DUNCAN PUTS FORTH 25 GREEN PARTY CHALLENGES FOR SPITZER IN 2007

NEW YORK, NY – Alison Duncan, the Green Party of New York State’s 2006 candidate for Lieutenant Governor, put forth 25 Green Party challenges today for Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer in his first year in office.

"This year 42,166 New Yorkers chose a Green Party Governor and
Lieutenant Governor," said Duncan. "Over 250,000 votes were cast for
Green Party candidates in New York. Sustainability is a core value of
the Green Party and these challenges encompass environmental,
educational, healthcare, economic and political goals that will build a
sustainable future for New York State. I congratulate Governor Spitzer
on his new office with the hope that he will listen to these voters
through the next four years and take our challenges seriously."

25 Green Party Challenges for Spitzer:

I. War in Iraq:
-- bring New York State's National Guard troops home as soon as possible
by using his veto power

II. Civil Rights:
-- marry same-sex couples at the Empire State Plaza by the end of 2007
-- repeal the New York State version of the PATRIOT Act that he drafted
with Pataki,
which rescinded constitutional due process and probable cause
protections

III. Health Care:
-- actively promote the Legislative Commission on Health Care Coverage
Act of 2005 (A.6575) sponsored by Assembly Member Richard Gottfried as a
first step toward implementing universal, single-payer health care
-- increase funding for public health research and programming with an
emphasis on prevention, especially prevention of blood-borne diseases
such as AIDS
-- keep hospitals open that have been targeted by Pataki's hospital
closure commission

IV. Education:
-- immediately follow through on his promise to invest $4 to $6 billion
in New York City’s schools, commit to investing $8.5 billion statewide,
and commit an additional 500 million yearly to fund after-school
programs in every district

V. Energy Policy:
-- increase the percentage of electricity produced with renewable energy
sources (not nuclear) to 25% in the first year, with a goal of 40% by
the end of his term
-- promote energy conservation and research to create 25,000 new jobs
for each year of his term

VI. Criminal Justice Reform:
-- submit a bill to the NYS legislature to restore sentencing control to
judges -- no mandatory minimums and use of alternative sentencing with a
focus on restorative justice to prevent recidivism
-- submit a bill to the NYS legislature to legalize marijuana and repeal
the Rockefeller Drug Laws

VII. Death Penalty:
-- advocate against the death penalty and refuse to sign any bill to
reinstate it
-- commit $40 million per year for the permanent funding of legal
services programs

VIII. Housing:
-- build 250,000 units of affordable housing each year of his term --
the criteria “affordable” being that all New Yorkers are able to find
housing near their work for no more than 30% of their family income
-- repeal the Urstadt Law that bars New York City from adopting rent
limitations and tenant protections that are more restrictive than those
allowed by the state

IX. Agriculture:
-- submit a bill for labeling laws that identify food by origin
(defining "family farm," "small farm), and whether genetically
engineered
-- submit a bill to require every public school cafeteria to serve
locally grown food -- with a priority on small, organic farms

X. Labor:
-- repeal the Taylor Law to give public unions negotiating tools that
are as powerful as management's while protecting public safety
-- give union organizers full access to organize workfare workers and
prisoners in New York State

XI. Electoral Reform:
-- promote conversion to hand-counted paper ballots
-- institute instant runoff voting by actively promoting A03509 and
A03510 sponsored by Assembly Member Fred Thiele to establish an instant
runoff voting method for certain primary and local elections

XII. Multiparty Democracy:
-- introduce legislation to more fairly define ballot status of
political parties by either enrollment or the vote totals of any
statewide or federal office
-- introduce clean election legislation that doesn’t penalize third
parties
-- introduce legislation to provide for proportional representation of
political parties on the county and state boards of elections

XIII. Public Authorities:
-- spearhead a public review of public authorities including their
mandates, governing structures and budgets; and implement a
comprehensive reform with a focus on transparency and accountability

John Eder: Running for and Serving in Office in the Maine State House

In 2005 I attened a workshop in Tulsa, Oklahoma featuring then Maine State House Representative John Eder, talking about his experiences running for and serving in office in the Maine State House.

Here is a two-part video on that presentation:

John Eder, Green member of Maine State House (2002-2006)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PD8AwvFWRA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJHVDMZ4aBs

many thanks to Mike Feinstein for video taping the event.

Support Goodyear Workers - Saturday

SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY

With Goodyear Strikers

Show solidarity with 15,000 Goodyear workers on strike to protect their jobs and retiree health care.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Goodyear
2040 West Ridge Rd.
Rochester
10 am - 12 Noon

Goodyear
20 Dennison Pkwy East
Corning
9 am - 11 am

THIS IS EVERYONE’S FIGHT!
These workers are fighting the fight for good jobs, health care and decent living standards for ALL of us.
For more information, contact Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO at 585-263-2650 or 607-734-8290; or Dan Dunlap, USW, at 716-565-1720 or Trudy Humphrey, CWA, at 585-242-0071.

Rep. McKinney Files Articles of Impeachment

The Green Party has been calling for impeachment for 3 years, Cynthia McKinney became the first to answer that call, will any Democrats in congress join her... probably not. Call your Senators and Congressman or Congresswoman today and tell them you support Impeachment!

www.gp.org/impeachbush

Impeach Bush and Cheney Now!

Rep. McKinney Files Articles of Impeachment
Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:02:07 -0800



By Matt Pascarella
Outgoing lawmaker cites numerous abuses of the Constitution by President Bush

Editor’s note: GNN has been covering this story as it unfolds on Capitol Hill. We will have video of Rep. McKinney’s floor speech and an exclusive interview with the Congresswoman up shortly.

On Monday, gathering in a conference room in Washington D.C., Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and her advisors worked on a draft copy of the articles of impeachment against President Bush.

At the heart of the charges contained in McKinney’s articles of impeachment, is the allegation that President Bush has not upheld the oath of presidential office and is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article I states that President Bush has failed to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. Specifically cited in this article is the charge that Bush has manipulated intelligence and lied to justify war: “George Walker Bush … in preparing the invasion of Iraq, did withhold intelligence from the Congress, by refusing to provide Congress with the full intelligence picture that he was being given, by redacting information … and actively manipulating the intelligence on Iraq’s alleged weapons programs by pressuring the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies.”

This manipulation of intelligence was done, the charge continues, “with the intent to misinform the people and their representatives in Congress in order to gain their support for invading Iraq, denying both the people and their representatives in Congress the right to make an informed choice.”

Article II, “Abuse of office and of executive privilege,” states that President Bush has disregarded his oath of office by “obstructing and hindering the work of Congressional investigative bodies and by seeking to expand the scope of the powers of his office.” The President has “failed to take responsibility for, investigate or discipline those responsible for an ongoing pattern of negligence, incompetence and malfeasance to the detriment of the American people.”

This article continues by indicting Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in their actions to manipulate or “fix” intelligence and mislead the public about Iraq’s weapons programs. Ultimately, this article calls not only for Bush’s impeachment and removal from office but also asks the same actions to be taken against Cheney and Rice.

Article III states that President Bush has failed to “ensure the laws are faithfully executed” and that he has “violated the letter and spirit of laws and rules of criminal procedure used by civilian and military courts, and has violated or ignored regulatory codes and practices that carry out the law.”

Specifically, McKinney cites illegal domestic spying as a result of failing to obtain warrants thereby subverting congress and the judiciary in the process: “… by circumventing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act courts established by Congress, whose express purpose is to check such abuses of executive power, provoking the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to file a complaint and another judge to resign in protest, the said program having been subsequently ruled illegal; he has also concealed the existence of this unlawful program of spying on American citizens from the people and all but a few of their representatives in Congress, even resorting to outright public deceit.”

The article continues by citing public statements Bush has made that were blatantly contradictory to his policy and actions regarding domestic spying.

While the staff was editing the document, one advisor told me, “As we sat down and worked on this, a pattern became very clear … a pattern to specifically undermine the constitution and establish a unitary presidency.”

The charges addressed in McKinney’s resolution are nothing revelatory or new. Rather, they are issues which have been in the public eye for quite some time and have increasingly been covered in the media over the last year.

Despite winning the congressional majority, the Democrats have yet to put forth a plan to investigate what have become somewhat ubiquitous allegations.

Speaker-elect, Representative Pelosi, dismissed any possibility of impeachment, saying it is “off the table” and that it is “a waste of time … making them lameducks is good enough for me.” Although, in the November election, 60% of the voters in her own district cast ballots in favor of Proposition J, a measure calling for the impeachment of President Bush.

In 2005 Representative John Conyers sponsored a resolution, HR 365, to create a special committee to investigate allegations against the Bush Administration – a move that would likely lead to the discovery of impeachable offenses. This resolution was passed to the House Committee on Rules and was never brought up for a vote.

At that time it was widely believed that if the Democrats took control of congress, Conyers would reintroduce the resolution as would have subpoena power if selected as leader of the House Judiciary Committee.

A few days after the Democrats won control Conyers echoed Pelosi’s statement saying, “I am in total agreement with her on this issue … impeachment is off the table.” Last week a spokesperson from Conyers office said that the resolution would not be reintroduced and that the Representative had no intention to pursue the matter.

Will other members of congress support the action Congresswoman McKinney has brought forth?

At the table in what could be considered her impeachment “war room” the question is brought up a number of times.

Mike, an advisor to McKinney, mentions, “Conyers was supposed to have investigations. They were chomping at the bit 6 months ago to do subpoenas.”

McKinney quietly replies, “Now they say they aren’t even going to issue subpoenas.”

Looking up from her papers she takes a deep breath, “I’m going in alone on this one because now it is all about them playing majority politics.”

This is McKinney’s last week as a member of congress and this act, to impeach the president, is the final resolution she will enter into the Congressional record.

For those who know anything about Cynthia McKinney it may come as no surprise that she would file this resolution as her parting gift to Congress.

McKinney is no stranger to being attacked by the media and has been isolated from her own party.

From her inquiries into election fraud in 2000 to her calls for a transparent and thorough investigation into 9-11, not to mention the widely covered run-in she had with the Capitol Hill Police, the congresswoman is aware that this resolution will likely be ignored and that she will be ruthlessly attacked upon its filing.

“What do you think they are going to do to me this time?” she asks her staff. Everyone uncomfortably shifts in their seats and after no answer comes McKinney explains, “We have to do this because this is simply the right thing to do. The American people do want to hold this man and his office accountable for the crimes they have committed and if no member of congress is willing to do it, than I will.”

It is questionable as to how effective this move could be in gaining support because of her reputation as a firebrand congresswoman and because, ultimately, she is on her way out of office.

The Congresswoman and her staff realize this but hope that by filing the articles of impeachment it will, at the very least, open up a discussion on whether or not President Bush and key members of his administration have committed impeachable offenses and whether our officials should be held to account.

“My duty as a member of Congress is merely to uphold and preserve the constitution and to represent the will of my constituency. Ultimately, it isn’t up to me or any other member of congress – it is up to the American people to decide.”

GNN contributor Matt Pascarella is a freelance journalist & producer who was present during the drafting of the Articles of Impeachment that Congresswoman McKinney filed today.

additional links:
http://www.gp.org/impeachbush/links.shtml

The Next Green Party Presidential Candidate?