Tag: Green Party

Did Green Party Pitch for ‘Greater Good’ Resonate with National Audience?

I have constantly stated that this election was in need of a good alternative to the two major candidates….neither of which will do anything to make this a better country….

On Wednesday, 17Aug2016, CNN did something that NO other network will do…they gave an outlet to alternative candidates….first it was the Libertarians and Johnson and now it was Stein of the Green Party…..below is an op-ed on the subject…….

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and vice presidential candidate Ajamu Baraka took part in CNN’s first Green Party town hall Wednesday night, laying out their proposals to abolish all student debt, establish a single-payer healthcare system, create a foreign policy based on humanitarian values, and to establish a “Green New Deal” that would both create millions of jobs nationwide and help transition the country to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.

Source: Did Green Party Pitch for ‘Greater Good’ Resonate with National Audience? | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

I watched and I liked what I saw and heard…..but that is me…..confused voters or those on the fence need to at least give the Green Party a look….I think they can find something in their platform that would appeal to their sensibilities….

In case you missed the town hall on CNN…..I had considered given my breakdown of the townhall but if the reader is not interested they will just blow it off….but if there is interests then why not form your own opinion……

Anything would be better than the two sleazoids that come from the major parties…

Let me reiterate….Think Green!

Beyond A Protest Party

I am not a supporter of either of the two major candidates……basically because they are jokes….one is a self-centered dick and the other is a war hawk slobbering over the chance to start more conflicts and make her M-IC handlers smile.

If you are like me then you have two other choices….the Libertarian Party or the Green Party to which I am leaning……

The Libertarians have some good points on the international stage and on privacy issues but their stands on the domestic economic stuff is a bit scary….at least to me.

That leaves the Green Party and Dr. Jill Stein.

But what does the Green Party need to do to start winning the voters over?

To move beyond symbolism, the Green Party needs a strong infrastructure and a commitment to down-ticket elections.

There wasn’t fancy catering, blaring music or the release of thousands of balloons at the Green Party’s presidential nominating convention in Houston, Texas. Nor was there the presence of thousands of cops from dozens of state and federal agencies, or hundreds of cameras snapping photos as mainstream television reporters prepared outside for live standups.

Rather, one bored-looking campus security officer stood outside the University of Houston’s (UH) multipurpose room as the party’s media coordinators handwrote my press credentials and handed me the weekend’s schedule of events. One might not even know a convention for a political party was happening at the campus at all — many UH students I spoke to over the weekend didn’t.

Source: Beyond a Protest Party: What Will It Take for the Green Party to Start Winning?

If you are not a nose picker or a secret war hawk then there is a logical choice for your vote……

Think Green!

MSM: Give Third Parties More Exposure

Believe it or not there are other candidates for the presidency beyond the corrupted 2 parties we hear about every day.

The Mainstream Media could do the right thing and let the American people know they have more choices than tweedle-dee and Tweedle -dum…….as a matter of fact CNN has gained some support from the town halls they held with Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson…..

The Libertarian Party Town Hall event hosted by CNN on Wednesday night was the highest rated show on cable news in the coveted 25-54 demographic for the night.

More than 1.6 million viewers tuned in to the hour-long event featuring Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson and vice presidential candidate William Weld.

Perhaps more important than the raw numbers is the massive uptick in viewership for Wednesday’s event compared to a similar Libertarian Town Hall discussion hosted by CNN on June 22. Overall viewership was up 74 percent and viewership in the 25-54 demographic increased by 101 percent—more than doubling the “in demographic” audience for the first town hall with Johnson and Weld, CNN reported Thursday.

Source: Huge Ratings Uptick for CNN’s Second Libertarian Town Hall, As 1.6 Million Tune In – Hit & Run : Reason.com

My hat goes off to them for having the alternative townhall….the American voter needs more exposure to alternative candidates…..maybe then we can get down to repairing this f*cked up process.

Here’s a thought….why not do the same with the Green Party…..that require backbone and I just somehow do not think they can manage it.

After I wrote that thought about CNN…news has come down that they will hold a Green Party townhall on 17 August

As the Green Party convenes in Houston this weekend to formally nominate Dr. Jill Stein for president, the party’s stars appear more aligned than ever. The Greens have a catchy unofficial slogan: “Jill, Not Hill.” There’s a new generation of politically rootless democratic socialists to woo. The Green Party is predicting it will be on the most state ballots in its history. And Stein is getting more media coverage than any Green since 2000 nominee Ralph Nader, having just secured a prime-time CNN town hall for August 17.

The town hall is a critical opportunity, since Stein is the least known of the four top candidates, including Libertarian Party nominee and former Governor Gary Johnson. And while she has certainly been to political candidate school—male pundits won’t have to remind her to smile—she doesn’t have the inspiring cadence of an Obama or the gruff everyman shtick of a Sanders. Her even keel and consistently left-wing outlook goes down easily with the Democracy Now! audience, but she’ll need to raise her game if she’s to connect on CNN.

Source: Can the Green Party Win With ‘Jill, Not Hill’? – POLITICO Magazine

I stand corrected…..and I will be watching…..will you?

Americans yearn for third choice

The Olympics started today so I will not be posting as much as normal…..I want to watch a few great sports like soccer, handball and a few others…..

2016 is a helluva election……..2 candidates that few trust or even fewer like……some say that we Americans are craving a viable third choice…..instead of whining like titty babies about how bad the candidates are then go out and find an alternative…..

Most Americans desire to vote but this election and the terrible candidates gives them an irritable bowel……

Americans’ demand for an alternative to the two main presidential candidates has surged since the last election, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll shows, underscoring the unpopularity of Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Based on 2,153 interviews, Friday’s poll results suggest a strong potential for a third-party candidate – like Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party or Jill Stein of the Green Party – to take enough of the vote in the Nov. 8 presidential election to influence its outcome.

Source: Faced with Trump and Clinton, Americans yearn for third choice: Reuters/Ipsos poll | Reuters

Bernie-crats–A Do Over?

It is all but official that one Hillary Clinton will become the nominee for the Democratic Party (to the chagrin of many)…..we are only waiting for the convention for the official tally.

The big story is that there is some concern that many of the Bernie-crats will not support the Dems nominee…..plus the media is waiting for official word that Bernie will endorse Clinton…..but what if he does not choose to do so…..is there another possibility that could unfold?

You bet your ass there is…….

Bernie Sanders has been invited to continue his underdog bid for the White House by the Green party’s probable presidential candidate, who has offered to step aside to let him run.

Jill Stein, who is expected to be endorsed at the party’s August convention in Houston, told Guardian US that “overwhelming” numbers of Sanders supporters are flocking to the Greens rather than Hillary Clinton.

Stein insisted that her presidential bid has a viable “near term goal” of reaching 15% in national polling, which would enable her to stand alongside presumptive nominees Clinton and Donald Trump in televised election debates.

Source: Green party’s Jill Stein invites Bernie Sanders to take over ticket | US news | The Guardian

I will offer my take on this……I think that Bernie will turn down the invitation….he wants to protect the democrats as best he can…..he may not like the system but he is a cog in that system.

Anyone else like to comment on the possibility?

(I will be posting more on Dr. Stein and the Green Party in the coming months)

2012 Election “Other” Candidates

One more time……there are others who are running for the presidency…..why?  Only God knows the real reason…….but I said I would profile the other candidates that will most likely be national candidates……

This critique is from the “New American”….I apologize for now including that from the start…..

Green Party:

Dr. Jill Stein (Running mate: community organizer Cheri Honkala)

The Green Party presidential nominee, Jill Stein, is a medical doctor by trade, graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, and has sought numerous Massachusetts state political offices over the past decade.

The Green Party has already gained ballot access in at least 23 states and the District of Columbia, and as a registered write-in in at least four additional states. Stein will probably be on the ballot in 30 or more states and a qualified write-in virtually everywhere else.

Fiscal Agenda: The Green Party platform promises that “Greens will reduce our national debt.” The party promises to raise taxes to as high as 90 percent in some areas and enact a 50-percent cut in defense spending. It also promises to “end corporate welfare.” By themselves, these changes would close the deficit gap, assuming the additional taxes don’t destroy the economic activities being taxed, but Stein has also promised a massive new wave of spending under the slogan “The Green New Deal for America” that would far outpace any spending cuts and tax increases. Thus, it’s not surprising that Stein’s campaign website doesn’t supply a spreadsheet of how it would budget funds.

Stein’s January 2012 “Green New Deal for America” manifesto is based upon Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1944 “Second Bill of Rights.” Stein explains: “The Green New Deal begins with an Economic Bill of Rights that recognizes our rights to an economy that serves people. This means that everyone willing and able to work has the right to a job at a living wage. All of us have the right to quality education, health care, utilities, and housing.” The Green Bill of Rights constitutes a giant economic make-work agenda guaranteed to bankrupt the nation and put 16 million more people on the government payroll. (Stein would implement it at the state and local levels.)

The Stein/Green Party economic philosophy can strictly be categorized as fascist, in that the Green Party would redirect corporations to support the goals of the government, and the government would support the new corporate structure with tax dollars. The Green Party platform calls for “federal chartering of corporations that includes comprehensive, strict and enforceable social responsibility requirements.” The new corporate model under a Green regime would be the cooperative: “The Green Transition Program will provide grants and low-interest loans to grow green businesses and cooperatives, with an emphasis on small, locally-based companies that keep the wealth created by local labor circulating in the community rather than being drained off to enrich absentee investors.” Stein proposes creating “a Corporation for Economic Democracy” to teach Americans the wonders of cooperatives.

Stein would nationalize all utilities and enact far-reaching environmental regulations (increasing Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules for auto manufacturers and a “zero waste” policy). The Green Party additionally proposes a government-run “highly centralized food system” where government sets food prices according to “the health effects of eating processed foods.”

The Green Party would nationalize the Federal Reserve Bank, and it calls for “ending what’s known as the fractional reserve system.” Greens would partially pay for their new spending with government monetary inflation that “will be created and spent into circulation by the U.S. Government.”

Foreign Policy: Some of Stein’s foreign policies would attract constitutional conservatives: Stein notes that “Washington and Eisenhower, both generals who became president, warned us about the military industrial complex. They warned us about the dangers of empire. The Green New Deal includes a 50% reduction in military spending and the withdrawal of U.S. military bases from the over 140 countries in which our military is now located. It calls for restoration of the National Guard as the centerpiece of our system of national defense.” Informed constitutionalists recognize that huge cuts in military spending can be made without endangering national defense since much of the military budget is based on empire building and foreign adventurism, not national defense. Moreover, even a 50-percent cut in military spending would leave U.S. “defense” spending three times greater than China’s, the world’s next largest spender on the military.
However, the Green Party platform would undermine U.S. security and sovereignty if its plans were implemented. It calls for dismantling all U.S. nuclear weapons unilaterally, plus international controls: “The U.S. … must allow foreign teams to visit the U.S. for verification purposes at least annually.” The Green Party platform argues that “the U.S. is obligated to render military assistance or service under U.N. command to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions.” The Greens would seek to give up the U.S. veto at the Security Council of the United Nations and “urge our government to sign the International Criminal Court agreement and respect the authority of that institution.” Put simply, the Green Party supports global governance under the United Nations.

The Green Party seeks to repeal international trade regimes such as NAFTA and the WTO, but would replace them with revised agreements that “protect the labor, human rights, economy, environment and domestic industry of partner and recipient nations,” — that is, a more encompassing and powerful NAFTA and WTO.

Civil Liberties: The Green Party platform officially calls for “strict enforcement of our First Amendment rights of speech, assembly, association and petition,” but in reality would end each of those freedoms. The Green Party would enact federal censorship by creating laws to “carve up the big media conglomerates, and follow up with vigorous anti-trust enforcement,” “reinstate and strengthen the Fairness Doctrine,” “ensure net neutrality,” and “establish substantial public interest obligations for broadcasters and hold them accountable, and revoke licenses from outlets that fail to satisfy these obligations.”

The Green Party would seek a constitutional amendment to repeal the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which freed American citizens to associate, incorporate, and engage in political speech outside of the six media conglomerates that control 95 percent of mainstream media. The Green Party says, “We urgently need to amend our Constitution to make clear that corporations are not persons and money is not speech,” though corporations are nothing more than assemblies of citizens exercising their First Amendment rights together. The Green Party’s solution is to have government become the gate-keeper of all political opinion: “Replace big money control of elections with full public financing and free and equal access to the airwaves.”

The Green Party is generally supportive of gun control — even for police — as the party’s 2008 platform called for limiting police possession of guns and even non-lethal weapons such as Tasers, tear gas, and pepper spray. “We’re not arguing that nobody should have a gun — but public safety should factor into constraints,” Stein told OnTheIssues.org website December 21, 2011.

While the Green Party is hostile to the First and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the party platform is strong on the rest of the Bill of Rights, calling to:

• “End illegal government spying, including the use of warrantless wiretaps;”

• “End torture;”

• “Restore habeas corpus;”

• “End the use of indefinite detention without trial;” and,

• “Repeal … the USA PATRIOT Act.”

Social Issues: The Green Party is socially liberal, favoring federally funded, legalized abortion. The Green Party also favors government recognition of “same-sex marriage” and applauds the abolition of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” rules for the military.

On immigration, the Green Party favors amnesty for illegal aliens and open borders with Canada and Mexico, allowing anyone from either country to move to the United States. The Green Party would repeal the Real ID law, noting that “a national ID card system is one of the hallmarks of a totalitarian government or police state.”
Greens seek to “end the failed war on drugs,” grant amnesty for all non-violent drug offenders, and “implement a step-by-step program to decriminalize all drugs in the United States.”

This was put into draft before Isaac and with all the crap that needs to be done I failed to proof this before I posted….My bad….let me say that I do not agree with much in the analysis….my only intention was to try and post something about the “other” parties that may be on the readers ballot…I again apologize for the oversight on my part and I will try to see that it never happens again……

How About A “Green New Deal”?

College of Political Knowledge

From time to time I like to let my readers know what some of the third parties are thinking…..some have great ideas and some not so much……but the more we know about other parties, other than the two major ones, the sooner we could possibly break the stranglehold the two have on our political process……..a dream, I know….but the public is pissed at Washington and if they knew more about the other parties the closer we move to making this a truly open political society…..

This is a proposed “Green New Deal” put forth by several Green Party candidates…..

These are the ten planks of the Green New Deal:

  • Cut military spending at least 70% ) I personally would have NO problem with this proposal)
  • Create millions of green union jobs through massive public investment in renewable energy, mass transit and conservation…(I Do not think the unions jobs would be necessary….but a WPA style program would go a long way at the employment problem)
  • Set ambitious, science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and enact a revenue-neutral carbon tax to meet them (This will NOT get any consideration…..business will fight this tooth and nail)
  • Establish single-payer “Medicare for all” health care (This is a wish never to be brought about)
  • Provide tuition-free public higher education (Another one that I would have NO problem supporting)
  • Change trade agreements to improve labor, environmental, consumer, health and safety standards ( a good idea but will be NO way possible)
  • End counterproductive prohibition policies and legalize marijuana (Why not legalize ALL drugs…it would be a massive revenue generating program)
  • Enact tough limits on credit interest and lending rates, progressive tax reform and strict financial regulation (already tried and it fell way short of effective)
  • Amend the U.S. Constitution to abolish corporate personhood (will have to…SCOTUS has seen to that)
  • Pass sweeping electoral, campaign finance and anti-corruption reforms.  (If only…this would go a long way at making our elections more in line with the people’s desires and make them more responsive to the people)

While I agree with several of these proposals…..I see where the major parties will oppose many of the planks…

Green Party On The Economic Situation

From a news release by the Green Party USA:

Green Party leaders said today that measures to end the recession must focus on the financial needs of middle- and lower-income Americans, and accused Democrats and Republicans in Congress and President Obama of favoring big banks, financial institutions, and insurance firms.

“The very banks, Wall Street firms, and insurance companies that are responsible for the economic crisis are calling the shots for economic recovery. They’re using their power over Congress and the White House to make sure that taxpayers’ money and workers’ retirement benefits rescue CEOs and major shareholders. They’re blocking badly needed regulation and the deeper reforms in our economic system that are necessary to dig us out of the hole. Unfortunately, President Obama and Democrats and Republicans in Congress are cooperating with them so that the power these corporations hold over America remains undiminished,” said Laura Wells, former candidate for California State Controller (TV interview: http://www.gp.org/flash/LauraWells/lw.html). Ms. Wells intends to run for the position again “until we — the people of this state — win. We need to follow the money, understand it, and correct it.”

Congress and the White House have refused to take real action against skyrocketing interest rates, especially on credit cards, by restoring laws against usury and imposing interest rate caps. Greens called the Democrats’ “Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights” a small step in the right direction but severely inadequate, with no limits on future credit card interest rates.

“The economic meltdown is the result of deregulated lending — predatory mortgage lending, outrageous credit card interest and fees, and other practices that have put working Americans into endless debt and bankrupted small businesses,” said Jody Grage, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States. “But Democrats and Republicans alike have refused to consider modest steps like an 18% interest rate cap, out of loyalty to major corporate campaign contributors and lobbies.”

“The most important step in ending the economic crisis must be reversal of the Reagan-Bush-Clinton revolution, which deregulated the financial industry. All that rhetoric about ‘shrinking big government’ really meant repealing protections for working people, especially laws against usury. Since 1980, bipartisan legislation favoring giant corporate lenders have paved the way for the current disaster. It’s time to restore and expand the Glass-Steagal Act, overturn recent bankruptcy bills that put millions of Americans in hock to credit card companies and other financial corporations, and place restrictive caps on corporate lenders and creditors,” said Ms. Grage

More information: “The Trouble With Democrats” by William Greider, The Nation, June 22, 2009 (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090622/greider).

More On Cap And Trade Energy Plan

Found this analysis in the Green Party’s website.

After the Clinton and Bush administrations refused to take minimal steps to confront climate change, at least the Obama administration has offered modest plans and intends to seek a new post-Kyoto international treaty. However, given scientists’ recent warnings of accelerated warming, Greens oppose carbon emissions trading schemes such as the one proposed by President Obama, asserting that permits for polluting companies to trade emission permits are ineffective at curbing global climate change.

“The failure of emissions trading in Europe over the past three years proves cap-and-trade plans are full of loopholes, are vulnerable to widespread abuse, and threaten the air quality in communities near industries that buy credits. The solution must involve drastic cuts in greenhouse gases, reduction of fossil fuel consumption (especially car traffic), carbon taxes, energy conservation, and new jobs in conservation, retrofitting, and cultivation of safe, clean energy sources. There is no way to solve the global warming crisis without profound changes to our economy and way of life,” said Budd Dickinson, energy engineer and co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.

The Green Party has offered a set of ‘First 100 Days’ action for the new administration (http://www.gp.org/committees/ecoaction/documents/First_100_Days.pdf). Green Parties throughout the world have urged developed countries to commit to domestic reductions of at least 30% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, in comparison with 1990 emission levels, and support conversion to a “low or zero carbon society.” (“Global Greens, representing 70 Green Parties and Green groups, issue declaration on reduction of greenhouse gases,” Green Party press release, December 7, 2007, http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_12_07.shtml).

Green Party On The Stim Plan

Green Party leaders said today that the $789 billion compromise stimulus bill falls drastically short of providing what’s needed to end the deepening recession, and urged the Obama Administration to renegotiate the bill to restore and expand funding to create jobs and to provide a real safety net for every American.

“The US economy needs a stimulus, but the bipartisan bill, as it stands now, fails to address the biggest emergencies — lost jobs and home foreclosures,” said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the United States. “If the bill has little effect, it means that America will plunge even deeper into recession, with even more jobs down the drain.”

“Public works projects, dismissed by many Congress members as pork, would create jobs and get America working again. Tax breaks for the wealthy, Democratic leaders’ biggest concession to Republicans stuck in a Herbert Hoover mentality, will stimulate the economy only minimally,” added Ms. Hart.

Greens said that bipartisan compromise reduced or eliminated funding for school construction, urgent relief for states (necessary to provide Medicaid and other essential services), health care for the unemployed, extended unemployment, Head Start, food stamps, public transit, retrofitting housing, greening federal buildings, watershed rehabilitation, and fire departments — all of which would create and protect jobs, benefit millions of Americans, and help restore financial stability. The removal of caps on executive pay further limits the bill’s effectiveness as a stimulus.

“Democrats caved in to the highway construction lobby when they diverted funding that should have been used for public transportation, thus sacrificing one of the most valuable items of the Obama agenda. With the world facing potentially catastrophic climate change in the coming decades, we don’t need more highways, we need more public transportation and less car traffic. We need to convert our economy from an auto economy to a green economy. Over $25 billion in vital green programs, which would have created countless new jobs, was cut from the stimulus under the compromise,” said Fred Vitale, Michigan candidate for state representative and state chairperson of the Green Party of Michigan.

Greens called the bill a missed opportunity for the kind of investments needed to make the US a truly green economy, moving the US away from dependence on foreign oil and other carbon fuels within the next ten years, as former Vice President Al Gore has recommended. Party leaders cited an ABC News report on new jobs created by the rise of wind farms in the Midwest (http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6823005&page=1). Greens expressed relief that pressure from environmentalists killed a $50 billion loan guarantee for nuclear plants, a major victory for safe and clean energy.

“The stimulus bill demonstrates how ‘bipartisan’ means the damage caused by two-party politics, and how ‘moderate’ means too beholden to corporate demands to effect real change,” said Mark Dunlea, former chair of the Green Party of New York State. “It’s the Rahm Emanuel ideology — the chief function of Democrats is to capitulate to Republicans and corporate campaign contributors.” (Mr. Emanuel, the White House Chief of Staff, has led negotiations on the stimulus bill.)

“If bailout and stimulus money went directly to threatened homeowners, both homeowners and the banks would benefit,” said Mr. Dunlea. “The result of the stimulus will probably be all too similar to last year’s taxpayer-funded $700 billion bailout for the financial industry, which passed with support from both Obama and McCain, with no conditions on how the money was spent. It’ll mostly wind up in the bank accounts of a few wealthy people while doing little to jumpstart the economy, create or save jobs, or provide financial security for working Americans.”