagen Conference Center: Security intensifies ahead of mass action to invade summit as 115 world leaders arrive for high-level talks.” ANNE PETERMAN Peterman is executive director of the Global Justice Ecology Project, based in Vermont. She said: “The domination…

  • Senators’ Global Warming Proposal

    Sens. John Kerry, Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham yesterday had a news conference where they talked about a “framework” for legislation on global warming. Said Lieberman: “You remember the artist formerly known as Prince? This is the market-based system for punishing polluters previously known as ‘cap and trade.’” DAPHNE WYSHAM Wysham is a fellow of…

  • Obama’s Nobel Prize vs. Policies

    The following analysts are available to talk about Obama administration policies and the advancement of peace: JODY WILLIAMS Nobel Laureate Williams is now chair of the Nobel Women’s Initiative. She recently wrote the piece “United States’ shameful land mine policy: By refusing to join the Mine Ban Treaty, Obama shows disregard for international humanitarian law,”…

  • “The Story of Cap and Trade”

    DAPHNE WYSHAM Wysham is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies. She is a content adviser to the new short film “The Story of Cap and Trade.” Wysham recently wrote the piece “Cap and Trade Should Go the Way of the DoDo Before We Do,” which states: “President Barack Obama’s announcement that the U.S.…

  • New Evidence on Honduran Election

    The Real News reports that contrary to the claims of many, including the U.S. representative to the Organization of American States, the official polling data suggest that the turnout in the recently boycotted Honduran election was under 50 percent. See: “Honduran Elections Exposed.” JESSE FREESTON Freeston is a reporter for The Real News who has…

  • Jobs

    PETER EDELMAN A professor at Georgetown Law Center who was assistant secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration, Edelman is a co-author of the new report “Battered by the Storm: How the Safety Net Is Failing Americans and How to Fix It” from the Institute for Policy Studies. He also just wrote…

  • Interviews Available from Copenhagen

    In an unprecedented move, 56 newspapers around the world in 20 languages including Chinese, Arabic and Russian are publishing one editorial on the urgent need to address climate change now: “The politicians in Copenhagen have the power to shape history’s judgment on this generation: one that saw a challenge and rose to it, or one…

  • Black Unemployment

    KEVIN GRAY Gray wrote “The Novocaine Effect: Obama and Black America” in the recent print edition of CounterPunch. He said today: “Obama said that there’s limited funds at the ‘Jobs Summit’ yesterday, but that doesn’t seem to apply to billions for war. … “By any economic measure the black community is in a severe depression.…

  • Are Obama and Clinton Being Honest About How Afghan War Began?

    “Only after the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden [did we send] our troops into Afghanistan.” — Barack Obama at West Point, Dec. 1 “[The Taliban] were given a chance to turn over al Qaeda and bin Laden before we attacked them and they refused.” — Hillary Clinton in response to questioning by…

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