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News Releases

  • Pro-Bush Forces Working to Help Nader in Push to Get on Oregon Ballot

    The Oregonian newspaper reported Friday that “groups allied with President Bush are encouraging their conservative members to do the seemingly unthinkable: attend a convention Saturday to help put left-leaning independent candidate Ralph Nader on the Oregon presidential ballot. The groups — with the encouragement of some Republican political operatives — are telling their members that Nader would draw votes from Democrat Sen. John Kerry and boost Bush’s chances of winning Oregon.” AP says that “two conservative groups have been phoning people around Oregon this week, urging them to attend Ralph Nader’s convention … The groups make no bones about their…

  • * Cost of Iraq War * Negroponte’s Record in Honduras * Bush’s AIDS Claims * Survivors of Torture Speak Out * Regime Change in Guatemala: 50 Years Later

    PHYLLIS BENNIS, [via Emily Schwartz Greco] A fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Bennis is the primary author of the just-released report “Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War,” which is available at the above web page. More Information LARRY BIRNS Birns is director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, which released the report “Negroponte: Nominee for Baghdad Embassy a Rogue for All Seasons.” He said today: “Though the Bush administration is strenuously attempting to portray Negroponte as a distinguished career Foreign Service professional, it should be recalled that his 1981-85 stint as ambassador to Honduras…

  • Clinton’s Domestic Legacies

    IDA HELLANDER, M.D. Executive director of Physicians for a National Health Program, Hellander said today: “The HMOs — which rose during the 1990s — are, in effect, practicing medicine by deciding which tests and treatments will be covered. They skimp on coverage to maximize their profits. When they deny medically necessary care for patients, they should be held accountable. The Supreme Court is taking us in the wrong direction. It’s precisely because of the grip of the giant HMO and drug company lobbies on our Congress that we don’t have a universal health care system like every other industrialized nation.…

  • Electronic Voting — Danger for Democracy

    DAN WALLACH Wallach is an assistant professor of Computer Science at Rice University in Houston specializing in building secure and robust software systems for the Internet. Along with colleagues at Johns Hopkins, Wallach co-authored a groundbreaking study that revealed significant flaws in Diebold’s AccuVote-TS electronic voting system. He said today: “Neither the source code [for the computerized voting systems] nor the results of any third-party certification analyses have been made available for the general population to study. The vendors claim that secrecy is a necessary requirement to keep their systems secure.” However after the source code for a voting system…

  • Military Contractors in Iraq: Privatizing Unaccountability and Torture?

    PRATAP CHATTERJEE Program director for CorpWatch, Chatterjee is the author of the recent articles “Controversial Commando Wins Iraq Contract” and “Private Contractors and Torture at Abu Ghraib, Iraq.” He said today: “Occupation authorities in Iraq have awarded a $293 million contract effectively creating the world’s largest private army to a company headed by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Spicer … who has been investigated for illegally smuggling arms and planning military offensives to support mining, oil, and gas operations around the world.” More Information WAYNE MADSEN Madsen, a former communications security specialist for the National Security Agency, is an investigative journalist and…

  • Why Is Dick Cheney Still Lying About Iraq and 9/11?

    “The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks reported Wednesday there was ‘no credible evidence’ that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda target the United States.” — Associated Press, June 16 www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0616-01.htm Vice President Richard Cheney on Saddam Hussein: “He had long established ties with al-Qaeda.” — Associated Press, June 14 www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/06/14/cheney.terrorism.ap ANDREW RICE COLLEEN KELLY BOB McILVAINE Rice, Kelly and McIlvaine are members of Peaceful Tomorrows, a group of 9/11 victims’ relatives. Rice, chair of the 9/11 Commission for Sept. 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, said today: “Given that the … 9/11 commission has repudiated any connection between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s…

  • “A Nation of Laws”? Presidential Authority, Immunity and Torture

    REED BRODY “The torture and mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison was the predictable result of the Bush administration’s decision to circumvent international law,” Human Rights Watch said in a new report. Brody is special counsel with Human Rights Watch and author of that report, titled “The Road to Abu Ghraib.” He said today: “The report examines how the Bush administration adopted a deliberate policy of permitting illegal interrogation techniques and then spent two years covering up or ignoring reports of torture and other abuse by U.S. troops…. The only exceptional aspect of the abuse at Abu Ghraib…

  • * G-8 Summit Backstory * Iraq Resolution

    NEIL WATKINS, [in Georgia], MARIE CLARKE, [in Georgia Watkins is the outreach coordinator for Jubilee USA Network. He said today: “In this critical moment, Jubilee USA Network calls for … 100 percent cancellation of the debts of all impoverished nations without harmful conditions, not piecemeal and partial relief…. Jubilee USA Network recognizes Iraqi debt as odious and therefore it must be cancelled outright. This same principle should be applied to all nations paying a bill for their own oppression. Odious debt has been defined through international law as loans made to oppressive or dictatorial leaders who used the funds to…

  • Reagan’s Foreign Policies: Beyond the Myths

    BILL FLETCHER President of TransAfrica Forum, Fletcher said today: “Reagan had this ability to project warmth and compassion while implementing incredibly draconian foreign and domestic policies. One example of this was his stubborn resistance to sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa.” More Information JOSEPH GERSON Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Peace and Economic Security Program and the author of the book The Deadly Connection: Nuclear War and U.S. Intervention, Gerson said today: “The idea that Reagan won the Cold War by increasing the military pressure on the Soviet Union is one of the great myths that…

  • From Reagan to Now: Assessing Domestic Policies

    JILL NELSON Author of the book Straight, No Chaser: How I Became a Grown-Up Black Woman, Nelson is critical of “the current orgy of accolades” for Reagan. She said today: “On civil rights Reagan was a complete disaster. He tried to gut the Civil Rights Commission, to stop the extension of the Voting Rights Act in 1982. His administration was relentless in its attacks on affirmative action. Not only did he nominate Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court, but he got an incredible number of white male right-wingers onto the judiciary. He tried to grant tax-exempt status to segregated…

  • Iraq Analysts Available

    JOHN QUIGLEY Professor of Law, Ohio State University. Specialist in the Mideast and in international law. “There is no basis in any Security Council resolution for unilateral military action by the U.S.” BARBARA LUBIN Executive director, Middle East Children’s Alliance More Information JEFF GUNTZEL Traveled recently to Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness, delivering medicine…

  • Iraq Sanctions: What’s the Policy?

    Whether the United States bombs Iraq or not, there are reports that the U.S. is changing its policy to a more sanctions-based approach. While many are claiming that Iraq would be rid of the sanctions if it complied with the weapons inspections, an examination of U.S. policymakers’ statements since the Gulf War suggests otherwise: April…

  • Environmentalists Urge Clinton to Live Up to Rhetoric

    With the Earth’s climate on the table as delegates from more than 160 nations gather in Buenos Aires for a global climate summit, some U.S. specialists are voicing concern that the White House is not honoring its promises. Among those available for comment: ROSS GELBSPAN Gelbspan, author of The Heat Is On: The Climate Crisis,…

  • Victories for Campaign Finance Reform in Two States Likely to Inspire Grassroots Efforts Nationwide

    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…

  • Election Issues That Weren’t

    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…

  • Social Security: Economists Call for Realism

    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…

  • Pinochet Arrest Raises New Questions in Washington

    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…

  • Analysts Decry Inaction by Congress on HMO Reform

    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…

  • Social Security: Would Privatization Help Minorities?

    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…

  • “Surplus” and Poverty in America

    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…

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