Green Party Watch

The Green Party has put together a page of videos and documents describing what a Green Party administration might look like and has enlisted a number of Green Party experts to describe it. These videos and documents can all be found here at Green Party – The First 100 Days

The Green Party has asked Green leaders from all over the US to tell America what a Green President of the United States would do during the ‘First 100 Day’s of his or her administration.

Green candidates and members of the Green Party’s Speakers Bureau submitted video clips and short essays to describe what they’d do if elected to the White House and what Green steps President Obama should take to resolve the nation’s problems.

“This is our Inauguration Day gift to Barack Obama and to America. We celebrate the landmark election of America’s first African American president, but we’re worried that Barack Obama will retreat from his promises of change, especially given some of his Cabinet appointments. That’s why we’ve collected these recommendations from prominent Green Party members,” said Sanda Everett, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. 

Speakers include: Brian Czech, Morgen D’arc, Kathy Dopp, Ron Forthover, Cynthia McKinney, Deeana Taylor, Pete Van, Laura Wells.

Green Party: Israel-Palestine truce must include end of Israeli occupation and observance of international law or violence is likely to resume

• Mounting Israeli atrocities require immediate US pressure on Israel, say Greens in a challenge to President-elect Obama

• The key to peace: ensuring democracy, equality, and human rights for all in Israel-Palestine

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders said today that President Obama must press Israel to end the occupation as part of any lasting truce in the siege of Gaza.

“For a truce to hold, Israel must not only end the siege of Gaza but also take steps to end the occupation of Palestinian lands, obey international law, and ensure the safety of every Palestinian and Israeli civilians. But Israel is unlikely to take these steps without pressure from the US. President Obama, after his inauguration, has the power to persuade Israel to abandon its military goals and guarantee human rights and equality,” said Hajja Romi Elnagar, a member of the Green Party of Louisiana.
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On The Wilder Side:

Dear Colleagues, Supporters and Media Allies:

A sincere thank you for all your support during mine and Cynthia McKinney’s historic campaign this past year. I am booking now for Black History month, Women’s History month, Latino heritage month, Hip Hop Conferences, Symposiums, and Town Hall meetings.

Sincerely,

Rosa A. Clemente

http://myspace.com/rosaclemente

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Excerpt from a column by Molly Hall at astrology.about.com:

Georgian and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (March 15th) truly ventured into harm’s way for a cause. How many of us are heartsick over the nightmarish images coming out of Palestine? Well, here’s a woman willing to set sail, literally put her life in danger, on a ship called Dignity, with medical supplies for the Gaza Strip. Her father, a former Georgia State Representative, Billy McKinney, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, She’s a determined woman…this isn’t the first civil right and human rights mission that she’s been on. She explains what happened, and what helps her overcome her fears in a video called What is Dignity? made earlier this week in NYC.

The warrior spirit in Aries has the life force, to be able to catalyze people out of the trance of fear. The Aries mind is direct, and burns away distortions, making it less susceptible to the powerful collective spell we’re under. McKinney names that trance of fear, saying, the wall of silence is crumbling. There is a very real disconnect between our values and the values that have captured Washington D.C. Her use of that word captured is a simple, but powerful insight, and intuitively it rings true. Aries love to rescue, and she’s on a mission to rescue a nation that has been overtaken by….something. We may not know how to name it, but it’s palpable, and apparent with every decision “Washington” makes.

As Americans find their voice and passion for justice again, and feminine warrior energy rises, I predict we’ll see more Aries women doing remarkable things. When the revolutionary planet Uranus moves into this sign next year (May, 2010), the sparks we’re seeing now will catch on, and before she knows it, she’s started a movement.

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

The leaders of Kyrgyzstan’s Green Party have been officially accused of damaging the “dignity and honor” of the country’s president.

Police say they found a number of caricatures in Green Party offices of President Kurmanbek Bakiev on January 13.

The Prosecutor-General found the caricatures to be damaging to the president’s honor and filed a lawsuit against the Green Party’s leadership.

The trial was to have started today, but the judge postponed it until January 28 due to the absence of the Green Party’s lawyers.

Green Party Chairman Erkin Bolokbaev told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service that the lawsuit is politically motivated.

Here are a handful of upcoming meetings of Local and State Green Parties, Candidates, etc.

Jan 15 (Thurs) Tony Palmeri For Oshkosh Common Council Kick-Off Party
Come help kick-off Tony Palmeri’s re-election campaign in Oshkosh. Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Todd Price will be there, along with Pete Karas, myself, and others. Party is at 6:30 p.m., 212 W. Parkway, Oshkosh, WI

Jan 15 (Thurs) Detroit Greens Third Thursday Meeting
7 pm at the Cynthia McKinney Office, 5922 Second, Detroit, MI

Jan 24 (Sat) Green Party of Minnesota Winter Meeting
9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. St. Paul Central High School, 275 Lexington Parkway N, St. Paul, MN
We’ll be holding workshops and forums on various green issues including Peak Oil, Universal Single Payer Health Care, Voting Rights, Acid Mining in Minnesota, Instant Runoff Voting, and more!

Jan 24 (Sat) Greater Milwaukee Green Party Annual Meeting
1 p.m., Milwaukee Central Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI
Featured Speaker Todd Price, candidate endorsements, coordinating council elections, more

Jan 23-25 (Fri-Sun) Green Party of Texas Planning Retreat
Contact txgreens at txgreens.org for more information

If your local or state Green Party has a meeting coming up, please let Green Party Watch know! e-mail gpw at greenpartywatch.org

Mike Feinstein recently sent out some archival materials from the 1999-2000 ASGP Presidential Candidate Exploratory effort. In February of 1999 the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) sent a letter and questionnaire to 20 individuals inviting them to consider involvement in the 2000 Green presidential campaign. They were sent to: Wendell Berry, Jerry Brown, Lester Brown, Noam Chomsky, Ron Daniels, Ron Dellums, Lani Guinier, Dan Hamburg, Woody Harrelson, Paul Hawken, Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Winona LaDuke, Cynthia McKinney, Carol Miller, Toni Morrison, Ralph Nader, Ron Ouellette, John Robbins, Jan Schlichtmann. In May they sent the material out to seven more people: Harry Belafonte, Julian Bond, Joceyln Elders, Kurt Schmoke, Studs Terkel, Myrlie Evers-Williams, General Lee Butler.

Below is first the Introductory Letter & Questionnaire, followed by some of the replies the Greens received from these amazing people.
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Texas Green Bill Holloway passed away this week. He was the co-chair of the Travis County Green Party, and involved with both the Texas Green Party and GPUS.

I’m posting here an e-mail from Kat Swift regarding Bill Holloway, followed by a recent (Dec. 1) post he wrote at Greenchange.org.

The Green Party of Texas mourns the tragic loss of Bill Holloway. Bill was a dedicated leader who was currently serving as the Co-Chair of the Travis County Green Party in Austin, TX. He will be missed as a mentor and a friend.

Through his kind-hearted activism, Bill touched the lives of so many people. He was an active Green Party contributor at the local, state and national levels. Bill served on numerous committees in the Green Party and in other organizations as well.
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California’s public education system is dysfunctional and it is the children and the future generation that have paid the costs. In addressing both the short term issues and the long term, true solutions need to be found. It is not a solution that is found in demonstrations. Teachers’ unions have been unable to demonstrate a significant role in addressing the real needs of teachers. The result has been high teacher turnover, a decrease in the number of new teachers and high student drop-out rates.

Alternatives, whether vouchers or charter schools are patch work remedies that have no significant impact on the vast majority of students in the public school system. Increasingly, public school systems are contracting out to private education contractors. In the interest of full-disclosure, it should be said that I periodically work for such a company. It is worthwhile to mention that the stimulus proposal includes increasing funding to Special Education. This is worth supporting.

At issue in California are the glaring inadequacies of state funding to education. (see the article ) The existing state funding has frozen in place a system that cannot address the needs of limited English language students, special education and districts with low tax bases. It has replaced school buildings with mobile homes. It has replaced textbooks with Xerox copies. It has undermined student focus on learning and increasingly undermined the ability of teachers to focus on teaching.

This presents the budget issue and the inability to raise taxes on the front burner in the state of California. It presents Prop 13 as the first hurdle to be leaped in addressing the stalemate that is dragging the state down. It presents changing the vote required for the budget to be passed. There are no solutions for the “corporations” to pay or no way around the recognition that in difficult times we all pay the costs for our failures to invest in education during good times.

Greens running in local elections and for school boards need to be up front on these issues and begin to form a new consensus that sees the priority in investing in our children’s future. Greens working within teachers’ unions need to build a caucus that can increase the visibility of the teacher in the funding process.

“Children are the future of this country, special needs or not, everyone can have a chance to reach success if they are just given the chance to do so. Even though the schools were reimbursed for their funds spent out of pocket, the settlement figure is only slightly more than half the $1.1 billion dollars the CSBA originally claimed the schools were owed (http://www.specialednews.com/states/statesnews/CAfunds111500.html). These states are getting off easy, more needs to be done to ensure each special needs child has a chance for a proper education, no matter what school district or state they are in.” http://sitemaker.umich.edu/delicata.356/funding_for_special_needs_education

Greens blast EPA lack of preparedness in handling TVA plant’s coal ash spill

• The hazardous waste disaster is evidence that the US should stop using coal to generate electricity, say Greens

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders strongly criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s response to the recent spill of 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant.

“The EPA has failed to follow through on its stated intention to regulate coal ash as hazardous waste,” said Frank Jeffers of the Green Party’s Eco-Action Committee. “Nationwide, how big is this mess? Very very big. There are thousands of coal waste sites all over the country, and when it comes to coal wastes, you can figure about anything that could be in it, is in it.”
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Madison’s so called “progressive” Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has had his issues with popular Common Councilor Brenda Konkel, and this year he sought to recruit a candidate to run against her. Brenda Konkel is involved with both the Green Party and the local party Progressive Dane. Konkel, who has run unopposed for the last two terms, faces four challengers and a February 17 primary. From the Wisconsin State Journal:

“I’ve been somewhat disappointed with Brenda and her approach to issues,” Cieslewicz said. “I’m just looking for some different leadership there.”

The mayor, Konkel said, got active in her district because she stands up on issues and demands transparency when the system is designed to cut deals behind the scenes.

“He felt because I bring things up at the council, I blindside him,” said Konkel, a leader in the leftist political party Progressive Dane who has focused on housing and social justice issues. “He’s a nice guy but he’s cutthroat when it comes to politics. I guess I’m in his way.”
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http://www.cittadino.jor.br/green.htm

H/T Ballot Access News

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The Green National Committee is considering a new budget for the national party. This proposed budget calls for a basic budget just over $400,000. The GNC will have to begin voting on this proposed budget on the 9th of this month, with a one week time frame for votes to be cast.

A quick review of the budget shows that Emily Citkowski is asking for a reduction in hours to half-time, and Richard Scott, online fundraising director, has left that post, with independent contractors and other staff set to take over those responsibilities.

The Proposed 2009 Budget, Line Item notes and Fundraising narrative can be found through this link.