News Release

McCAIN WOULD DRIVE UP HEALTH CARE COSTS FOR FAMILIES, WHILE BENEFITING HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES

Toby Chaudhuri — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain’s health care plan would dismantle the employer-provided system that covers more than 60 percent of non-elderly Americans and drive up health care costs, according to experts responding to the announcement of his proposal today. An average family could see their health care costs as much as double under the McCain health care plan, according to an analysis by the Campaign for America’s Future.

Campaign for America’s Future co-director Roger Hickey, one of the leaders of a new coalition of groups working to fix the broken health care system, said that Sen. McCain’s plan would tax the health care premiums employers pay for their workers, encouraging most companies to stop providing any coverage. Hickey noted that instead of lowering costs, this would force millions of Americans to buy more expensive coverage with inadequate tax credits, greatly increasing the number of families who can’t afford quality care.

“John McCain’s plan must’ve been written by the insurance companies. It leaves them in more control of America’s health care system than ever before,” said Hickey. “John McCain wants us all to buy insurance not as part of a group – like an employee group or a co-op – that can negotiate for better coverage at lower premiums, but as individuals, at the mercy of the private insurance companies. It would leave millions of people with worse coverage, more chronic health problems and higher levels of health cost-driven bankruptcies.”

Most people, even those with good insurance, don’t get the health care they need, contributing to rising health costs. Sen. McCain, however, believes that the problem with health care is that Americans have too much insurance and that if consumers pay for it out of their own pockets, they will in turn force hospitals and insurance companies to become more efficient.

Dr. Jacob Hacker, a professor at Yale University and the author of the “Health Care for America” plan, which Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards used as the basis for their health care proposals, disagrees with McCain’s fundamental premise. Hacker said the real problem is rising health care costs and declining coverage.

“McCain’s proposal doesn’t address either of these problems in a serious way,” said Hacker. “The real problem for most Americans isn’t just less coverage. It’s that they risk losing coverage or they can’t get coverage when they’re unhealthy, particularly in the individual market. McCain’s proposal does nothing to provide that kind of broader health security.”

AFL-CIO political director Karen Ackerman joined Hickey and Hacker on a conference call with reporters today and announced details of a new campaign to explain the devastating effects of Sen. McCain’s health care plan to millions of voters nationwide. The AFL-CIO campaign will include a massive national canvass to 200,000 union households on Saturday, May 17.

“While those with pre-existing conditions simply will have an even harder time finding health care than they do now, insurance companies -- and John McCain’s friends who lobby for them -- stand to make a killing,” said Ackerman. “Working families need a fresh vision and new direction to turn around our country. So far, Sen. McCain has provided neither. We’re working hard to make sure Sen. McCain hears the voices of working families.”

In early March, the AFL-CIO launched a major effort to educate voters about Sen. McCain’s economic record and plans, pressuring him at every campaign event he holds, including this week’s health care events in Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio and Colorado. In the coming weeks, the AFL-CIO will focus on 13 million union voters in 23 battleground states, educating them on exactly who stands to benefit from Sen. McCain’s health care proposals, communicating with voters at the worksite, the doorstep, on the phone, through the mail and online.

# # #

HEALTH CARE COSTS BACKGROUND

$11,765	Average premium cost of the most popular employer-based plan last year [Kaiser Family Foundation]
$5,000	Tax credit for a family under the McCain plan [johnmccain.com]
$6,765	Average additional yearly cost per family under the McCain plan [Campaign for America’s Future]
$3,226	Average amount per worker employers paid for premiums last year [Kaiser Family Foundation]

Record-Breaking: Senate Conservatives

Isaiah J. Poole — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:03:10 -0500

WASHINGTON—The Republican Senate minority today filibustered an omnibus budget bill, setting a modern-day record for blocking the most legislation during a congressional session. A new report released today by the Campaign for America's Future details the 62 times conservatives have used the filibuster to block legislation (or force modification of bills) in the first session of the 110th Congress. In just the first year of this two-year Congress, their use of the filibuster in the Senate topped the previous record, reached during the entire 107th Congress.

The new report outlines every bill filibustered, vetoed or threatened to be vetoed by President Bush. Conservatives filibustered bills to end the occupation of Iraq, provide soldiers in Iraq rest time equal to their deployments, support renewable energy and grant residents of the District of Columbia representation in Congress. Today's record-breaker involved a $516 billion budget package passed by the House to fund the federal government in 2008. The conservative minority demanded $20 billion additional funding for the war and opposed House language to bring troops home, and threatened a filibuster to prevent the bill from getting an up or down vote.

"In just one session, a minority in Congress has prevented a mind-blowing 62 pieces of legislation from going to the floor for an up or down vote," said Campaign for America's Future co-director Roger Hickey. "Our report shows how over and over again, the uncompromising minority has thwarted the will of majorities in Congress and of the American people, holding the Senate floor hostage to a radical right-wing agenda."

Sixty votes are needed to invoke cloture and end a filibuster. The 62nd cloture vote of the session is more than any single session of Congress since at least 1973, the earliest year cloture votes are available online from the Senate. Republicans are on pace to force 134 cloture votes to cut off a filibuster, according to the Campaign for America's Future analysis, more than double the historical average of the last 35 years.

Even pieces of legislation that have made it past the Senate filibuster blockade have been obstructed by President Bush. Last week the President vetoed for the second time a popular bill that would expand health coverage for 10 million American children. According to the Campaign for America's Future report, Bush has threatened to veto 84 bills and has vetoed six as of December 17. In contrast, during the period when the Republicans were in the congressional majority, Bush went the longest time without vetoing a bill since President James Garfield.

Eric Lotke, Campaign for America's Future research director and lead author of the new report, calls the obstruction a "deliberate strategy." He observes that the congressional Republicans block legislation, then blame the Democrats for getting nothing done. "It's like mugging the postman and then complaining that the mail isn't delivered on time."

The story of this historic level of obstruction has recently been covered by The New York Times, but has yet to be fully told in the media. The new Campaign for America's Future report shows how major media outlets describe the 60-vote threshold as an ordinary procedure, neglecting that this tactic is an unprecedented assertion of minority control.

# # #
NOTE: To obtain an electronic copy of the Campaign for America's Future's report, "Block and Blame: The Conservative Strategy of Obstruction in the 110th Congress," please visit

http:/ourfuture.org/assets/block-and-blame.pdf.

'Barbie and Ken' Video Calls For Ouster Of Nation's Top Product Safety Official

Toby Chaudhuri — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 03:00:00 -0500

WASHINGTON — As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear this week, a growing number of citizen and consumer groups are calling on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to better protect children from dangerous toys that have made it to store shelves this year. The Campaign for America's Future has released a humorous video, featuring a "toxic" encounter between the famous Barbie and Ken dolls, calling for the resignation of CPSC Acting Director Nancy Nord. Nord has opposed legislation to strengthen CPSC oversight on toy safety and been caught taking trips paid for by the toy industry.

Today the CPSC released its annual "ABCs of Toy Safety" report, enumerating the cautions parents should take into consideration when purchasing toys. Notably absent in their "Top Safe Shopping Tips" are recommendations on taking precautions to avoid lead-contaminated products - one of the most significant toy hazards this year.

The Campaign for America's Future's video reminds viewers that accessories for Barbie dolls were among the millions of imported toys recalled this year because of toxic levels of lead paint or other serious safety problems. In the new video, Barbie and Ken run into each other at a bar and their post-break up reunion ends the next morning at the Barbie Dream House. Soon Barbie complains to Ken that she is "having some symptoms." When Ken asks Barbie what's wrong, she responds, "It's…it's lead poisoning." The video ends with a call to sign the petition calling for Nord's resignation. (The video can be seen at ourfuture.org.)

The call for Nord's resignation has grown over the past month. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., called for the resignation of Nancy Nord on a news conference call sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future last month. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and others have also sounded the call that Nord must go.

Earlier this month the Campaign for America's Future released a report detailing how the federal government has gutted the agency responsible for consumer protections. The budget and staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the government agency responsible for monitoring consumer goods in the U.S., is less than half the level it was when it started in 1974. At the same time, world imports have increased by 338 percent since 1974. Imports from China, the main producer of toys, has increased nearly 3,900 percent since 1985. Inspection has been slashed even as the need for it has multiplied.

The Campaign for America's Future is among several groups fighting for improved consumer protection. Today, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group released a new report detailing dangerous toys on the shelves this holiday season. The United Steelworkers have been running a "Get the Lead Out" campaign providing families with lead testing kits for their homes. The Consumers Union has launched a video and petition for stricter protections on toys and food this week, and Public Citizen is also collecting signatures for its petition demanding Nord's ouster.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown yesterday sued 20 companies in state court, including Mattel Inc. and Toys "R" Us, claiming they sold toys containing "unlawful quantities of lead" and failing to caution consumers. The law suit alleges that the companies violated the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.

# # #

**NOTE: To view the new video or obtain an electronic copy of the Campaign for America's Future's report on Toxic Trade, please visit ourfuture.org. **

Toxic Trade Exposes More and More Americans To Deadly Products, Report Says

Toby Chaudhuri — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 03:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON – More and more American consumers are at risk from products that are not produced in America or subject to American safety standards, according to a new report released today by the Campaign for America’s Future. The report calls for an increase in the authority and budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a move that its commissioner Nancy Nord opposes.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., joined Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage and senior fellow David Sirota on a conference call with reporters today to release the report, calling for Nord’s resignation.

Highlighting the urgency of the problem, dangerous levels of lead have been found in costumes and candy buckets meant for kids to use on Halloween. Lead has been banned from toys for 30 years in the U.S., but more than 20 million toys manufactured in China have recently been recalled for unsafe levels of lead.

The report details the basic reality that puts children at risk. World imports have increased by 338 percent since 1974, with imports from China alone increasing nearly 3,900 percent since 1985. Yet the budget and staff of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the government agency responsible for monitoring consumer goods in the U.S., is less than half the level it was when it started in 1974. Inspection has been slashed even as the need for it has multiplied.

Sen. Brown said Congress is weighing the most significant consumer-safety legislation in a generation, for the reasons outlined in the Campaign for America’s Future report. Sen. Brown said we must protect the safety and health of our children and our families first.

“Our nation’s haphazard trade policy allows contaminated food and toys onto our shelves and into our homes,” said Sen. Brown. “Until we give CPSC the authority to enforce safety standards, we won’t be able to prevent contaminated products from ending up in our homes. This administration’s apathy for policies that protect our families is at best shameful, at worst, potentially deadly.”

Rep. DeLauro said legislation in Congress will face hurdles with President Bush over the direction of the CPSC, especially with the Bush Administration’s top consumer product safety official asking Congress to reject legislation intended to strengthen the agency.

“You have producers … asking for increased authorities and standards and the head of the agency says they are not needed,” said Rep. DeLauro on the call. “This is a person who should not be heading up this, even in an acting position. She should go.”

Borosage said the Campaign for America’s Future is stepping up its efforts to get Americans involved in demanding greater protection.

“Conservative governments have handcuffed the cop on the corporate beat,” said Borosage. “This isn’t an accident. It isn’t an oversight. Republican presidents and conservative legislators have campaigned against regulation for decades. And in office, they have cut regulatory budgets and staff, curbed the powers of their agencies and stocked them full of representatives from the industries they are supposed to regulate.”

In a poll by Democracy Corps released today by the Campaign for America’s Future, voters said their greatest concern about China by far was that “lack of safety regulations make Chinese products cheap but also unsafe for American consumers.”

In an illustration of Borosage’s point, Prof. Jeffrey Weidenhammer at Ashland University in Ohio found dangerous amounts of lead in some Halloween toys. One toy in focus is called “Ugly Teeth.” The fake plastic teeth have 100 times allowable levels of lead in the paint on them. The teeth are just one of dozens of Halloween toys Prof. Weidenhammer and his team tested, but they say the plastic teeth are of greatest concern, because lead enters a system fastest when ingested.

Just this past Thursday, the CPSC issued a recall of Halloween pails that children might use to carry their treats in, based partly on tests the professor and his lab had done. They also found high levels in a Frankenstein cup and white skull bucket, but those two items weren't recalled for reasons that are not known.

# # #

**NOTE: To obtain an electronic copy of the Campaign for America’s Future’s report on Toxic Trade and polling results, please visit www.ourfuture.org. **

SOME RECALLED HALLOWEEN TOYS

—142,000 purple Halloween pails with witch decorations by Family Dollar Stores of Charlotte, N.C. (Oct. 25, 2007) for lead content.
[http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08051.html]

—55,000 skull pails filled with Halloween candy mix by R.L. Albert & Son of Greenwich, Conn. (Oct. 17, 2007) for lead content.
[http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08033.html]

—120,000 "Creepy Cape" Halloween costumes by TONY Development & Manufacturing (USA) of Montclair, N.J. (Oct. 13, 2006) for flammability.
[http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07021.html]

SOME RECENTLY RECALLED TOYS

—49,000 Disney™ Deluxe Winnie-the-Pooh 23-piece play sets by J.C. Penney (Oct. 11, 2007) for lead content.
[http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08022.html]

—675,000 Barbie accessory toys by Mattel Inc. (Sept. 4, 2007) for lead content.
[http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07301.html]

—97,000 Mr. Potato Head "Make a Monster Pumpkin" and Mr. Potato Head "Make a Fireman Pumpkin" and Mrs. Potato Head "Make a Diva Pumpkin" by Paper Magic Group Inc., of Scranton, Pa. (Oct. 24, 2006) for choking risks.
[http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07013.html]

Report: Conservative Policies Failed To Rebuild The Gulf Coast, Basic Investments Still Severely Lacking

Toby Chaudhuri — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400

NEW ORLEANS, LA. - Two years after Hurricane Katrina left a path of destruction in the Gulf Coast, the federal government has failed to rebuild devastated areas, according to a new report released today by the Campaign for America's Future. With more than 250,000 former residents of New Orleans still scattered across the country, the report finds that the basic infrastructure of a once-great city is still in shambles. Fraud, abuse, and cronyism infect what little reconstruction has taken place, intensifying economic disparities throughout the Gulf Coast.

"When Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the federal government failed its people. It failed to prepare and failed to rescue. Now it has failed to rebuild. The Bush administration is disconnected and Americans are calling for change," said Campaign for America's Future co-director Robert Borosage. "This failure is not an accident. It's a reflection of the conservative policies and perspectives that scorn government, outsource government responsibility to the private sector, succor cronyism over professionalism and sacrifice the fate of American citizens for political gains."

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., joined Borosage on a conference call with reporters today to release the report. Rep. Clyburn, who led a delegation of House Democrats to the Gulf Coast earlier this month to assess progress, discussed what needs remained on today's call.

"Hurricane Katrina not only devastated an entire region, it destroyed American confidence in the response of their federal government," said Rep. Clyburn. "Two years later, we are still trying to overcome the tremendous damage and loss in the Gulf Coast. Under the leadership of this Congress, we have launched a new direction to rebuild the trust that government can and will be responsive to all of our citizens in time of crisis."

Rep. Waters, who participated in the conference call from New Orleans, called for urgent action addressing the "housing disaster" that Hurricane Katrina set in motion and the Bush administration's response has exacerbated.

"HUD and this administration is attempting to use Katrina as an opportunity to dismantle all of the public housing that they have wanted to tear down for quite some time," said Waters. She said that the administration's meager response to Katrina, which has left thousands of Americans stranded, is based on a central conservative tenet that scorns government. "You have a very conservative administration that has disdain for government even though they're in it," she said.

The Campaign for America's Future also released a new YouTube video that contrasts the promises President Bush made two years ago in his speech from Jackson Square, New Orleans, to the tragic realities Katrina survivors now face. The video, called "Disconnected," features President Bush giving out a toll-free number for survivors to call for help in reuniting their families. That number has since been disconnected, despite the fact that thousands of survivors are still spread across the country, far from their families and homes.

Today's report details how little effort was made to repatriate pre-Katrina residents and that the repatriation was often sabotaged by people who had a vested interest in keeping the poor and people of color out. Many of these residents will not return because of the shortage of affordable housing and the faltering effort to rebuild public infrastructure, including schools and libraries, sewer and water lines, hospitals and childcare facilities, law enforcement buildings and transportation.

President Bush, the city's self-declared savior, plans to visit New Orleans and Mississippi's Gulf Coast with Mrs. Bush this week, beginning with a dinner with Louisiana business leaders this evening. The visit marks the president's 11th trip to New Orleans since Katrina. Most of President Bush's visits to New Orleans were in the first 6 weeks after the storm, but as the failure of the recovery unfolded, he visited only twice in the past year. President Bush did not even mention the city in his State of the Union address last January.

# # #

**NOTE: To obtain an electronic copy of the video and the report or a recording of today's news conference call with Reps. Clyburn and Waters, please visit the Katrina page at www.ourfuture.org.**

Progressive Leaders And Bloggers Join Forces To Expose GOP Strategy Of Blocking And Blaming

Toby Chaudhuri — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON – With thousands of progressive activists gathered at the YearlyKos conference in Chicago and legislators on Capitol Hill preparing to return to their districts for the summer recess, progressive leaders and bloggers joined forces today to launch a major campaign to expose the right’s strategy of obstructing reform while attacking the “do-nothing Congress.” Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., joined Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage and Americans United for Change president Brad Woodhouse on a conference call with reporters today to outline campaign details.

“This is akin to someone mugging the postman and then complaining that the mail isn’t delivered on time,” said Borosage. “If not exposed and challenged, this brazen strategy will sacrifice popular reform for partisan political purposes.”

The Campaign for America’s Future unveiled a Harry Potter-style video parody starring Jason Alexander, also known as “George Costanza” on the hit television series Seinfeld. The video “catches on tape” the conservative mastermind orchestrating the obstruction.

The obstruction campaign, led by the Campaign for America’s Future and Americans United for Change, will directly challenge 12 senators over the congressional recess. Working with state and local partners, the groups will hold media events and release detailed reports of Senate obstruction in Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, New Mexico, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Nevada, and Kansas.

Senate Republicans have launched 43 filibusters on popular reforms in the first 7 months of this Congress. That’s on a pace that will triple the previous record. President Bush has threatened 31 vetoes between May 1 and August 1, including a threat to legislation that would extend health care to millions of children, lower interest rates on student loans, and increase monitoring of food and other imports through our nation’s ports.

# # #

**NOTE: Click here for the full transcript of the press conference. To view the campaign video and state-specific reports, please click here or visit www.ourfuture.org. To obtain a beta or DVD version of the video, please contact Noreen Nielsen at 202-955-5665 or nnielsen@ourfuture.org. **

Experts Fire First Shot At GOP Presidential Candidates Hours Before First Presidential Debate

Toby Chaudhuri — Thu, 03 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON - Hours before the Republican presidential candidates gather for their first debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum today, progressive leaders held a daylong conference at the National Press Club, exposing how conservative ideas have failed America. Panels of experts gathered at the conference, sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future and The American Prospect, detailing how conservatives get the government, the economy, the family and the world wrong.

Campaign for America's Future co-director Robert Borosage kicked-off the conference this morning, arguing that Republican candidates are facing an unsolvable problem.

"Even the Gipper can't pull this one out," said Borosage. "Republican contenders for the presidential nomination are caught between a rock and a hard place. The vast majority of Americans have given up on George Bush, the sitting conservative president. But the die-hards who still support him are loyal Republican primary voters that no Republican candidate can afford to offend."

The Weekly Standard's William Kristol and The American Prospect's Robert Kuttner are scheduled to debate if conservatives can be trusted to govern at the Failure of Conservatism conference at 1 p.m. ET. The debate, to be moderated by Time Magazine's Karen Tumulty, will air live on C-SPAN3.

# # #

**NOTE: An opinion piece by Borosage on tonight's debate that ran in today's Chicago Times is available here. Electronic video of the Failure of Conservatism conference will be available at www.ourfuture.org. To schedule an interview with any of the conference speakers, please contact Noreen Nielsen at nnielsen@ourfuture.org or 603-858-2607.**

CONFERENCE ON THE FAILURE OF CONSERVATISMThursday, May 3, 2007National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

9 a.m.Experts discuss how President Bush and conservatives get the world wrong.

10:30 a.m.Experts discuss how conservatives get government wrong.

11:15 a.m.Experts discuss how conservatives have failed the economy.

1 p.m.Leaders debate if conservatives can be trusted to govern.

2:15 p.m.Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, discusses the new progressive challenge.

2:30 p.m.Experts discuss whether the conservative era is over.

Conference participants include:

--Robert Borosage, co-dir., Campaign for America's Future--Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio--Michelle Ciccarelli, lawyer, victims of Enron fraud--Tamara Draut, author and economic opportunity program dir., Demos--Thomas Frank, author and editor, The Baffler Magazine--E.J. Graff, resident scholar, Brandeis Univ. Women's Studies Research Center--Stan Greenberg, pollster and CEO, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research--Jacob Hacker, author and Yale Univ. professor--John Judis, sr. editor, The New Republic--Robert Kuttner, founding co-editor, The American Prospect--Thea Lee, domestic policy dir. and chief international economist, AFL-CIO--Bill Lerach, leading securities lawyer--Harold Meyerson, columnist, Washington Post--Cecelia Muñoz, sr. vice pres., Natl. Council of La Raza--Rick Perlstein, sr. fellow, Campaign for America's Future--Isaiah Poole, exec. editor, TomPaine.com--Beth Shulman, author and lawyer--Bill Spriggs, professor and chairman of the Economics Dept., Howard Univ.--Diane Straus Tucker, president and publisher, American Prospect

President Bush Made Big Promises With No Real Plan In His State Of The Union Address

Toby Chaudhuri — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0500

WASHINGTON – President Bush made big promises with no plan to fulfill them in tonight’s State of the Union address to Congress, according to experts with the Campaign for America’s Future and the Apollo Alliance.

ON KITCHEN TABLE ISSUES:

“President Bush’s address proved that he exists in his own bubble. He can’t level with the people on Iraq, and he has no clue about the economy’s effects on working families. As a result, the policies that he proposed on Iraq, health care, education and the economy ignore the realities that we face and only dig our country deeper into the hole."

--Robert Borosage, co-director, Campaign for America’s Future

ON HEALTH CARE:

“President Bush’s health care proposals are dead on arrival. They will not be taken seriously by the Congress because no proven health expert and few American families believe that a tax credit will help Americans get good health care coverage. The president’s health care proposals are like his rejected plans to privatize Social Security, his health savings accounts and his Medicare prescription drug plan. They benefit the wealthy and the special interests, leaving the rest of us on our own.”

--Roger Hickey, co-director, Campaign for America’s Future

ON ENERGY:

“Like on Iraq, President Bush isn’t listening to the American people on energy independence. The president convinced us that we have an energy problem, but he hasn’t convinced us that he has a solution. He defined a bold goal, but needs to give us the tools to reach it. Members of Congress from both parties have proposed legislation that goes farther than what the president put on the table. President Bush could be leading this march, but instead, he is falling to the back of the line.”

--Jerome Ringo, president, Apollo Alliance

# # #

**NOTE: To schedule an interview, please contact Noreen Nielsen at 202-955-5665, by cell phone at 603-858-2607 or by email at nnielsen@ourfuture.org.**

FOR CLEAN ENERGY AND GOOD JOBS IN LOS ANGELES

Scott Laczay — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:17:41 -0500

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will join Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo, Councilmember Herb Wesson and members of the Los Angeles Apollo Alliance on Wednesday to announce the city's commitment to leading the fight for energy independence and job creation by promoting a green, sustainable and equitable economy.

Mayor Villaraigosa will also sign the "Apollo Challenge" and launch the Apollo Green Building Initiative, a bold plan to lay the foundation for an equitable and sustainable economy in Los Angeles by "greening" existing, deteriorating city-owned buildings while also creating good jobs that pay livable wages for low-income residents.

The Los Angeles Apollo Alliance is part of the broader nationwide Apollo Alliance that unites nearly 16 million union members and 11 million environmental organization members across the country to create new jobs, new energy and new independence for America by investing in the domestic clean energy sector.

-- Villaraigosa Announced Partnership With Apollo Alliance

WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006 at 5 p.m. PST

WHERE: Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif.

PARTICIPANTS: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles, Calif., Jerome Ringo, president, Apollo Alliance, Councilmember Herb Wesson, 10th District

Leaders Call For Truman-style Commission To Investigate Contract Abuse In Iraq

Toby Chaudhuri — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0400

WASHINGTON – Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., joined filmmaker Robert Greenwald today calling for a Truman-style commission to investigate the gross misuse of government funds spent by contractors in Iraq. Sen. Dorgan and Greenwald participated in a news conference on Capitol Hill this morning, where they also released a new report by the Campaign for America’s Future that provides an overview of the profiteering and mismanagement in Iraq.

The report traces a litany of abuses back to the disdain for the mission of nation-building and the cronyism that is the hallmark of the conservatives that dominate our government. The report details votes made in Congress where measures designed to put in place accountability or oversight were rejected by the Republican majority. The report will also be featured at thousands of house parties across the country next month, where participants will view Greenwald’s new film “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers” and demand that Congress act to establish accountability.

“The federal government has outsourced core government responsibilities in Iraq at the expense of the lives of soldiers and civilians,” said Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage. “The conservative ideology of shrinking fundamental government responsibilities and outsourcing them to corporate cronies has reached unprecedented proportions in Iraq. Corporations are cashing in on the crisis, often with tragic consequences. Worse, both the administration and the Congress have simply failed to enforce basic accountability.”

The report documents six notorious companies that spent a combined $3,228,665 on campaign contributions and $7,490,000 on lobbying since the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001. Halliburton and Titan Corp. gave 89 percent of their campaign contributions to Republicans and only 11 percent to Democrats.

Halliburton has come under special scrutiny because Vice President Cheney was their CEO and still owns stock options in the company. Halliburton dispatched drivers with empty trucks because it was paid by the trip. Titan Corp. and CACI provided translators and interrogators implicated in abuses at Abu Ghraib. Blackwater sent men in understaffed, unarmored vehicles in violation of a contract to a massacre in Fallujah. Becthel failed to complete the construction of a children’s hospital in Basra it was paid $50 million to build.

Later in the day, the Democratic Policy Committee, chaired by Sen. Dorgan, convened a hearing featuring Halliburton whistleblowers describing how Halliburton’s own employees took items intended to go to the troops. Witnesses provided new details of the “Good Friday Massacre” in which Halliburton supervisors sent unarmed American civilians to drive through a combat zone, resulting in the death of six truck drivers and two soldiers.

At 7:15 p.m. tonight the Campaign for America’s Future will host the capital premiere of Greenwald’s new film “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers” at the Woolly Mammoth Theater. The movie explores the stories of civilians and soldiers in Iraq who have been endangered and killed due to grave mismanagement by contractors.

# # #

**NOTE: An electronic copy of the report is available at www.ourfuture.org. Media representatives interested in attending the Washington premiere of the movie should reserve tickets by contacting Anne Thompson at athompson@ourfuture.org.**