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News Releases

  • Clinton in China: Balancing Business and Rights?

    WASHINGTON — Reports of a “large-scale” signing and major business deals on tap during the U.S.-China summit are intensifying the concerns of some analysts. Many support dialogue with the world’s most populous nation, but they remain troubled by President Clinton’s handling of economic, military and human rights issues. Among those available for comment are: JAMES NOLT A Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute, Mr. Nolt specializes in U.S.-East Asia relations and dismisses the notion that China poses a threat. He said: “China remains militarily weak, despite rapid economic growth. China’s pattern of economic growth is actually undermining the old…

  • Critics Dub “Cost of Government Day” Cost of Disinformation Day

    WASHINGTON — As the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation promotes “Cost of Government Day,” claiming that it takes until June 25 for Americans to pay for “the burdensome cost of government,” economists associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy ridiculed the group for purveying dubious assertions. Among those available for comment are: RANDY ALBELDA Ms. Albelda, an economist at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, said: “By their own misguided calculations, the cost of government is unchanged from what it was 20 years ago. (June 25 is actually the earliest date they cite.) The real issue is who pays and…

  • Social Security: “Shortfall” Warnings Distort Reality, Critics Charge

    WASHINGTON — Hours after an influential think tank released a report Monday warning of a multi-trillion-dollar “shortfall” for Social Security, several economists and policy analysts denounced the report as a misleading effort to promote privatization of the federal program. The report, issued by the Heritage Foundation, claims that Social Security “is a very bad deal for younger workers” and that “the Social Security system is bankrupt.” But specialists associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy, a national consortium of policy researchers, blasted the report as a “misleading analysis” based on “inaccuracies” and “half-truths.” Among those available for comment are: ROGER…

  • Context for Clinton Trip to China

    WASHINGTON — As President Clinton prepares for the summit in China, think tanks in the United States are churning out media releases on U.S.-China relations. But some scholars associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy, a nationwide consortium of policy researchers, contend that key aspects of the summit’s economic context are being overlooked. Among those available for interviews on underlying economic issues of the upcoming China summit are: RADHIKA BALAKRISHNAN An economics professor at Marymount Manhattan College who specializes in trade and Third World development, Balakrishnan says: “It’s a good thing that President Clinton is going to China. Opening up…

  • U.S. Foreign Aid: Should It Buy Support?

    WASHINGTON — With Congress now at work on proposals to fund U.S. foreign aid programs for fiscal year 1999, analysts are debating the merits of such assistance. Today, the Heritage Foundation released a policy paper claiming that the largest portion of Washington’s foreign aid budget “goes to many countries that seldom support U.S. foreign policy initiatives.” The think tank cited voting records at the United Nations and declared that “most recipients of U.S. foreign aid vote against the United States more often than they vote with it.” But researchers associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy quickly challenged the spin…

  • Election Analysts See Opportunity, Challenge

    WASHINGTON — While think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute are showcasing their analysts for the 1998 elections, many political researchers say the greatest concerns of most Americans will remain on the back burner. Issues such as education, the distribution of prosperity and the relationship between money and political access are addressed by the Institute for Public Accuracy, a national consortium of policy analysts. Among those available for comment are: LARRY AGRAN Former mayor of Irvine, Calif., attorney and founder of CityVote, Agran said: “Washington-based, millionaire celebrity analysts continue ignoring what should be the country’s top priority: closing the…

  • Military Spending Claims Draw Fire

    WASHINGTON — Projections for the Pentagon budget by one of the nation’s most prominent think tanks drew criticism today from several specialists in military spending. The Heritage Foundation’s new report, “Current Budget Priorities May Have Serious Defense Consequences,” was faulted for its claim that by 2020, “the downward trend in defense would result in the virtual elimination of defense spending.” Among those available for comment are: WILLIAM D. HARTUNG A Senior Fellow of the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research, Hartung said: “A similar projection based on the first four years of the Reagan military buildup…

  • Whitewash of IMF Role Charged

    WASHINGTON — A new report on the Asian economic crisis, put out by Washington’s best-known think tank on international economic issues, is drawing fire for its favorable assessment of the International Monetary Fund. Released by the Institute for International Economics, the report is titled “The Asian Financial Crisis: Causes, Cures, and Systemic Implications.” It has come under swift attack from economists who question why IMF bailout policies — including high interest rates, spending cuts, and mass layoffs — were let off the hook in the report. Among those available for comment are: MARK WEISBROT Research Director of the Preamble Center…

  • Debate Heats up on Social Security and Savings

    WASHINGTON — On the eve of the National Summit on Retirement Savings, some analysts are denouncing new efforts to tilt the debate on savings and Social Security. The Heritage Foundation released a report Tuesday, entitled “How Government Policies Discourage Savings,” calling for privatization of Social Security. But scholars and other researchers said today that such policy prescriptions would do irreparable damage to Social Security rather than save it. Among those available for interviews are: JANE D’ARISTA A lecturer in the International Banking and Financial Law Studies Program at Boston University School of Law, D’Arista said: “We have a dual system,…

  • Arms Experts Warn Against Missile Defense Push

    India-Pakistan Nuclear Escalation Deemed No Excuse for New SDI WASHINGTON — Some arms experts expressed concern today over efforts to revive a new version of the Strategic Defense Initiative promoted during the 1980s by the Reagan administration. A recent report from the Heritage Foundation following nuclear tests in South Asia declared that President Clinton “should respond immediately by committing the United States to the development of an emergency missile defense program and to early deployment of a global missile defense system.” But a variety of policy analysts said that such “missile defense systems” are dubious at best. Among those available…

  • ADL: Not a Civil Rights Group, an Advocate for Israel

    “Musk and the ADL perform this dance in which Musk rallies his racist base, and the ADL gets to present itself as if it’s an antiracist organization. It isn’t — the ADL is an advocate for Israel and for key positions of the U.S. right, including anti-CRT and the notion that antiracist organizers are agents…

  • As 9/11 Anniversary Nears: “Time to Reassess the War on Terror”

    For the most part, the American public is left in the dark — unable to give the informed consent of the governed, while Washington’s bipartisan allegiance to perpetual war persists in the name of stopping terrorism.”

  • How the Myth of “Efficiency” Advanced Deregulation, Aided Corporate Mergers, and Devalued Labor

    “There is no empirical research to suggest that mergers that increase concentration actually lower costs and pass on the benefits to consumers. As one district court commented, ‘The Court is not aware of any case, and Defendants have cited none, where the merging parties have successfully rebutted the government’s prima facie case on the strength…

  • Labor Day: Best and Worst States for Workers in America

    Oxfam America released its 2023 edition of the Best States to Work. The five lowest-ranking states “have a minimum wage stuck at the federal level of $7.25, none mandate paid leave, and all have so-called ‘right-to-work’ laws on the books.”

  • Charges of “Flaws” in Protocols as Japan Dumps Fukushima Water Into Pacific

    “Japan and TEPCO claim that they are filtering the radioisotopes out, but only 40 percent of the tanks have been analyzed for radioactivity and not all isotopes were searched for. Radioactive hydrogen, called tritium, can’t be filtered at all.”

  • Effects of the Medicaid “Unwinding” on Children

    As of August 23, at least 5,366,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled since states began the process of disenrolling people from Medicaid after a three-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic, when people could not be kicked off the program.

  • “The U.S. Says No to Affirmative Action — Until It’s Time for War”

    “It’s well established that military recruiters target low-income schools and youth of color. The U.S. invests exponentially more in its military than in education, and according to the New York Times, ‘majority-minority schools are nearly three times as likely as majority-white schools to have a JROTC [Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps] program.’ In some schools –…

  • Artificial Intelligence for Mental Health?

    Woebot Health, a mental health company that uses artificial intelligence, is testing a new functionality using large language models (LLM). Some psychotherapists critique the trial.

  • King’s Dream and Economic Exploitation

    “The name of the march was The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. King and others were looking at the economic conditions. He himself spoke of how ‘America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”‘

  • Homelessness and Opioid Deaths

    Deaths among people experiencing homelessness in Denver have spiked nearly 50 percent since last year.

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