Posts Tagged ‘Gary Ruskin’

If you want real change, vote Green

Posted in Editorials on October 28th, 2010 by Dave Schwab – 2 Comments

Gary Ruskin has written a piece at Green Change entitled “If you want real change, vote Green”:

Ladies and gentlemen, the results are in.

Democrats in Washington have enjoyed a rare opportunity during the last two years. With control of the presidency and giant majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, this was the Democrats’ best chance in more than 30 years to take charge and lead.

Let’s take stock of where they led us. read more »

Green Change: Green candidates call for end of corporate personhood

Posted in Grassroots Democracy on October 19th, 2010 by Dave Schwab – Comments Off

On Monday October 18 Green Change issued a press release entitled “Green candidates call for end of corporate personhood” announcing that 110 Green Party candidates nationwide are calling for a “Green New Deal” to end the legal doctrine of corporate personhood, which grants corporations constitutional rights that had previously been reserved for people.

The announcement was viewed by over 10,000 people in the first 24 hours. On the popular news site reddit, the story surged to the front page with well over 1,000 readers voting it up.

Green Party candidates for Governor in Tennessee and Arkansas, as well as for US Senate in Arkansas, earned mention for opposing corporate personhood in the Memphis Commercial Appeal in an article entitled “Green Party calls for change in legal status of corporations”.

Green Party candidates for US House of Representatives in Connecticut also earned mention in a piece in the Norwich Bulletin entitled “Green Party targets corporate election rights”.

Here is the full text of the Green Change press release:

110 Green Party candidates nationwide are calling for a “Green New Deal” to end the legal doctrine of corporate personhood, which grants corporations constitutional rights that had previously been reserved for people.
In addition, in August the U.S. Green Party endorsed “stripping [corporations] of artificial ‘personhood’ and constitutional protections,” along with “revoking the charters of corporations that routinely violate safety, health, environmental protection or other laws.”
In contrast, neither the Democratic nor the Republican parties support ending corporate personhood, or revoking the corporate charters of lawless corporations.
“Democrats and Republicans together have installed the judges who have brought corporate rule to America,” said Gary Ruskin, co-founder of Green Change, a national political organization.  “If you want to fix the economy, clean up corruption in Washington, and save the environment, then vote Green to abolish corporate personhood.” read more »

A better media strategy for Greens

Posted in Editorials on March 31st, 2010 by Dave Schwab – 1 Comment

Gary Ruskin has written a post on Green Change about “A better media strategy for Greens”:

At national, state and local levels, I think Greens should shift much of our media efforts to what parties out of power traditionally do: hold elected officials accountable for their actions, and expose corruption, waste and malfeasance.

There are two main reasons why muckraking and watchdogging makes for a good Green media strategy.

First: it’s popular across the political spectrum. Everyone loves it. It wins votes.

Second: it’s genuinely newsworthy….

Greens are not fated to receive little or no media coverage. Many Greens get good news coverage regularly because they do things that are newsworthy….

Gary Ruskin has copious experience with the national press from 14 years as director of the Congressional Accountability Project. Read the full post at GreenChange.org.

Gary Ruskin: How US politicians cheat on climate change

Posted in Ecological Wisdom & the Environment, Editorials on November 5th, 2009 by Dave Schwab – Comments Off

Gary Ruskin of Green Change has written an article titled “How US Politicians cheat on climate change“:

It’s easy to lie with statistics. Politicians do it every day.

Climate change is the latest example.

Look at the leading climate change bills in Congress. The main Senate bill — approved today by the Environment and Public Works Committee — proposes a 20% target for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions over 2005 levels by 2020. The bill passed by the House of Representatives sets a 17% target for greenhouse gas emissions cuts over 2005 levels by 2020.

Sounds good. Except it’s not.

Here’s the trick the Democrats are playing on you. They’re moving the goalposts.

Read the whole article at Green Change.