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News Releases

  • Think Tank Wins Acclaim for “Sheer Wackiness”

    Cato Institute Hailed for “Private Regulation” Oxymoron WASHINGTON — Hours after it released a call for “private regulation” to replace key federal regulatory functions, the Cato Institute won sardonic accolades Monday for “sheer wackiness in the service of deregulation mania.” The influential think tank urged the federal government to consider discarding regulatory roles “such as certification, inspection, monitoring and product testing.” Cato touted advantages of “shifting regulatory roles now assigned to government to independent agencies.” But some specialists in regulatory issues quickly dismissed the idea. Michael R. Lemov, who was general counsel of the federal National Commission on Product Safety…

  • Critics Charge Propanganda Rush for Tax Day

    Think Tank’s Assertions Tax Credulity, Economists Say WASHINGTON — The Cato Institute, one of the nation’s most influential think tanks, is under fire for its claims about the tax code. In a news release targeted to coincide with the April 15 tax deadline, Cato asserts that “one of the primary reasons for the stagnation” of workers’ real wages has been that “taxes and government mandates on employers have been expanding steadily, crowding out the amount workers can put in their pockets.” In fact, says economist John Miller, “corporate profits have increased appreciably as real wages have stagnated.” Miller, a professor…

  • Leading Think Tank Faulted for Distorting Tax Issues

    WASHINGTON — One of the nation’s most prominent think tanks has been putting out deceptive information about tax issues this spring, some independent economists say. While the Heritage Foundation has marked this tax season with a flood of dire statements about taxes, many of those claims don’t stand up, the economists charge. John Miller, a professor of economics at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., said that “the Heritage Foundation has engaged in a politically motivated misreading of the data on the tax burden of most working Americans.” Economists ripped into claims made repeatedly by the Heritage Foundation this tax season.…

  • Just Back From Afghanistan and Pakistan

    KATHY KELLY JOSHUA BROLLIER Kelly and Brollier are with the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence. They are just back from over a month in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several articles they have written are on the group’s web page. Kelly said today: “As violence escalates and the war prolongs, the question isn’t what does the U.S. want. It’s what do people in Afghanistan want. There’s real fear of the Taliban, but people ask why the U.S. invaders and their warlord clients should run the country. There are an estimated 850 children dying every day (see Save the Children). Meanwhile, we’re spending…

  • Just Back From Afghanistan and Pakistan

    KATHY KELLY JOSHUA BROLLIER Kelly and Brollier are with the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence. They are just back from over a month in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several articles they have written are on the group’s web page. Kelly said today: “As violence escalates and the war prolongs, the question isn’t what does the U.S. want. It’s what do people in Afghanistan want. There’s real fear of the Taliban, but people ask why the U.S. invaders and their warlord clients should run the country. There are an estimated 850 children dying every day (see Save the Children). Meanwhile, we’re spending…

  • Just Back From Afghanistan and Pakistan

    KATHY KELLY JOSHUA BROLLIER Kelly and Brollier are with the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence. They are just back from over a month in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several articles they have written are on the group’s web page. Kelly said today: “As violence escalates and the war prolongs, the question isn’t what does the U.S. want. It’s what do people in Afghanistan want. There’s real fear of the Taliban, but people ask why the U.S. invaders and their warlord clients should run the country. There are an estimated 850 children dying every day (see Save the Children). Meanwhile, we’re spending…

  • Uproar Over Free Speech and Lockout: “Unprecedented” Stifling of Radio Station

    A nationwide outcry is growing as the Pacifica Foundation continues its lockout of staff and volunteers at radio station KPFA in the San Francisco area. A week ago, the foundation’s management halted the station’s evening newscast in mid-sentence while the news anchor was reporting on the latest developments in the KPFA-Pacifica conflict. Since then, archival…

  • Trade Issues: Africa, Agriculture

    There have been a number of developments on trade issues this week: The World Trade Organization ruled on the European Union’s ban on U.S. hormone-injected beef, the Secretary of Agriculture made a speech on genetically modified foods and the House is set to vote on major Africa trade legislation. Among the analysts available to discuss…

  • “Compassionate Conservatism”?

    LOUIS DUBOSE Editor of the Texas Observer, Dubose said: “‘Compassionate conservatism’ is in fact the same old wine, badly soured, in a shiny New Texas bottle. We are dead last in per capita government spending, 49th in spending on the environment — while first in pollution.” More Information EVA DeLUNA Budget and policy analyst at…

  • Poverty of Ideas?

    As President Clinton tours poor areas of the United States, analysts are available to comment on past and future policy choices: MIMI ABRAMOVITZ Professor at the School of Social Work at Hunter College and author of Regulating the Lives of Women, Abramovitz said: “It’s positive, and long overdue, that Clinton is addressing these issues, but…

  • Analysts on Medicare

    The following health-care policy specialists are available for interviews on the new Clinton plan for Medicare: DON McCANNE, M.D. A member of the National Coalition to Protect, Improve and Expand Medicare, Dr. McCanne said today: “Including prescription coverage in Medicare is definitely a step in the right direction, but it is still inadequate because it…

  • Gore and AIDS Drugs

    Vice President Gore’s role in setting policies for AIDS drugs in countries such as South Africa has become a simmering issue. These analysts are available to explain why: ROBERT WEISSMAN Co-director of the Essential Action organization founded by Ralph Nader and co-author of Corporate Predators, Weissman said: “Africa is suffering from an AIDS epidemic that…

  • Health Care: Big Issues

    Yesterday, for the first time, the American Medical Association voted to endorse unionization for doctors. Also, there is renewed discussion of a patients’ bill of rights. The following analysts are available to discuss these and other health care policy issues: DIANE LARDIE National coordinator for the Universal Health Care Action Network, Lardie said: “Ten years…

  • G-7 Meeting: Interviews Available

    NJOKI NJOROGE NJEHU Director of 50 Years Is Enough Network, Njehu will be in Cologne with other members of the Jubilee 2000 movement. “So far the proposals the G-7 have put forward are woefully inadequate,” she said. “They are still maintaining adherence to IMF structural adjustment programs as qualifying criteria for countries to receive minimal…

  • Clinton and Child Labor Rights

    In his speech today at the International Labor Organization Conference in Geneva, President Clinton said: “We must wipe from the Earth the most vicious forms of abusive child labor. Every single day, tens of millions of children work in conditions that shock the conscience… There are children handling dangerous chemicals; children forced to work when…

  • Russians in Kosovo: Analysis

    DAVID KOTZ Co-author of Revolution From Above: The Demise of the Soviet System and professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Kotz said Monday: “The Russians’ preemptive move into Kosovo is a consequence of the two-track strategy that NATO followed regarding ending the war. The first track was their insistence on a NATO force…

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