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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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  • Clinton in Africa

    [Kenya]: GERALD LEMELLE Lemelle is the executive director of Africa Action. He said: “Kenya’s role as a manufacturing and financial hub for East Africa makes it an appealing partner for Western investments. The country’s geographic location, bordering on Somalia, a collapsed state, also appeals to U.S. security interests. However, the unhelpful and contradictory U.S. diplomatic…

  • Obama’s Doctor, Others: Not Doing Single Payer a “Terrible Mistake”

    DAVID SCHEINER, MD, SIDNEY WOLFE, MD, via Barbara Holzer MARGARET FLOWERS, MD At a news conference at the National Press Club today, David Scheiner, who was Obama’s personal physician for 22 years, said he would not support a proposal currently working its way through Congress: “If we don’t go the route of single payer, we’re…

  • Medicare Anniversary

    Thursday is the anniversary of Medicare’s enactment. JOHN GEYMAN Geyman is professor emeritus of family medicine at the University of Washington. He is past president of Physicians for a National Health Program and author of the book Shredding the Social Contract: The Privatization of Medicare. He said today: “Medicare on its 44th birthday is remarkably…

  • Obama’s Doctor for Single Payer * Skewed Healthcare Debate

    DAVID SCHEINER, MD, SIDNEY WOLFE, MD, via Barbara Holzer MARGARET FLOWERS, MD Available for a limited number of interviews, Scheiner was President Obama’s doctor from 1987 until he entered the White House. Today Dr. Scheiner is publicly opposing Obama’s health plan and is calling for a single-payer system. See: http://i2.democracynow.org/2009/7/22/president_obamas_longtime_physician_opposes_white. Wolfe is acting president of…

  • Will Ousted Honduras President Return?

    SUYAPA G. PORTILLO VILLEDA Suyapa G. Portillo Villeda is a research fellow at Pomona College and is originally from Honduras. She said today: “With the elected president Zelaya in Nicaragua and saying he will enter Honduras shortly, thousands are gathering at the border and there is a very tense standoff between them and the military.”…

  • Minimum Wage Raise

    On Friday, the federal minimum wage is set to rise to $7.25 an hour, from $6.55. HOLLY SKLAR Co-author of the report “Raise the Minimum Wage to $10 in 2010” and the book Raise The Floor: Wages and Policies That Work For All Of Us, Sklar said today: “The minimum wage is stuck in the…

  • Iraq: Myth and Reality

    President Obama met this afternoon with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. JAMES PAUL Paul is executive director of Global Policy Forum and has written extensively on Iraq. He said today: “For all the talk of ‘U.S. withdrawal’ from Iraq, the reality on the ground is starkly different. U.S. troops still patrol the cities, in flagrant…

  • Congress Copying Massachusetts’ Failing Healthcare?

    STEFFIE WOOLHANDLER Woolhandler is a primary care physician at Cambridge Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School who has studied and written about the Massachusetts healthcare plan. She said today: “As Washington politicians climb on-board a Massachusetts-style health reform, Massachusetts healthcare sinks. “Congress seems poised to include an individual mandate in health reform, copying…

  • Afghanistan Policy: Assessing the Latest

    In recent days, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has publicly opened the door to more U.S. troop deployments in Afghanistan while declaring that “nobody is prepared to have a long slog where it is not apparent we are making headway.” On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Gates said in an interview: “If we can…

  • Congress Protecting Insurance Companies from States?

    KAY McVAY, MICHAEL LIGHTY CHARLES IDELSON McVay, a registered nurse, is president emeritus of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. Lighty and Idelson are spokespersons for the group. McVay said: “With debate underway in the House Education and Labor Committee [on healthcare], an amendment by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio would remove potential legal…

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