Fair Elections Now Act in Deliberation

Americans have lost faith in the political system because of the influence of big money. An elected freshman spends 20 per cent of their time trying to raise money for the next election, rather than doing their job of legislation.

The Fair Elections Now Act is currently being deliberated in both houses. In a citizen-funded "Fair Elections" system, qualified candidates who take no contributions larger than $100 can run for Congress on a blend of small donations and public funds.

The system has been tested with great success in three states: Arizona, Maine, and most recently Connecticut. Altogether, seven states have implemented Clean Elections for some of their statewide offices.

For decades, big business money fawned over Republicans. Democrats raised money from ordinary voters and labor. However, after the Democrats lost both the Presidency and the majority in the Senate in 1980, the DNC opened the way for big PAC money to waltz in. Since then, campaigns have gotten longer, more expensive and less substantive, offering fewer and fewer truly liberal candidates and pulling the center more to the right.

References:
Common Cause
Open Congress

Giacomini Fired Up About California's Need for a Constitutional Convention

Giacomini Forsakes Party System to Fight California's Legislative Inertia from Polidoc on Vimeo.

The empowered parties and lobbyists have wreaked havoc on California government and nothing short of a Constitutional Convention can create a long-lasting solution to this state's problem, according to Andrew Giacomini, lead counsel for the organization Repair California. Giacomini hopes that the populist rage and involvement will fuel voters to adopt Repair California's strategy to create a people's convention.

For more information, go to RepairCalifornia.org

Future Meet-up dates:

Thousand Oaks Constitutional Convention Town Hall
Monday August 3, 2009
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

San Francisco: Repairing California: Time for a Constitutional Convention
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Orange County Constitutional Convention Town Hall
September 2, 2009
7:30 a.m. Breakfast | 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Program

Sierra Nevada Constitutional Convention Town Hall
August 21, 2009
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (tentative)

"Dignity" Delivers Her Green Message

2008 Green Party Presidential Candidate, Cynthia McKinney was held by the Israeli government when the humanitarian boat she was on was detained.

Here is a link to freegazat.org from where McKinney, a former Democratic Congresswoman of Georgia, reports on the Dignity's mission and the message of political action she hopes to bring to the Middle East.

The oldest, most prestigious Israeli paper, Haaretz also reports on the detention. American Press has been slow to cover this story.

Leahy Gains Ground for Truth and Reconciliation Panel

"If I was a cynic, I would say it was hypocritical, but being a kind, benevolent person, I'll just call it forgetful." - Patrick Leahy

The rising tide of angry voices calling for an investigation of the Bush Administration have pushed Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) to call for a Truth and Consequences Panel. In this Rachel Maddow interview, Leahy said it may not be a perfect way, but it may be the only way to get the truth out and to assure that future administrations will behave in a more transparent manner. Leahy, a former prosecutor, suggests that he would offer immunity from prosecution to those willing to testify to all that they knew, inferring that those who do not come forward or who fail to disclose everything are open game.

Leahy said that Republicans with whom he spoke said it would be terrible to investigate a former President's Administration, that they would never do it. He quickly countered that Republicans had spent six years and tens to hundreds of millions of dollars to investigate the former President Clinton Administration. "If I was a cynic," Leahy said, "I would say it was hypocritical, but being a kind, benevolent person, I'll just call it forgetful."

Democratic leaders, John Conyers and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, said that they are open to the idea and would pursue prosecution if it is apparent that crimes were committed. Maddow suggests that there appears to be an emerging consensus amongst the Democratic leadership; whether it is an attempt to expose crimes or silence the disgrunteld public is yet to be seen.

Here is a petition launched by Leahy to gather signatures asking for the commission.

Just Another Brick in the Wall of Underfunded Education

The Senate has moved along in shaping the stimulus bill which President Obama urged naysayers to accept in all due haste. However, getting those needed votes has required cuts coming mostly from budgeted school construction, teacher funding and higher education. More cuts to come. That said, a $15,000 tax credit for new home purchases proposed by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) remains in the measure.

Congress to Grant Immunity to Telecoms

In a hurry to take their summer recess, the Democrats have capitulated again to the Republicans.

Democracy Now reports:

Leaders in the Democratic-controlled House and Senate have agreed to rewrite the nation’s surveillance laws and to give what amounts to legal immunity to phone companies that took part in the Bush administration’s secret domestic surveillance program. The bill has been described as the most significant revision of surveillance law in three decades. The legislation gives the government new powers to eavesdrop on both domestic and international communications. One provision would allow the government to wiretap Americans for up to a week without a court order. The House is expected to approve the measure today. The Senate will vote next week. Several prominent Democratic Senators criticized the bill. Senator Russ Feingold said, “The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation.”

House Approves $162 Billion War Funding Bill

Rep. Nancy Pelosi: “So, let us think and hope that this is the last time that there will ever be another dollar spent without constraints, without conditions, without direction. Why should we trust the same judgment that got us here in the first place in this war?”

Indeed, and why should we trust the judgment that continues to allow the same behavior. A psychologist would define this behavior as co-dependent....

The Incredible McCain Girl

David Sirota Envies Californians, and Not for its Sun

Why does author and political analyst David Sirota envy Californians? Well, it's not the good weather. Instead, the author of the new book "The Uprising" cites California citizens' ability to create leading legislation that can force the nation to change as cause for inspiration and passion.

Here's a thirty minute video of his presentation at Cody's Bookstore in Berkeley, California, made on Thursday, June 12, 2008.

David Sirota Envys Californians Opportunity to Lead "The Uprising", 6/12/08 from Polidoc on Vimeo.

Condensed History of the 2008 Democratic Primary

An absolutely great watch.

Howard Dean Comments Positively on IRV

Fair Vote Presents this quick clip of Howard Dean commenting on Instant Runoff Voting

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is a ranked ballot method of voting that results in a winner chosen by a majority of the voters. The voters rank the candidates in order
of preference. Each voter has one vote which counts for the highest preferred
candidate that can use it.

"Unprecedented" Shift in Democratic Party Fund Raising

Howard Dean, retained by Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the DNC head, has layed some "Byaah" magic over Democrats with a "quick" note to announce a dramatic shift in campaign fundraising policy.

"The Democratic Party has to be the Party of ordinary Americans, not Washington lobbyists and special interests. So, as of this morning, if you're a federal lobbyist, or if you control political action committee donations, we won't be accepting your contribution," wrote Dean.

He goes on to declare that this is an "unprecendented move for a politcal party to make." And kudos to Dean, Obama and the DNC for addressing this issue so soon after the primary; however, to be fair, both Ralph Nader and the Green Party have preceeded the Democrats in closing this trap door to corporate influence.

A clean money election is a reason to scream. Though dated, this piece of video reminds us of the populist strength Dean has carried in the past. Let me hear it loud and clear Howard:

Former Green wins upset victory in Republican Montana US Senate primary

After years of absorbing Republican led tax relief programs for out-of-state corporations and absentee land owners, Butte, Montana's Republican voters are ready for a Green leaning Republican. Fiscally conservative and locally fixated, this is where the Greens and state focused Republicans meet.

Bob Kelleher has run as both a Democrat and a Green in the past. His support of gun-control is a little out of step with the state's Republicans, but his emphasis on local control and local care holds interest for the working class of Montana. He goes up against Democratic incumbent Max Baucus, a five-term U.S. Senator who had more than $6 million in the bank in May and has raised more than $10 million since he was last re-elected in 2002. Kelleher criticizes Baucus for not challenging Bush on his tax cuts or at least bringing something home for social services.

The Great Falls Tribune ran the results yesterday. With less than $5000 in his pocket, he'd have to do some amazing grassroots dancing to be seen or heard.

According to Ballot Access News, Kelleher, an attorney sued the Montana University System in 2004 for excluding Libertarian and Green nominees from the Gubernatorial race debate. The case lost in Montana Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear it. Kelleher was the Green Party nominee in that election, but he modestly named the lawsuit Jones v Montana University System, placing the Libertarian nominee first in the caption. Kelleher polled 1.88% of the vote for Governor as the Green nominee in 2004. He had been the Green nominee for U.S. Senate in 2002, polling 2.34%.Greens lost ballot access after 2004, forcing Kelleher to forge a path amongst the major two parties.

For more on the story:
Kelleher's website
Great Falls Tribune: "Kelleher wins Upset Victory in Republican US Senate Primary"
Daily Show (2002): Story on Green vs. Libertarian candidates

Gore Vidal Speaks Frankly to BBC About the US 2008 Election

Presidential Primary Campaign Ads 2008

All the ads, collected in one place. Remarkable, frankly, but a "must bookmark" for the poligeeks on your card list, so forward them the link. Get the straight scoop on who did and/or didn't have their poop straight when they flung it!

read more

Pelosi & Gingrich in Green Spot Together

Democrats Ready to Ride the Green Wave?

Democratic leaders want to ride the Green wave into this year's election. Will the Dems shoot the curl or are they just skimboarding?

At the last convention, going green meant focusing on recycling trash and reducing waste during convention week. Now DNCC officials have paid professional greeners to guide them before and after the convention to the next baby step in going green.

"It's not about PR," assured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "It's about substance."

But amongst Green Party leaders, the co-opting of the Green brand poses a threat to the party's membership and future growth and greenwashes the urgent issues at hand.

Co-founder of the Green Party and high ranking San Francisco elected official, Ross Mirkarimi fears that liberal Democrats who have adopted green lifestyle like a cloak, will significantly impact the ability to attract new voters into the Green Party. "Ecological disaster has become so mainstream. We've become so successful at influencing the other parties on agenda, that they don't even have to credit the source." He said he feels the lament of a parent who wonders if their child will survive.

"The Democrats have the rhetoric but not the substance," retorts another co-founder, Howie Hawkins.

For Greens, shooting the Green wave would include:

• immediate overhaul of sustainability practices throughout government
• immediate withdrawal from Iraq with diplomatic solutions supsported and varying degrees of military presence in out-lying regions to support humanitarian concerns.
  
• creation of a single-payer health reform such as in Canada
• reform of the drug laws and the prison system
• targeted Reconstruction efforts
• ecological and environmental justice
• social justice and equal rights
• decentralize government and return to local control, keeping tax money closer to home
• electoral and ballot access reform

That makes the DNC skimboarders in the face of Mavericks.

Jib-Jab: Obama and Hillary Fight Off the Republicans

Jib Jab is always good for a laugh. This animation shows the perils faced by the intrepid duo of Obama and Hillary as they face the attacking zombie-like Republicans. I actually thought that Ralph Nader might appear at the end - that might have made for a more poignant and ultimately humorous end, since the Democrats have so demonized the Independent candidate over the last 7 years.

Ralph Nader continues to lave pending lawsuits against the DNC and a select group of Democratic leaders. We'll be writing more about those ballot access/harassment lawsuits in the near future.

Ballot Access Laws Challenged State by State

Ballot Access News has reported that the most outspoken left Democrat, Kucinich, filed a ballot access suit in Texas, where he was kept off the Democratic party ballot for not pledging his support to whomever the Democrats nominated. Texas party and state ballot access rules are the toughtest in the U.S. - for a reason. No other party or state, BTW - requires such an oath.

Richard Winger, Editor of Ballot Access News also reports about a McCain case in Indiana which sets a new and perhaps unanticipated legal precedent beneficial to all petitioners. While wishing to not deprive voters a chance to vote for McCain over "meaningless technicalities," a stringent rule was rescinded. The board cannot do that for McCain without all parties making use of that decision.

The General amongst ballot access lawsuits has got to be Ralph Nader, who in 2oo7 filed a lawsuit against the DNC and several Democratic leaders, for their flagrant and harassingly unfounded lawsuits against the 2004 Nader-Camejo Presidential campaign. In Hawaii, progress seems to have been made. On the East Coast, several different suits are being combined into one and will be heard later this month or in April in Washington D.C.

Read more from Ballot Access News

Mike Gravel Supports Jesse Johnson's Campaign

Jesse Johnson, Green Party Presidential Candidate met with Democratic Presidential candidate, Mike Gravel in which they agreed that the two major parties block third party voices at the expense of the people and nation and that must change.

Gravel said, "If we want to end the war in Iraq, provide health care to all citizens, educate our young people, we’re going to have to start not only working together with these alternate parties: but literally working to support them. That's why I'm supporting Jesse Johnson's campaign for President."

That support plays as a bonus boost for Johnson, whose recent attainment of the West Virginia ballot line for the Green Party is earning the relatively new Green Party member some clout in the party. Johnson, who plans to do a whistlestop tour through the United States via train, will be meeting up with Gravel for public presentations from time to time throughout the campaign.

Johnson comes from a long line of police officers and grew up as a Republican, but one whose compassion was apparent through his work as an EMT, youth educator and film maker. However, as he witnessed what the Bush Administration's "Open for Business" policy meant to West Virginia's Governor Joe Manchin, he rushed into environmental activism. Just a couple of miles from his ancestral home and throughout the mountain region, coal companies began to blast off whole mountaintops with high-grade explosives in a high-speed effort to extract as much coal as quickly as possible. In the wake of these continuing explosions, the air and water has been contaminated and the socio-economic conditions have plummeted. These are the same mountains about which John Denver sang, "ripped up by greed," said Johnson. He is also concerned that in the process of mountaintop removal, no attempt is made to capitalize on the potential economic benefit of farming the lumber prior to the blows or trapping the natural gasses from within.

Recently, the Greens have seen a number of former Republicans join their ranks. The Green' strong plank on old-time Republican values such as conservation, fiscal responsibility, decentralization and local control holds interest for those who have lost faith in the Republican Party of today, according to a Green Party Political Director Brent McMillan. "Greens are the most frugal people you'll ever meet," he said. "Once people see them in office, they begin to realize that."

The Green Party has also seen a number of disenchanted Democrats join their party as well, Cynthia McKinney, former Democratic Congresswoman of Georgia, most notably. She is also running for President on the Green Party ticket and has accumulated a lot of support amongst many Greens. Members of the Green Party have tried to recruit her to run for spot for years. She now says, "I’ve come home to the Green Party."

There are also two Grassroots Green candidates, Kent Mesplay of California and Kat Swift of Texas, also running for the seat of Presidential nominee. While neither has previously held office, their party-building work is notable.