STEVEN KULL Director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes and co-author of Misreading the Public: The Myth of a New Isolationism, Kull said: “When pollsters ask Americans how they feel about spending — on, for example, defense and foreign aid — they say to keep defense where it is and cut foreign aid. However, when we told respondents how the budget was presently distributed, on average they cut defense by 42 percent and doubled spending on foreign aid. Respondents wanted to quadruple spending on the UN and peacekeeping. Domestically, they want to nearly double education spending.” MIRIAM PEMBERTON A…

While President Clinton visits Turkey and tries to bring China into the World Trade Organization, the following analysts are available for comment: BAMA ATHREYA Director of Asia Programs for the International Labor Rights Fund, Athreya said: “The U.S.-China negotiations on China’s entry into the WTO are certainly a boon for U.S. business, but will it be business as usual in China when it comes to human rights? We have no reason to believe that more U.S. business investment in China will lead to better protections for China’s ordinary citizens and workers. In fact, a new type of rights abuse has…

Mass. Legislature Tries to Loophole Reform; Judge Upholds Maine Initiative DAVID DONNELLY Campaign manager for Mass Voters for Clean Elections, Donnelly commented: “For years the legislature would not pass public funding of campaigns even though that’s what most people wanted. We put it on the ballot and it won by two-to-one a year ago. On Wednesday, the leadership in the legislature put in a huge loophole that allows candidates to raise unlimited amounts of special interest money and then preserve the option to say no to special interest money during the last few months of an election, so they also…

MARTIN A. LEE The author of The Beast Reawakens, a recent book about neofascism and right-wing extremism in Europe and the U.S., Lee said: “Ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany is a deeply troubled nation, vexed by high unemployment, a stagnant economy, acrimonious relations between eastern and western residents, a charged politics of ethnicity, and an unfulfilled quest for a ‘normal’ identity. Influential German officials, eager to deflect attention from their own policy failures, continue to scapegoat foreigners and stir up xenophobic fears that are fueling neo-Nazi and anti-immigrant attacks. At the same time, a conservative…

Federal Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled on Friday evening that Microsoft is a monopoly. The following analysts are available for interviews: JAMIE LOVE Director of the Consumer Project on Technology, Love said: “Judge Jackson took a large step toward reining in Microsoft, the company that exercises huge power in markets for software for personal computers. The decision is a significant victory for the Department of Justice and for the public. The court has determined that Microsoft engaged in a litany of anti-competitive actions, bullying PC computer manufacturers and engaging in numerous actions of technological terrorism against Microsoft’s competitors. Judge Jackson’s…

When the World Trade Organization global summit gets underway on Nov. 30 in Seattle, President Clinton and other top officials will be confronted by large protests there. Among the WTO critics now available for comment are: JULIE LIGHT “While 134 governments make up the WTO, it is transnational corporations that increasingly influence and benefit from international trade policy,” says Light, managing editor of the Internet magazine Corporate Watch and co-host of World Trade Watch, which will provide daily live nationwide radio coverage of the WTO summit. (The broadcasts are a co-production of Corporate Watch, the National Radio Project and the…

PAUL HUDSON Paul Hudson is executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project, which last week issued a statement entitled “Skies Less Safe” accusing the FAA and DOT of “actively engag[ing] in major programs and actions aimed at reducing existing levels of safety and security.” That statement specifically cited “FAA failure to act to eliminate or substantially reduce the risk of center fuel tank explosions… FAA failure to require fire suppression or fire detection systems in all areas of airliners inaccessible to flight crews… FAA failure to require modern black boxes on U.S. aircraft that record longer periods of cockpit…

The Clinton administration, the Republican congressional leadership and the financial services industry all seem to agree on the Gramm-Leach Act. If it becomes law, the legislation would abolish restrictions on banks, securities firms and insurance companies instituted in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Critics charge that — like the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — it will not provide the promised benefits to consumers, but will result in massive mergers and inadequate regulation. Among those available for interviews are: RALPH NADER Consumer advocate Ralph Nader called the proposed legislation “anti-competitive, anti-consumer and anti-community. It creates new risks for the nation’s…

WASHINGTON — While the White House and Congress struggle over the federal budget, some policy analysts are questioning key assumptions in the debate. Sociologist Abby Scher and economist Jared Bernstein are available for interviews to discuss underlying issues: ABBY SCHER “Since the late 1970s, Congress has directed more of the federal budget away from social investment,” Scher says. “The 1997 budget caps and current negotiations are only accelerating that trend. Corporations, meanwhile, will continue to receive their welfare payments in this budget.” Scher is co-editor of Dollars and Sense magazine. More Information JARED BERNSTEIN “In an ideal world, the debate…

Wall Street is continuing a downward slide this fall, and some economists believe that policymakers in Washington are remaining unrealistically upbeat. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Dole’s withdrawal from the GOP presidential race has sparked more debate on campaign finance issues. The following policy analysts are available for interviews. Wall Street: Realism Needed DEAN BAKER “The stock market has been hugely overvalued since 1996,” said Baker, an economist and senior research fellow at the Preamble Center in Washington, D.C. “At its peak earlier this year it may have been overvalued by more than 50 percent. To make this determination it is only necessary…