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News Items

  • 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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  • Cindy Sheehan Traveling to Martha’s Vineyard

    CINDY SHEEHAN, via Laurie Dobson Available for a limited number of interviews, Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in the Iraq war, drew global interest when she attempted to confront a vacationing George W. Bush at his Crawford ranch in August 2005. She went on to write Peace Mom: A Mother’s Journey through Heartache to…

  • Iraq Violence and Occupation

    As violence in Iraq increases, the Washington Post reports: “U.S. troops could be forced by Iraqi voters to withdraw a year ahead of schedule under a referendum the Iraqi government backed Monday.” CHRIS HEDGES LAILA AL-ARIAN Hedges and Al-Arian are co-authors of the book Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians. A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter,…

  • Obama and Cold War Thinking

    On Monday, in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, President Obama stated: “But as we all know, much of our defense establishment has yet to fully adapt to the post-Cold War world. … Twenty years after the Cold War ended, this is not simply unacceptable. It is irresponsible.” — NY Times DARYL KIMBALL…

  • Afghan Elections

    The presidential election in Afghanistan is scheduled for August 20. REESE ERLICH Erlich, who has reported from Afghanistan and the region more than a dozen times, was among the first to report in major media that the heroin trade finances not only the Taliban but also top officials in the Afghan government. He said today:…

  • Right-Wing Populism and Health Care Town Halls

    CHIP BERLET Berlet is senior analyst of Political Research Associates and co-author of Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. He said today: “The town meeting confrontations over health care are an example of right-wing populist protests that periodically sweep across the United States. The anger, fear and resentment are often mobilized by cynical…

  • White House Deals With PhRMA

    Billy Tauzin “is chief of PhRMA, the biggest pharmaceutical trade group. In the 2008 campaign, Obama ran a television ad pillorying Tauzin for his role in preventing Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices. Last week the Los Angeles Times reported — and the New York Times confirmed — that Tauzin, an active player in…

  • Rove and U.S. Attorneys

    “Former White House political adviser Karl Rove played a central role in the ouster of a U.S. attorney in New Mexico, one of nine prosecutors fired in a scandal in 2006 over political interference with the Justice Department, according to transcripts of closed-door testimony released Tuesday.” — Associated Press, 8/11/2009 SCOTT HORTON Horton is adjunct…

  • Soldier Refuses Afghanistan Deployment

    U.S. Army Specialist Victor Agosto has received a court martial for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan. DAHR JAMAIL Jamail, an independent journalist who has covered Iraq extensively, is author of The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said today: “Specialist Agosto stands as a model for soldiers who…

  • Metrics in U.S. Afghanistan Policy

    The New York Times reported Thursday that “the Obama administration is struggling to come up with a long-promised plan to measure whether the war [in Afghanistan] is being won. Those ‘metrics’ of success, demanded by Congress and eagerly awaited by the military, are seen as crucial if the president is to convince Capitol Hill and…

  • Challenging Congress on Healthcare

    RUSSELL MOKHIBER Founder of Single Payer Action, Mokhiber said today: “Obamacare will cost $1 trillion over ten years and not cover 37 million Americans. By contrast, a single-payer system cuts out the private health insurance corporations and thus saves $4 trillion in administrative costs and waste over ten years. Those savings would be used to…

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