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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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  • Iran’s Presidential Election on Friday

    NADER DAVOODI Nader Davoodi, an Iranian photographer who lives in Tehran, describes himself as “a very close friend to” the campaign of Mostafa Moin, the reformist presidential candidate in Iran. Davoodi said today: “In an ‘adsphere’ [where] most of the presidential candidates in Iran introduce themselves as a very helpful technocrat and sell themselves as…

  • Downing Street Memo: Deception and Cover-Up

    On Thursday June 16, 2005, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room HC-9 of the U.S. Capitol, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other members of Congress will hold a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of White House efforts to cook the books on…

  • Debt Relief for Africa: How to Proceed

    MARK ENGLER Mark Engler is the author of an op-ed in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer titled “Credit Globalization Movement for Debt Victory.” He said today: “Thanks in large part to persistent campaigners in the global South and their international supporters, a plan granting 100 percent multilateral debt relief for 18 impoverished countries has been approved by…

  • Iran’s Presidential Election

    Voters in Iran will cast ballots for a new president on Friday (June 17), choosing from a field of eight candidates that includes hardline clerics and reformers. The following analysts are available for interviews: NORMAN SOLOMON Currently in Tehran, Solomon is executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author of the new book…

  • Bush, Posada & Terrorism Hypocrisy

    The AP is reporting: “Luis Posada Carriles’ Cold War past has made for an uncomfortable present. The Cuban exile accused of planning the deadly bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 was set to make an appearance before an immigration judge Monday on charges that he entered the United States illegally earlier this year. His…

  • Medical Marijuana: Key Vote in Congress Looms

    STEVE FOX BRUCE MIRKEN Fox is director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project which provided funding for Angel Raich’s litigation in the recent Supreme Court decision. Mirken is director of communications for the organization. Fox said today: “The Raich decision does not overturn any state medical marijuana law or take away any protections…

  • Bush on Iraq: “Comforting Families” and Telling Lies

    Yesterday, President Bush, in an appearance with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, addressed the Downing Street Memo — minutes from a July 23, 2002, meeting of British foreign policy leadership — for the first time. The memo is evidence that Bush lied about his reasons for invading Iraq and the timing of his decision. The…

  • Five Hundred African Children Die Each Hour as Bush and Blair Fail to Agree on Africa Policy

    Reuters is reporting that “Africa can expect compassion but little action when G8 finance ministers meet this week, as no real commitments on slashing debt, doubling aid or making trade concessions will be on the table. … President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair failed to reach a final agreement on African debt relief…

  • Democracy in the Americas

    The 34 members of the Organization of American States are meeting for the first time in the U.S. since 1974. The AP is reporting from Bolivia: “President Carlos Mesa, his 19-month-old free-market government unraveling amid swelling street protests and a crippling blockade of the Bolivian capital, offered his resignation in a nationally televised address. The…

  • Bush & Blair & Bolton & Bustani: “War-Gate”?

    GLEN RANGWALA A lecturer in politics at Cambridge University, Rangwala is a leading expert on U.S. and British policy toward Iraq. He said today: “A series of leaked documents from March to July 2002 originating from the highest levels of the British government demonstrate the extent to which senior members of the U.S. government were…

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