Statewide ballot measures for campaign finance reform won approval Tuesday in Arizona and Massachusetts. Activists say those victories will inspire a groundswell of efforts around the country to clean up the elections process at the grassroots. “This sends a message nationwide,” said Kaia Lenhart, political director of Arizonans for Clean Elections. “There’s no doubt about it.” While Arizona voters were narrowly approving a campaign- reform provision Tuesday, voters in Massachusetts were passing a similar measure by a wide margin. Leaders of both campaigns are available for interviews: KAIA LENHART The political director of Arizonans for Clean Elections, Lenhart said: “We…

As the 1998 campaign nears its end, some observers contend that key realities of American society have remained out of focus. Several policy analysts are available for interviews on subjects they say have gone largely overlooked during this campaign season: JOHN C. BERG Director of Graduate Studies at the Government Department of Suffolk University, Berg said: “This election day, many voters will find no real choice on their ballots. Candidates not acceptable to big business have already been eliminated in the ‘wealth primary’ — the scramble to raise enough money to run a campaign. But change is coming. Congress failed…

Three economists issued statements Friday warning against unrealistic scenarios for privatizing Social Security. The researchers took aim at a new book put out this week by the Cato Institute (Common Cents, Common Dreams) which argues for privatization. They are available for interviews on Social Security policy options. RICHARD Du BOFF Professor of Economics at Bryn Mawr College, Du Boff commented: “If no changes are made in the structure of Social Security taxes and benefits, the system will still be able to pay 75 percent of Social Security retirement benefits due in the year 2032. This potential gap can be closed…

WASHINGTON — The arrest of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet has focused new attention on the record of his regime, which remained in power for 17 years after the 1973 coup that toppled Chile’s democratically elected government. Some pointed questions are being raised about the Washington-based Cato Institute’s current embrace of Jose Pinera, who was Chile’s Minister of Labor and Social Security from 1978 to 1980 and is now co-chair of the prominent think tank’s Project on Social Security Privatization. “Pinera was the Pinochet dictatorship’s labor minister at a time when the country’s trade union movement was suffering one…

WASHINGTON — The failure of Congress to pass legislation on health care reform before adjournment has angered many Americans. A number of doctors and health care analysts are available for interviews about Congressional inaction on a patient bill of rights to address problems with HMOs. Some of these specialists regard such a bill of rights as a necessary step, while others see it as a distraction that does not address the real crisis in the U.S. health care system. EDIE RASELL Rasell, a doctor and an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, said: “The protections considered by Congress were designed…

WASHINGTON — A range of organizations today criticized rosy claims about Social Security privatization for Latinos and African Americans. At a presentation in Washington organized by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the widely cited Heritage Foundation was faulted for “technical errors” and “gross inaccuracies” in its claims that racial minorities would fare better if Social Security were privatized. Kilolo Kijakazi, a senior analyst at the Center, presented her findings in a report released today titled, “African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Social Security: The Shortcomings of the Heritage Foundation Reports.” She noted that Heritage ignored Social Security disability and…

WASHINGTON — While President Clinton announces budget surplus figures today, some economists and poverty specialists are challenging the idea that poverty is receding as a national problem. Among those available for comment are: ANURADHA MITTAL Policy Director at the Institute for Food and Development Policy – Food First, Mittal said: “Extreme poverty is growing fastest among young children. The United States already has the highest child poverty rate in the industrialized world.” More Information DIANA PEARCE Professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Washington in Seattle, Pearce said: “What is happening at the median hides what…

Many critics of President Clinton contend that his record of deception has uniquely disgraced the office of the presidency. But historian Howard Zinn, the author of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States, says: “There is a long history of presidents who have lied to us and deceived us, about governmental actions that led to the deaths of thousands, even millions of people.” Here are a few of the examples cited by Zinn: President Truman “described Hiroshima — just devastated by a U.S.-dropped atomic bomb — as ‘an important Japanese army base.’ More than 100,000 civilians — men,…

WASHINGTON — As the nation considers the future of the Clinton presidency, some legal scholars and policy analysts are putting the Starr report in a broader context of governmental wrongdoing. Among those available for comment: FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, Boyle said: “The impeachment clause is meant to deal with crimes against the state, subverting the Republic. Starr has not yet presented evidence of such a threat to the Republic. This is not to say that there is no reason to impeach Clinton. There are grounds for impeachment — for example, the…

WASHINGTON — On Sept. 11, 1973, a military coup brought down Chile’s democratically elected government. Twenty-five years later, a prominent U.S. think tank is touting a former high official in the Chilean dictatorship as a visionary for privatization of Social Security in the United States. At the Washington-based Cato Institute, Jose Pinera — who was Chile’s Minister of Labor and Social Security from 1978 to 1980 — now chairs the think tank’s Project on Social Security Privatization. “Pinera was the Pinochet dictatorship’s labor minister at a time when the country’s trade union movement was enduring one of its worst periods…