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News Releases

  • Talks on Tobacco Lawsuit: Set Up for a Sellout?

    While the Justice Department moves ahead to arrange settlement talks with major tobacco firms, critics are speaking out. The following tobacco policy advocates are available for interviews: JEANNETTE NOLTENIUS Noltenius, executive director of the Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco, said today: “Too many people have died of tobacco-related diseases for the Justice Department not to put its strongest case forward to recoup at least some of the health care costs. The federal government should negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness. This new administration has to be responsive to the needs of all communities — specifically including Latino…

  • Ford-Firestone and Beyond: Car Safety and Broader Issues

    JOAN CLAYBROOK President of Public Citizen, Claybrook said today: “As lawmakers delve into the Ford-Firestone tragedy, a larger issue needs to be addressed: Rollover crashes are dangerous, but they need not be deadly. The federal regulatory agency that oversees the companies has failed the American public. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — under constant pressure from auto manufacturers — doesn’t require companies to design vehicles in a way that will help people survive rollover crashes. Indeed, the NHTSA has never set a limit on how unstable a vehicle may be. Ford and Firestone have been blaming each other for…

  • With Battle Set to Begin in Senate Today, Analysts Assess “Patients’ Bill of Rights”

    With the Senate scheduled to begin debate today on proposals for a patients’ bill of rights, there were news reports this morning that Republican leaders will seek a delay. Meanwhile, some medical policy critics contend that the proposed Senate measures are too narrow in scope. The following policy analysts are available for interviews: QUENTIN YOUNG, M.D. National coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program, Young said today: “The heart of our problem is the takeover of health care by corporate interests. Having the right to sue an HMO is an attempt to seek justice after the HMO has inflicted…

  • Foreign Policy: Bush’s European Visit, Pentagon Papers, Vieques

    GREGORY PALAST Columnist for the London Observer, Palast said today: “There’s a sense in Europe that Bush is threatening and menacing. He’s not viewed as just a buffoon, as he is by many in the United States. Global warming, Star Wars and the death penalty are very serious issues in Europe. Bush is not viewed as having the authority to pursue his policies on these issues since he is widely regarded as having stolen the election.” More Information ANDREAS ZUMACH Based in Geneva, Zumach writes on NATO, the Balkans and the UN for Die Tageszeitung and is affiliated with a…

  • After McVeigh Execution: Feel Any Better Now?

    RICHARD MORAN Professor of sociology and criminology at Mount Holyoke College, Moran is currently working on a book about the death penalty. He has testified at dozens of death penalty sentencing hearings. Moran said today: “McVeigh was unapologetic because, like many murderers, he viewed his killing as evening the score. The death penalty is generally not a deterrent, but in the case of a McVeigh, it’s almost an encouragement; it has enhanced his status as a martyr. Most murderers believe in an eye for an eye, which is the mindset we adopt when we invoke the death penalty…. With the…

  • Death Penalty, Racism, McVeigh, FBI

    BRYAN STEVENSON Executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and assistant professor at the New York University School of Law, Stevenson is author of the article “Deliberate Indifference: Racial Bias and Administration of Capital Punishment.” He said today: “Attorney General Ashcroft’s claim that there is no racial bias in the federal death penalty is without merit. Nearly three-quarters of the people for whom the federal government has authorized execution are black or brown, while the majority of people eligible for such authorization are white. Ashcroft totally ignores the fact that most racial bias can be found by looking at the…

  • Judicial Nominees: How Should the Senate Proceed?

    NATHAN NEWMAN Newman is chair of the Judicial Nominations Committee of the National Lawyers Guild. He said today: “With the changeover in control of the Senate, there is now the chance for a counterbalance to Bush’s attempt to pack the federal courts with right-wing appointees…. The loss by the Republicans of control of the Judiciary Committee should give the Democrats a veto on such nominations, a quite appropriate process in view of the closeness of the election, to assure that only those judges moderate enough to be acceptable to the broadest range of Americans will be confirmed.” HEIDI BOGHOSIAN Executive…

  • Beyond the Bush Daughters: Alcohol Policies Under Attack

    While many have focused on the specifics of President Bush’s daughter Jenna being charged with underage drinking at an Austin restaurant last week, some specialists in alcohol policies are urging a shift in public focus — to scrutinize key roles of the alcohol industry. The following policy analysts are available for interviews: LAURIE LEIBER Leiber is a member of the California Council on Alcohol Policy. She said today: “President Bush is asking that we treat his daughters’ citations for alcohol-related violations as a private, family matter. But underage drinking is a very public, policy matter as long as the alcohol…

  • Education Spending: Beyond the Rhetoric

    This evening, Laura Bush is scheduled to give the keynote address to the Reach Out and Read national conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The following analysts on education policy are available for interviews: EDWARD KEALY Executive director of the Committee for Education Funding, a coalition of over 100 educational organizations, Kealy said this afternoon: “The president has stated that the goal of his education policies would be an America where ‘no child is left behind.’ But measured against growing needs and expectations, President Bush’s 2002 education budget request falls short. When inflation and enrollment growth are considered, the president’s budget contains…

  • Bush on Public Lands: After the Photo-Op

    Today’s newspapers include pictures of President Bush as he spoke about the importance of public lands in front of some of the world’s oldest trees. The following policy critics are available for interviews: CHAD HANSON Executive director of the John Muir Project, Hanson said today: “George W. Bush’s speech from Sequoia National Park rings hollow. Surrounding that national park on all sides are national forests in which the Bush administration has vowed to increase logging levels. Bush’s new Forest Service chief, Dale Bosworth, recently pledged to do the same; and his Interior Secretary, Gale Norton, has threatened to reduce the…

  • Gaza Shelter Aid Blocked as Winter Nears: “The International Community Must Act Now”

    “More than three weeks into the ceasefire, Gaza should be receiving a surge of shelter materials, but only a fraction of what is needed has entered. The international community must act now to secure swift and unimpeded access.”

  • Slower Genocide, Rape Victim Fears for Life, Israel’s Potemkin Village Plans for “East Gaza”

    Shehada highlights that Israel continues airstrikes and attacks in the remaining area of Gaza, (West Gaza), and still prevents delivery of crucial humanitarian relief, including food, medicine and the desperately needed tents, prefab homes and construction materials which will be even more necessary during the winter months. The genocide continues at a slower pace.

  • Threats to First Amendment Rights

    For Documented, Anna Oakes writes that rulings in high-profile cases targeting noncitizen university students who have engaged in pro-Palestine speech, like those of Mohsen Mahdawi and Rümeysa Öztürk, could redefine First Amendment protections.  ANNA OAKES; [email protected]      Oakes is an independent journalist based in New York City. Oakes told the Institute for Public Accuracy: “For the…

  • Should Black People Be Allowed to Vote?

    “Asked by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut whether he would support bringing back ‘laws in this country to only allow white people to vote,’ Bozell refused to give a direct answer.“

  • Trump Seeks U.N. Blessing for Gaza Scheme

    “U.N. Security Council delegations, led by the U.S. as the co-perpetrator of the genocide in Palestine, with the support of complicit countries like the U.K. and France, and with the cooperation of U.S. client states in the region, are conspiring to merge elements of the French-Saudi colonial plan, with the U.S. colonial plan, in order…

  • Jews, Zionism and Mamdani

    “This is not a new debate. Anti-Zionism has existed since the birth of Zionism itself. The American Council for Judaism has proudly stood in this tradition since 1942, representing what was once the mainstream stance of the Reform movement: that Jewish identity, ethics, and community do not depend on nationalism, and that Jewish life flourishes…

  • Did Baerbock Coverup Germany’s Role in the Gaza Genocide at the ICJ?

    “Journalists should ask Annalena Baerbock if German diplomats — under her leadership as foreign minister — lied to the ICJ about Germany’s active military support at Israel’s request. A @DropSiteNews report suggests as as much.” 

  • Deception About Medicare for All

    A new report from corporate-oriented Democrats called “Deciding to Win” declares that Medicare for All is an “unpopular economic policy”––but advocates say the claim is false.

  • Trump’s Big Caribbean War Lie

    “The evidence that the U.S. Navy’s buildup in the Caribbean is not about combating drugs but rather regime change in Venezuela is overwhelming. Perhaps the most obvious is that the U.S. is obliterating small boats and their crews, rather than capturing the men and forcing a confession from them. No names are released.“

  • Trump and Nuclear Threats

    “The U.S. government has withdrawn from various nuclear weapons treaties, including the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty during the George W. Bush administration and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in Trump’s first administration. It has been in violation of its disarmament obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Biden administration made U.S. nuclear policy more aggressive in…

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