April 8th Special Election for Congress

Barry Hermanson is the Green Party's candidate for this Tuesdays special Congressional Election. Barry has spent is life working on improveing wages for workers.

http://www.barryhermanson.org/

* Co-author in 2003 of San Francisco's minimum wage initiative, improving wages for 54,000 people.
* Co-chair, S.F. Living Wage Coalition (1999 and 2000). Passed legislation that increased wages and provided health care for 20,000 workers.
* Past president of one of the largest neighborhood merchant associations in San Francisco.
* Chair of the board of a non-profit housing corporation which provides low income housing in S.F.
* Former co-chair, S.F. Local Homeless Coordinating Board.
* Member, California Universal Health Care Organizing Project
* Barry's former business Former small business owner in S.F. employing more than 3,000 workers during 25 years of operations.


U.S. Budget Priorities



This chart represents the 2007-2008 U.S.
discretionary budget, the portion of the budget that the President and
Congress create each year. It does not include Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the national debt.

Pentagon: On August 5th,
2007, the Democrats in Congress voted 208 to 12 to provide the Dept. of
Defense with $460 Billion in funding for the year. Next year, President
Bush is asking for $515 Billion.

Iraq: Bush wants $196 Billion
for the war in Iraq this year. Capitulating to veto threats, House
Democrats have consistently supplied money without restrictions.
National debt will increase by more than $2 TRILLION.
The “New Direction Congress”

The portion of the budget already devoted to the military is approximately 60%. But according to Nancy Pelosi's
year-end message, the "New Direction" Congress is "authorizing funds to
begin increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps."

This is
madness! We have more than 800 military bases around the world. We
don't need more. We spend as much as the rest of the world combined.
Additional spending will not make us safer.

Crumbling Infrastructure
I-35W
in Minneapolis Structural stability of bridges is rated on a scale of 0
to 100%. The I-35W bridge in Minneapolis scored 50%. The Doyle Drive
approach to the Golden Gate rates only 2%.

The U.S. military has
been far stronger than any potential opponent for decades. Yet, in
recent years, we've doubled military spending at the expense of
investing in our people. As a result, the economy is increasingly
vulnerable.

Bad trade deals and manufacturing flight have
hollowed out our industrial base. Outsourcing and lack of vocational
training have weakened our middle class. Our universities produce too
few engineers, scientists, doctors and nurses. We continue to rely on
old technology that spews pollution into our air and water. Much of our
infrastructure is reaching the end of its useful life. Each day,
national debt mounts.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was
accelerated by its invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Just as we are
doing today in Iraq, the Russians poured resources into war. Similarly,
the Roman Empire's attempt to control too much territory was a major
reason for its disintegration. We now have more than 800 military bases
around the world. Even more are planned.

The good news is that
Americans have always been remarkably resilient. By moving away from a
war economy, we can return to fundamentals: investing in education,
career training, green jobs and technology innovation. We must end
George Bush's nightmare in Iraq, then shift our priorities into
sustainable economics and fiscal responsibility!

The choice is simple. Do we continue to invest
in military might or do we invest in people?