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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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  • Estimate: 120 Veteran Suicides Per Week

    Late last year, a CBS News investigation found that in 2005 “there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.” Last week, CBS News reported on data it had just obtained from the government on veterans who were recently treated…

  • Five Years After Invading Iraq

    IMAD KHADDURI Khadduri is author of the book Iraq’s Nuclear Mirage: Memoirs and Delusions. He worked on the Iraq nuclear weapons program beginning in 1981 and left Iraq for Canada in the late 1990s. Before the invasion of Iraq, Khadduri argued that, contrary to what the Bush administration was claiming, the Iraqi nuclear weapons program…

  • Churches Criticizing Governments

    Rev. JOHN DECKENBACK Conference minister for The United Church of Christ (the same denomination as Rev. Jeremiah Wright), Deckenback said today: “UCC has in its DNA from its very beginnings being responsible critics of our society. That’s rooted in the Amistad story (which holds a special place in UCC’s teachings). “There is a need for…

  • Fed Giving Wall Street a Nanny-State Bailout?

    Reuters reports: “A fire sale of Bear Stearns Cos Inc stunned Wall Street and pummeled global financial stocks on Monday on fears that few banks are safe from deepening market turmoil. … The combination of Bear Stearns’ bailout and the Fed’s offer on Sunday to extend direct lending to securities firms for the first time…

  • Five Years Later — Oil Contracts: Success of War?

    BEN LANDO President Bush has repeatedly called for the passage of the proposed Iraqi oil law. Lando is energy editor for UPI. He has recently launched the web page IraqOilReport.com. ANTONIA JUHASZ Juhasz is the author of the book The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time and is with the group…

  • Adm. Fallon and Attacking Iran

    The Washington Post reports on its front page today that Adm. William Fallon “had made several comments reflecting disagreement with the administration’s stance on Iran, most recently in an Esquire magazine article last week that portrayed him as the only person who might stop Bush from going to war with the Islamic republic.” GARETH PORTER…

  • Iraq Veterans Speak: Winter Soldier Hearings

    ADAM KOKESH KELLY DOUGHERTY Kokesh is co-chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War; Dougherty is the group’s executive director; they can direct media to other veterans from around the country. IVAW released a statement: “Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan is a four-day summit that will bring more than 200 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans together ……

  • Five Years into Iraq War, a Key Question: How Did This Happen in the First Place?

    Drawing on extensive archival research, the documentary film “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” makes its New York City theatrical debut with an engagement starting Friday (March 14) at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan. Coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the documentary’s premiere in New…

  • Bush and McCain on Torture

    President George W. Bush said in his latest weekend radio address: “Congress recently sent me an intelligence authorization bill that would diminish these vital tools. So today, I vetoed it. And here is why: The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror — the…

  • The Presidential Candidates and South America Tensions

    ABC News reports: “Standing side by side in a show of solidarity, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez and Ecuador President Rafael Correa stood firm in their support of one another after days of accusations lobbed back and forth between the two countries and Colombia.” JO ROSANO Rosano is the mother of Marc Gonsalves, a Pentagon contractor…

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