MARY SCHWEITZER An associate professor of economic history at Villanova University, Schweitzer said today: “From the standpoint of historical statistics, the most obvious abnormality is the ever-widening gap in the distribution of income and wealth in this country, made all the more alarming by the nature of the discrepancy. Since 1980, taxes on the labor in this country have risen substantially in the form of the FICA tax charged both workers and their employers. Fifteen percent of all labor costs go directly to the federal government today, harming both workers and small businesses… When all taxes are factored in, a…

ROBERT NAIMAN A senior policy analyst at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, Naiman said today: “The U.S. government decision to challenge efforts to make AIDS drugs affordable in Brazil at the World Trade Organization is disturbing for several reasons. It indicates that despite lofty rhetoric in Washington about the importance of fighting the scourge of AIDS in poor countries, the priorities of the pharmaceutical lobby still take precedence in U.S. policy over the lives of millions. It also illustrates the danger of lodging dispute resolution and enforcement powers in institutions like the WTO; the clear intent of…

JOEL BLAU Blau, a professor of social policy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, said today: “Bush is marketing a tax policy that redistributes money upward. Earn money as a worker, and you are taxed; make money in the stock market, and you will be taxed less; accumulate enough money, and when you die, your estate will not be taxed at all. The Bush proposal to cut the capital gains and estate taxes thereby illuminates the essential policy bias of the new administration. Instead of ‘compassionate conservatism’ and calls to leave no American behind, we are…

RABBI ARTHUR WASKOW Waskow, director of The Shalom Center, is on the steering committee of Break the Silence, an ad hoc group of American Jews who “support Israel and a Palestinian state living at peace alongside Israel.” He is among the signers of a statement being released today on behalf of the Olive Trees For Peace project, which says in part: “We dare not leave peacemaking to the interaction between Prime Minister Sharon and Chairman Arafat. Both peoples must now act at the grass roots. We must take small steps to renew trust between our communities, while keeping fresh before…

While governors from 10 western states met with federal officials in Portland, Ore., today to discuss the regional energy crisis, critics in California and the Pacific Northwest were calling for fundamental changes in government policies on electric power generation. The following policy analysts are available for interviews: EUGENE ROSOLIE The director of the Green Power Project at the Portland-based organization Northwest Environmental Advocates, Rosolie said this afternoon: “It’s unfortunate that elected officials failed to see the warning signs of this energy crisis months ago. Friday’s conference will amount to nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The…

In recent years, the U.S. Justice Department and its Task Force on Violence Against Reproductive Health Care Providers have been credited with preventing violence. Although John Ashcroft testified he would protect abortion providers, many doubters, citing his record, are speaking out. “I have rarely spoken to the media in the two years since my husband’s death,” says Lynne Slepian, the widow of an abortion provider murdered in his home near Buffalo, New York. In a written statement, she explains her opposition to the Ashcroft nomination: “How can my family rely on John Ashcroft to provide all of the resources necessary…

The World Trade Organization has indicated that it will hold its next ministerial meeting at the beginning of November in Qatar. This has prompted objections from human rights groups and critics of the WTO concerned that Qatar will not allow protests. The WTO is expected to make its official selection within the next two weeks. The following people are available for comment: JOE STORK Washington director of the Middle East/North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, Stork said today: “Either Qatar must pledge that free assembly will be respected or the WTO ministers should find another location. Qatar’s human rights…

MEDEA BENJAMIN Founding director of Global Exchange and spokesperson for the Campaign for Public Power Now, a new coalition of consumer, community and environmental groups, Benjamin said today: “Dozens of municipalities throughout the state, including Los Angeles and Sacramento, have no power crisis because they publicly own and control their power systems…. Governor Gray Davis should use the power of eminent domain to take over the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. Politicians should give back the money their campaigns got from the utility industry and fight for the interests of consumers, not grossly mismanaged utility companies.” More Information TYSON…

Al Gore: 50,996,116 George W. Bush: 50,456,169 In the nationwide popular vote, Gore received 539,947 more votes than Bush. Source: The Associated Press

WENONAH HAUTER Director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, Hauter said today: “Americans are proud of the progress made over the past three decades to clean up our environment. George W. Bush’s nomination of Gale Norton for Secretary of the Interior would turn back the clock…. For instance, she was a strong advocate of Colorado’s ‘self-audit’ law, which allows corporations to perform voluntary audits to determine if they are complying with federal environmental regulations. This law also gives companies immunity from fines and lawsuits if they report and correct violations. To Coloradans who fished in the Alamosa…