Greens: Cynthia McKinney deserves to participate in the Sept. 18 presidential debate in New Orleans

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATEShttp://www.gp.orgFor Immediate Release:Monday, August 25, 2008Contacts:Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.orgStarlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.orgGreen Party leaders cite McKinney’s advocacy of the rights of Katrina survivors and criticism of government response to the disaster, saying she will speak for displaced and excluded people of New Orleans if invited to the debateGreens seek an end to presidential debates limited by arbitrary criteria to the two corporate party candidates; pollsters’ omission of McKinney amounts to manipulation of the presidential race and censorship of the McKinney-Clemente campaignCynthia McKinney’s speech in Denver, August 24: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzoiIQSanx4WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders called for the organizers of the September 18 presidential debate in New Orleans to admit other candidates along with the Democratic and Republican nominees, including Green nominee Cynthia McKinney.The debate sponsors, Google and You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p6Iwu4xMaY), require a 15% showing in three national polls to determine which candidates may participate in the debate.”Cynthia McKinney deserves a place in the New Orleans debate. Any presidential candidate who has qualified for enough ballot lines to achieve the necessary electoral votes to win to be elected — regardless of poll numbers — has earned a place in the debates. The 15% threshold is being used to exclude all candidates outside of the corporate party nominees, John McCain and Barack Obama,” said Cliff Thornton, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.”Ms. McKinney is more than just the candidate of a viable and growing party. She has played a special role in the movement to help survivors of the 2005 hurricane disaster in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. No other presidential candidate can talk about the needs of those who’ve been displaced or otherwise affected by Katrina the way Ms. McKinney can. Their concerns will be missing from the debate if Cynthia McKinney isn’t invited,” added Mr. Thornton.Cynthia McKinney will appear on enough state ballots for an Electoral College victory, should she win in all these states. For the same reason, Greens also support the inclusion of independent candidate Ralph Nader, Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr, and Constitution Party nominee Chuck Baldwin in the New Orleans debate.Green Party leaders said that, since pollsters are generally omitting Ms. McKinney in their research, the poll numbers are showing dishonest and manipulated results, with the McKinney-Clemente campaign effectively censored from major media coverage of the race.”Voters deserve to know about all the names they’ll see on the ballot on Election Day, and to know which candidate best represents one’s interests and ideals. It’s time to end debates limited to candidates approved by sponsoring corporations and pollsters,” said Green Party co-chair Sanda Everette.Greens are appealing to New Orleans area community organizations as well as women’s, student, and human rights groups to join the demand for Cynthia McKinney’s inclusion in the New Orleans debate.Greens note that Ms. McKinney, a member of the US House (Dem-Ga.) at the time of the hurricane, has been intimately involved in the post-Katrina survivors’ issues, and that she:Joined the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, despite the Democratic Party leadership’s call for Democratic members to boycott the committee.http://katrina.house.gov/index.htmLed a congressional delegation to the site of the devastation, arranged for survivors to testify before the Commission, and inserted a 75-page supplement in the Final Report of the Katrina Commission exposing many problems not otherwise addressed.Introduced the first legislation concerning the clean-up toxicity in the region and restoring the homes of displaced residents.http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h4197ih.txtTracked hundreds of bills and worked closely with other members of Congress on drafting combined legislation that addressed many survivor issues.Led a march across the bridge to Gretna, Louisiana, with people displaced by Katrina who had been refused passage during the hurricane; introduced a bill to deny funding to the Gretna police department because of its role in turning away thousands of hurricane survivors, mostly African Americans, at the Crescent City Connection bridge. Ms. McKinney was the only member of Congress to join the November 7, 2005 march.http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h4209ih.txt.pdfhttp://www.saveourwetlands.org/blockbridge.htmlContinues to works actively with the Reconstruction Party, a local political party in New Orleans, and in support of displaced residents’ right of return and other survivor issues.http://www.cwsworkshop.org/katrinareader/node/525MORE INFORMATIONGreen Party of the United States http://www.gp.org202-319-7191, 866-41GREENFax 202-319-7193Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtmlGreen Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtmlGreen Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakersGreen Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-electionsCynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente ‘Power to the People’ Campaign for the White Househttp://www.runcynthiarun.orgCynthia McKinney on videohttp://www.youtube.com/user/RunCynthiaRunhttp://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=RunCynthiaRunSpeech in Denver, August 24: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzoiIQSanx4Music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx1NPlQjkqo“An Opportunity to Open Presidential Debates” By John Nichols, The Nation, July 6, 2008http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/334812http://www.greenchange.org/article.php?id=29102008 Green National Convention, July 10-13 in Chicago, Illinois http://www.greenparty2008.org

LUV News gives this report:Corporate media coverage is on the Democratic Convention’s inside in Denver, sponsored by corporate backers and lobbyists who are pouring millions of dollars into the affair in order to undermine the public interest on their behalf.  It is all scripted to inspire the party faithful, ignoring the bribery that keeps our government under the thumb of transnational investors and corporations that don’t give a damn about the country or its people, other than what they can steal from the treasury after their candidates win. Here is a message from the streets of Denver that addresses the public interest, completely ignored by the corporate media.  You may read the text, listen to it, or watch it on video from yesterday’s Democracy Now. It includes remarks from Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party candidate for president, peace movement leaders Colonel Ann Wright and Cindy Sheehan, American Indian leader Ward Churchill who lost his job at the U. of Colorado for speaking out against the illegal war in Iraq, and Ron Kovic (born on the Fourth of July) who said about the restriction of a “free speech cage”:             “We are struggling this week in Denver and battling in Denver not only to stop the            war in Iraq, but we are fighting for democracy. This is not only an antiwar movement;            this is becoming a democracy movement, as well. I did not give three-quarters of my            body in Vietnam in 1968, forty years ago, to be put inside of a cage. I’m going to speak.            I’m going to raise my voice against this war, and I refuse to be silenced.”Corporate media have headlined that a small number of protesters were arrested in China during the Olympic Games, but are largely ignoring the fact that protesters were hit with rubber bullets, pepper sprayed and arrested last night in Denver. Protesters refused to go into the “free speech cage” away from the convention site, set up for them in violation of the First Amendment, which guarantees citizens the right to peaceably assemble (without permission from the government, which now often grants that right only through permits, which they then deny, as in Denver).  Corporate media TV, where most people get their news, ignored last night’s protests, going with these top headlines, apparently thought to be more important: ABC News: “WATCH: Obama Look-Alike Lands in Denver” CBS News: “After Hours With Katie & Cyndi,” an interview by Katie Couric of pop star Cyndi Lauper’s take on the convention.CNN: ”Skimpy cheer skirts break dress code” FOX News:  “In-Flight Internet Comes With New Porn Monitors” Activists are calling for protests outside of the Denver Police Department Building at 1331 Cherokee Street this morning if all the protesters have not been released yet.  

FOCUS | Report: US-Led Airstrikes Kill 76 Afghan Civilianshttp://www.truthout.org/article/report-us-led-airstrikes-kill-76-afghan-civiliansSharafuddin Sharafyar, Reuters: “US-led coalition forces killed 76 Afghan civilians in western Afghanistan yesterday, most of them children, the country’s nterior Ministry said. The coalition denied killing civilians. Civilian deaths in military operations have become an emotive issue among Afghans, many of whom feel international forces take too little care when launching air strikes, undermining support for their presence. ‘Seventy-six civilians, most of them women and children, were martyred today in a coalition forces operation in Herat province,’ the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Coalition forces bombarded the Azizabad area of Shindand district in Herat province on Friday afternoon, the ministry said. Nineteen of the victims were women, seven of them men and the rest children under the age of 15, it said.”

On behalf of the Richmond Greens, I wish to congratulate our co-chairs and state party.

Agreed. Look for IRV to become more of a discussion topic if the Richmond mayoral race goes to run-off.

Thanks,Scott<\p>On Aug 23, 2008, at 7:24 AM, (address witheld) wrote:

Congratulations Virginia Greens on your petition drive!

It certainly promises to be an interesting election in Virginia this time around with five or more choices (Nader, McKinney, Bloomberg, Obama, McCain, and possibly Barr) on the ballot! It’s a shame that Virginia won’t be using IRV!

Dr. Christopher Fink wrote:

Green Party of Virginia submits Ballot Access Petitions!

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Tom Yager (our petitions

coordinator), Audrey Clement (co-chair), and dozens of active Green Party

members from Virginia and beyond, the Green Party of Virginia has

successfully submitted its petitions for presidential ballot access for

2008, naming the Cynthia McKinney / Rosa Clemente ticket as its nominees.

With over 14,500 signatures collected, we eagerly await the State Board of

Elections’ decision.

A special thanks goes out to our Central Committee members, electors, and

2008 nominating convention delegates, for serving in these capacities. This

accomplishment should serve as a model of what we can do when we come

together toward a common goal.

Donations Needed Urgently!

With that said, it is also true that due to the employment of a limited

number of paid petitioners, we are now in debt to some members in an

aggregate amount of several thousand dollars. At this time we call on our

members, especially those who have not given already, to chip in and retire

this debt as soon as possible, in order to keep the party functioning

through what will be an exciting election season!

Please send your donations to the address below. Checks may be made out to

“The Green Party of Virginia”.

Thanks, and hope to see you all at the next GPVA business meeting, Sept 6th,

at the main Charlottesville library!

Green Party of Virginia

P.O. Box 7316

Falls Church, VA 22040

GPVA : http://www.vagreenparty.org <http://www.vagreenparty.org/>  GPUS : http://www.gp.org <http://www.gp.org/>  McKinney Campaign : http://www.votetruth.org <http://www.runcynthiarun.org/>

—————————–

<mailto:co-chairs@vagreenparty.org> co-chairs@vagreenparty.org

Audrey Clement

Christopher Fink

The Federal Elections Commission has announced that each convention will receive $17 million in taxpayer funds, money approved by Congress as part of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.

From the GP platform:

10. We believe in multi-party democracy for partisan elections as the best way to guarantee majority rule, since more people will have representation at the table where policy is enacted. We assert that introduction of a multi-party democracy is essential because

 

The change in the structure of electoral politics will moderate the influence of extremist views and domination by the larger parties, and offer more fair representation to a greater number of citizens; and 

A third party can validate and raise other points of view that need to be heard.

Whose wasting the most taxpayer money, Robert Grey by backing the Mayor’s budget spending, or Bill Pantele, by opposing it?It reminds me of this previous editorial on “spending like drunken sailor”.It also reminds me of previous GP platform statements. Again, the Green view of ‘economic sustainability‘ speaks volumes about which party has true, common sense, conservative values. But back to Goldman’s question, and the underlying ones- don’t Richmond citizens deserve, no, don’t they have a legal right to a balanced budget from its government? Where is it? Don’t look for help from the state government.  

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES

http://www.gp.orgFor Immediate Release:Monday, August 18, 2008Contacts:Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.orgStarlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.orgGreens condemn curfews, anticonstitutional police harassment of innocent citizens in Arkansas and DC, and the War on Drugs as “self-defeating” in efforts to eliminate crimeWASHINGTON, DC — Green Party candidates and leaders called the 24-hour curfew imposed on the city of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a gross violation of the rights of local citizens and a symptom of the rapid growth of unrestrained police power over the past two decades.Politicians and law enforcement officials have justified such measures as part of the war on drugs. Greens have endorsed an immediate end to the drug war, calling it a catastrophic failure.”A city that hands its police force a license to trash the constitutional rights of its citizens is not a city that is upholding law and order and protecting its citizens. On the contrary, unlimited police power is a complete breakdown of the law,” said Joshua Drake, Arkansas Green Party nominee for Congress (4th District) (http://www.drake08.com).The curfew in Helena-West Helena (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26171820/), a response to the crime rate in some neighborhoods, empowers officers armed with military rifles to stop and interrogate citizens without warrent or any semblance of probable cause.A similar curfew has been imposed on Washington, DC’s Trinidad neighborhood, where the police have established checkpoints allowing officers to question all drivers entering the area. Citizens must convince the police they have a “legitimate reason” for their presence in the neighborhood.”These interrogations and checkpoints are comparable to police practices in authoritarian regimes and especially apartheid-era South Africa — which is even more ominous given the fact the residents of these new ‘Red Zones’ are mostly African American and poor,” said Rosa Clemente, the Green Party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States (http://www.rosaclemente.com). “Such measures also recall the repression by police and private security firms in post-Katrina New Orleans, which accompanied the obstruction and expulsion of mostly poor and black residents from their homes.”"These policies have only empowered criminal gangs involved in the drug trade, just as Prohibition fed the growth of organized crime. The ACLU is right — two of our most important freedoms, the right of mobility and protection against warrantless search and seizure, are being nullified for the sake of the disastrous war on drugs, in violation of local law and the US Constitution,” added Ms. Clemente. (August 8 letter from the ACLU of Arkansas to Helena-West Helena Mayor J.F. Valley: http://www.acluarkansas.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=89&Itemid=4)Greens noted that curfews and harassment of citizens reflect the militarization of civilian police departments enacted by the Clinton Administration in the mid 1990s, with officers trained in military tactics to fight the drug war.Along with police militarization and the expanded war on drugs, the Nixon, Bush Sr., Reagan, Clinton and Bush Jr. administrations also oversaw the rapid growth of the private prison industry, which profits from filling up prison cells with more and more inmates. The outcome has been record incarceration of US citizens, especially of young African American and Latino men locked up on nonviolent offenses and plea-bargaining deals.”Democratic and Republican politicians are equally responsible for the transformation of civilian police into militias,” said Abel Tomlinson, Green nominee for Congress in Arkansas’ 3rd District (http://www.abelforcongress.com). “The drug war has very little to do with drugs — it’s about control, coercion, and power. It’s about money. America won’t get sane drug laws and law enforcement until enough Greens get elected to public office to overturn these self-defeating, unconstitutional policies.”The Green Party supports the principle that governments can best address crime and drug use by promoting local self-determination and residents’ ownership of their own communities, observing citizens’ rights, and recognizing that addiction is above all a medical problem.MORE INFORMATIONGreen Party of the United States http://www.gp.org202-319-7191, 866-41GREENFax 202-319-7193Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtmlGreen Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtmlGreen Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakersGreen Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-electionsCynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente ‘Power to the People’ Campaign for the White Househttp://www.runcynthiarun.org2008 Green National Convention, July 10-13 in Chicago, Illinois http://www.greenparty2008.org

Distributed by the Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org

Gordon Clark for Congress http://www.clarkforcongress.net 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:David Gainesdavid@clarkforcongress.net(703) 338-3459Silver Spring, Maryland (August 13th, 2008) - - The Clark for Congress campaign issued the following statement today on the Russo-Georgian conflict by 8th District Green Party congressional candidate Gordon Clark: ”The brutal Russian invasion of neighboring Georgia exemplifies the worst aspects of nation-state behavior. Yet it also demonstrates the complete failure of our current system of international relations, one still based largely on military alliances, confrontation and conflict.”The beginning of the current crisis can be marked to the end of the Cold War. The NATO military alliance that stood against the Soviet Union’s Warsaw Pact should have been dismantled when the Soviet Union broke up. Instead, NATO not only continued, it grew - by accepting former members of the Warsaw Pact, a strategy that inevitably antagonized Russia (as does our building of missile defense systems in former Warsaw Pact nation Poland). In response, Russia looked to protect its borders. ”At the same time, Georgia’s U.S.-educated leader, President Mikheil Saakashvili, has been regularly encouraged with words of strong support from President Bush and other Western leaders - words that are easily interpreted, in the current context, to be backed by force. So, rather than attempt to resolve peacefully the confrontation with Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia, which has strong ethnic ties to Russia, Saakashvili launched an ill-advised military operation there last week. A predictable (if extreme) Russian military response followed, leaving the Georgian president waiting for U.S. or western military support that never materialized. ”The U.S. is utterly unable to influence Russia’s behavior because of our own government’s invasion and continued occupation of Iraq, as well as our military involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and our threats against Iran. It was painfully disturbing to watch U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (and former Ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan) Zalmay Khalilzad trying to lecture the Russians that ‘the days of overthrowing leaders by military means’ are over. He had to add the phrase ‘…in Europe’ — a transparent rhetorical attempt to excuse our own invasions and regime changes. ”In a world filled with national, regional, and ethnic tensions - and now overflowing with armaments, thanks in no small part to U.S. weapons sales - the path to peace and stability will not come from military action. The Russian invasion of Georgia must be strongly condemned, but no differently than the U.S. invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq, and U.S. threats and military action elsewhere in the Middle East. Unless our nation turns away from our own militarized foreign policy and toward diplomacy and peaceful dispute resolution, other regions of the world will continue to explode in violence - and there will be nothing that the U.S. can do about it.” Gordon Clark, the Green Party candidate for U. S. Congress from Maryland’s 8th District, has for over twenty years been a community activist in the peace, environmental, nonviolence, and social justice arenas. He is a former National Executive Director of Peace Action, the founder of Iraq Pledge of Resistance (now the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance), and a former Field Director for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch. For more information on the Clark for Congress campaign, call (301) 589-2355, emailinfo@clarkforcongress.net, or visit http://www.clarkforcongress.net andhttp://www.myspace.com/clarkforcongress 

What will be the premium for VCU and other corporate entities? Certainly its not just Oregon Hill that has a stake in making sure that everyone pays their fair share. Remember, the City of Richmond PUBLIC Water Utility sells water to the surrounding counties, who in turn sell water to their residents at a LOWER minimum water rate than the City! The Richmond Green Party has been on this issue for a while.  Thankfully, some politicians are starting to pay attention. Keep checking this site as we take on more local issues (one of which will be noise pollution).

From: DPU - Communications <DPUC@richmondgov.com>Date: August 18, 2008 3:27:19 PM EDTTo: DPU - Communications <DPUC@richmondgov.com>Subject: News release: New water rates underscore conservation effortNew Rate Underscores Conservation Message RICHMOND, VA—In an effort to encourage water customers to conserve water when supply is scarce, the City of Richmond instituted a water conservation rate, effective July 1, 2008.  During designated periods of either voluntary or mandatory conservation, customers who make the decision to use more than 140 percent of their normal winter water usage (water consumed during December, January, and February) will pay a higher commodity rate on their excess usage. “Rates are set to drive customer behavior,” said Acting Chief Administrative Officer and Public Utilities Director Chris Beschler. “The behavior that we want to promote is to protect one of our most precious natural resources so that we all are doing our part to help the environment.  This water conservation rate provides a financial incentive for water customers to do just that,” Under this water conservation rate, DPU water customers will pay a 50 percent premium on water used over and above 140 percent of their normal winter water usage during voluntary conservation measures, and a 100 percent premium during mandatory water conservation measures.  The following is an example of what an average customer would pay using more than the normal l winter water usage during voluntary or mandatory water conservation measures: For an average water customer whose winter monthly consumption = 8 CcfConservation charge threshold (8 Ccf X 140%) = 11 CcfActual monthly consumption during conservation period = 20 CcfConsumption subject to conservation rate (20 Ccf – 11 Ccf) =   9 Ccf Voluntary conservation measures were implemented August 11, 2008 in the City of Richmond and surrounding counties when water levels in the James River dropped below the 1,200 cfs trigger level. For more information on conservation measures during either voluntary or mandatory water conservation periods, visit DPU’s website atwww.RichmondGov.com/DPU; click on “Water Utility;” and then click on “Water Utility Page” in the drop down menu, or contact DPU’s Customer Care Center at 644-3000.Contact: Angela Fountain, DPU Communications, 646-7323 Hard copy attached City of Richmond Department of Public UtilitiesCommunications Division730 E. Broad Street, 6th FloorRichmond, VA  23219(O) 804.646.5224, (Fax) 804.646.4858Email: DPUC@richmondgov.com   

While Nader is NOT the Green Party presidential candidate, McKinney is, he does speak for many candidates and the American people when he demands open debates.   From a recent Nader release:   As you know, Nader/Gonzalez is being blocked from the Presidential debates.

The corporate controlled, so-called Commission on Presidential Debates will not let any independent candidate in unless they show 15 percent in a series of polls in September.

That’s no surprise.

What is surprising is the failure of other debates to fill the vacuum.

Part of this is due to Senator Obama’s reluctance to engage his opponents.

On May 4, Obama told Tim Russert on Meet the Press that he was willing to debate with “any of my opponents about what this country means, what makes it great.”

But earlier this month, Obama’s campaign manager backed off, saying that Obama would debate only Senator McCain, and only in the three rigged debates sponsored by the two parties and paid for by major corporations.

Senator Obama has also refused to participate in a number of other debates — including the Google debate in New Orleans, the Ft. Hood, Texas debate that is being organized by veterans groups, and the series of ten town hall meetings proposed by Senator McCain.

Senator Obama’s refusal to participate is a mistake and is costing him in the polls.

Just yesterday, the Gallup tracking polls put McCain and Obama tied at 44 percent each.

If Obama doesn’t agree to more debates, he could end up at the end of a sentence that starts with Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry.

With only McCain and Obama on the stage, there will be no debate of key issues and re-directions important to the majority of the American people.

Just go down the partial list:

Single payer Medicare for all health care — supported by the majority of the American people, the majority of doctors and nurses, and just recently, unanimously, by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Obama says no. McCain says no.

Reversing U.S. policy in the Middle East — Obama says no. McCain says no.

Cut the bloated, wasteful, redundant military budget — Obama says no, McCain says no. They want a bigger military budget.

Empty the prisons of drug possessors and fill them up with corporate criminals — Obama says no, McCain says no.

Nader/Gonzalez says yes — to each.

The only way to change this systemic exclusion is for millions of Americans to become engaged now.

If you can, please join with us at our two Super Rallies — on August 27th in Denver at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena or September 4th in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall.

And help us raise the banner for all to see — Open the Debates.