While states across the country reach deadlines to end welfare for large numbers of people, some policy analysts contend that both the White House and the Republican congressional leadership are dodging substantial evidence that many Americans who have been dropped from the welfare rolls are worse off as a result. Among the researchers available for comment are: LINDA GORDON “The problem of welfare cannot be separated from the problems of the working poor,” said Gordon, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin and author of “Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare.” She added: “Numerous…

President Clinton went to Capitol Hill today to talk about his administration’s legislative agenda. Interviews are available with these analysts: NANCY SNOW Snow, assistant professor of political science at New England College, is executive director of Common Cause in New Hampshire. “The other Y2K problem is the money chase in the presidential campaigns of 2000,” she said. “President Clinton should pay more than lip service to the need for campaign finance reform. Clinton wants to be seen on the side of the good guys who favor reform — but he, like so many other politicians, has shown no conviction on…

Despite new figures showing rapid growth in the U.S. economy, some economists said Friday afternoon that many Americans are not getting much benefit from the nation’s overall prosperity. While the Commerce Department has just reported that the economy grew at an annual rate of 6.1 percent during the final quarter of 1998, independent economists cautioned that — despite a hefty boost in the U.S. gross domestic product — huge gaps exist in Americans’ economic well-being. The following economists are available for interviews: ROBERT POLLIN Pollin, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said Friday: “The demand…

DAVID HARTSOUGH Director of the Peaceworkers organization from 1993 through 1998, Hartsough made several extended visits to Kosovo in recent years in support of nonviolent resistance and conflict-resolution efforts. Last March, he was detained by Serbian authorities, who jailed him and later expelled him from the country. “For more than eight years, the Kosovo Albanian majority struggled for their rights against Serbian repression in one of the largest efforts of sustained nonviolent action since Gandhi,” Hartsough said Tuesday. “This was the time for creative efforts at preventive diplomacy. Yet the United States and the rest of the world paid little…

DIANA ZUCKERMAN Director of the Social Security Project of the National Association of Commissions for Women, Zuckerman said: “Privatization would be a double whammy for women: Privatized personal accounts primarily benefit the highest earners, who tend to be men, and many of the proposed benefit cuts would harm our lowest earners, most of whom are women. Most women earn $25,000 a year or less. No matter how good their investments, they are not going to do better under privatization than they would under the current system. For starters, personal accounts have high administrative costs that may cost more than the…

With Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan now a prisoner in Turkey, the global spotlight is on the Kurds. In the United States, interviews are available with these analysts who can shed light on Kurdish perspectives: VERA BEAUDIN SAEEDPOUR Founder of the Kurdish Library and the Kurdish Museum, and editor of Kurdish Life and International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Ms. Saeedpour said: “While the U.S. is attacking Iraq almost daily in its self-declared `no-fly zones,’ saying that it does so because it cares about the Kurds, it is backing Turkey in its attacks against the Kurds. Turkey has destroyed, drowned villages with…

KIT GAGE National coordinator of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, Gage said: “The President’s lawyers said it was fundamentally unfair that they were asked to defend him having seen only a small portion of the thousands of pages of testimony. This was secret evidence. They are right, but it is also secret evidence that Clinton’s Department of Justice is using to deny bond and deport several dozen immigrants without due process. These individuals have been jailed for years while fighting deportation and yet they are not charged with any crime.” She added that “no one, not the President,…

WASHINGTON — Hours after Vice President Al Gore announced a new White House anti-drug plan Monday, critics renewed their calls for fundamental changes in federal efforts to curb drug use. Those critics included a former counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, a prisoner who publishes a newspaper, and a sociologist. They are available for interviews: ERIC STERLING President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, Sterling oversaw federal anti-drug efforts from 1979 to 1989 as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. He helped write the law creating drug czar Barry McCaffrey’s office. Today, Sterling said: “Large city police chiefs, almost 3…

WASHINGTON — Although the Clinton administration is hailing its new budget for record levels of spending on environmental protection and new clean air initiatives, critics said Thursday that many budget priorities actually encourage pollution and undermine a clean environment — while fleecing taxpayers. Environmentalists are sometimes accused of being “big government” boosters, but these experts are calling for budget cuts: LEXI SHULTZ Staff attorney for U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) and co-author of “Green Scissors ’99,” Shultz said: “We are disappointed that President Clinton continues to support polluter pork subsidies to multibillion-dollar corporate polluters, including his request for an…

GREG SPEETER The executive director of the National Priorities Project, Speeter said: “The fact that we’re looking at increasing the Pentagon budget by $110 billion over the next five years, at a time when it ought to be going down, is ridiculous. Our domestic needs are increasing. We have a child poverty rate of 20.8 percent according to the Census Bureau. Drinking water systems that serve more than 50 million Americans violate health regulations and standards. The GAO says that 30 percent of our schools are in need of extensive repairs. Over 40 million Americans have no health insurance. We…