Third Party Candidates

[bobthebuilder]

concerning this statement concerning the constitutional party:
“Congress should retain control of Copyrights and Patents.”
Is this true of the national constitutional party? and secondly can anyone find something that Baldwin has said concerning this issue?
(Im probably voting for Barr but I agree with some of what Baldwin and was contemplating him because of Barr’s history, but this issue would be a decided factor because that is just retarded)

[ShibbOleth]

@bobthebuilder

concerning this statement concerning the constitutional party:
“Congress should retain control of Copyrights and Patents.”
Is this true of the national constitutional party? and secondly can anyone find something that Baldwin has said concerning this issue?
(Im probably voting for Barr but I agree with some of what Baldwin and was contemplating him because of Barr’s history, but this issue would be a decided factor because that is just retarded)

Here’s what is says on that point on their national platform page:

Copyrights and Patents

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing" copyright and patent protection for authors and inventors.

We oppose the unconstitutional transfer of authority over copyright and patent policy from Congress to other agencies, domestic or foreign. We favor more vigorous efforts in both domestic and foreign markets to protect the interests of owners in their copyrights and patents.

I didn’t take that as Congress owning all copyrights and patents, just the CP’s way to say that Congress should not “farm this out” to a Patent Office but do the work themselves. Not sure why or how that would work, or even if my interpretation is correct.

[Little_Nemo]

I didn’t take that as Congress owning all copyrights and patents, just the CP’s way to say that Congress should not “farm this out” to a Patent Office but do the work themselves. Not sure why or how that would work, or even if my interpretation is correct.

That, or they may be objecting to Congress agreeing to international standards like the Berne Convention. I’m just speculating though.

[BrainGlutton]

@Little_Nemo

That, or they may be objecting to Congress agreeing to international standards like the Berne Convention. I’m just speculating though.

How come socialists seem to be the only ones out there advocating any form of internationalism* even in principle**?

*Not to be confused with neoliberal free-trade globalism.

**I know, I know, Commies always seem to act like rabid nationalists once they get into power . . .

[ShibbOleth]

Got a bit behind, but let’s catch up with a look at the SWP - the Socialist Worker’s Party. This one is interesting, because the website (The Militant) lists Roger Calero as the candidate, but my ballot had James Harris, who has previously been the SWP candidate.

Platform, or “What The Socialist Workers Campaign Fights For”

he worst capitalist financial crisis since the opening of the Great Depression of the 1930s is taking a grinding toll on workers and farmers worldwide. Today the billionaire ruling families and their spokespeople in the U.S. are trumpeting the success of their many-year-long efforts to undermine our wages, job conditions, and living standards. Inflation, fueled by their enormous expansion of individual, corporate, and government debt, steals more from our paychecks. Meanwhile, the rulers openly congratulate themselves for ground they’ve taken in further weakening our unions—workers’ first line of defense. As the employers intensify their “productivity” drive, our labor—which, if organized to meet human needs, could transform living conditions the world over—is instead turned into an instrument endangering our own life and limb. Deaths and injuries mount in coal mines, on construction sites, on the docks, in packinghouses,
sewing plants, and other workplaces. Under the lash of the bosses’ profit drive, our labor ends up not transforming nature to the betterment of humanity, but poisoning the air, soil, and water on which society depends. Protectionist aggression among capitalist powers—and more so against the semicolonial world—rears its bellicose head.

What lies ahead for working people will be many years of sharpening class battles, as we respond to escalating antilabor assaults. These include efforts to divide and weaken us by scapegoating immigrants and dealing blows that fall the heaviest on workers who are Black. The Socialist Workers Party campaigns for a course of action preparing workers and farmers to advance our interests and defend ourselves and our allies against the devastating consequences of capitalism’s deepening world disorder.

This works better as a prose rant rather than trying to pull out bullet points. Which is one of the reasons it’s probably more fun to go with the left versus the right wing if you’re going 3rd party. No tough to memorize platform points, just generally bitch about conditions and class struggles.

The candidates: Roger Calero is a 39 year old who has worked in a number of labor positions so that he could organize the workers to cast off their chains of oppression. He wants to legalize all illegal migrant workers. He was born in Nicaragua and moved to the USA with his family. It seems he may not actually be able to become president (not clear if either parent was a US citizen), which may explain the whole James Harris thing.

Alyson Kennedy “Alyson Kennedy, 57, has been a socialist and trade union fighter for more than three decades. Originally from Indianapolis, Kennedy joined the socialist movement in 1973 in Louisville, Kentucky. A long-time fighter against racism and discrimination, she was part of the fight to desegregate public schools there in the mid-1970s. She has participated in numerous activities and protests over the past three and half decades in defense of affirmative action and in opposition to racist discrimination.” She has also worked a number of labor jobs, and according to Wiki is currently employed as a garment worker. Sounds a bit like an aging hippie who has maintained a politically left POV. Good for her.

[ShibbOleth]

Next up, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente for GRE - Green Party. As always more details at the link. Brevity is not the soul of the Greens.

The Green Party may well have the wordiest platform, with lots of hyperlinks and sub-sections, so I’m going to highlight their preamble and 10 Key Values:

A Call to Action

The Green Platform presents an eco-social analysis and vision for our country. In contrast to the way in which major political parties create their platforms, through the back-room deals of insiders and power-brokers, we have created a grassroots process that invites submissions from every local Green Party and every Green individual. Through democratic process over a year and a half, we arrive at a final draft to present to our national convention for approval. The Green Platform is an evolving document, a living work-in-progress that expresses our commitment to creating wise and enduring change in specific policies and in the political process itself. The Green Party is committed to values-based politics, as expressed in our Ten Key Values. These values guide us in countering and changing a system that extols exploitation, unsustainable consumption, and destructive competition.

Platform Preamble

Never has our country faced as many challenges and crises as we do in 2004 and the near future. Levels of federal revenue are the lowest they have been since 1950 because of tax cuts and breaks for the very rich and for corporations. Government agencies charged with safeguarding public health and safety are operating with slashed budgets that paralyze their efforts. Jobs are being permanently relocated outside the country, while social and educational programs are being gutted. Our food, water, air, and soil are increasingly found to bear toxins and debilitating pollution. Every single level of government - local, county, state, and federal - is operating in the red, running up crushing amounts of debt. Many of our allies and former friends around the world are disgusted with our imperial foreign policy, militarism, and arrogant corporate behavior. Realizing that our actions will be judged by future generations, we ask how we can draw on the best of our traditions, calling forth a spirit of ingenuity and citizen participation to achieve a free, democratic, just, and responsible society, one that actively responds to the crucial ecological challenges of our time, rather than denying them.

We submit a bold vision of our country’s future, a Platform on which we stand:

      o Our Ten Key Values as a guide to a politics of vision and action,
      o A creative, pragmatic plan for a prospering sustainable economy, and
      o A call to restore and protect a healthy, diverse environment and to cultivate a sense of community at all levels, from the local to the planetary. 

We propose a vision of our common good that is advanced through an independent politics free from the control of corporations and big money, and through a democratic structure and process that empowers and reaches across lines of division to bring together our combined strengths as a people.

We, the Green Party, see our political and economic progress, and our individual lives, within the context of an evolving, dynamic world.

As in nature, where adaptation and diversity provide key strategies through which life flourishes, a successful political strategy is one that is diverse, adaptable to changing needs, and strong and resilient in its core values:

      o Participatory Democracy, rooted in community practice at the grassroots level and informing every level, from the local to the international.
      o Social Justice and Equal Opportunity emphasizing personal and social responsibility, accountability, and an informing ethic of Nonviolence.
      o Ecological and Economic Sustainability, balancing the interests of a regulated market economy and community-based economics with effective care for the Great Economy in which we are embedded: the ecosystems of the Earth. 

The Green Party Platform seeks to identify the most crucial problems facing our country and offers ideas for responsible action to solve them. Looking to the future with hope and optimism, we believe we can truly correct the course of reckless, destructive governance that has allowed and encouraged the degradation of our ecological life-support systems, gutted our economy, and strained the social fabric to the point of causing material hardship for millions of Americans. Our common destiny brings us together across our nation and around the globe. We act in service to our children and the future generations of all our relations in the Earth community. We act in service to the future we are creating today.

10 Key Values

1. GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY

Every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect his or her life and should not be subject to the will of another. Therefore, we will work to increase public participation at every level of government and to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them. We will also work to create new types of political organizations which expand the process of participatory democracy by directly including citizens in the decision-making process.
**
2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY**

All persons should have the rights and opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. We must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations, and society at large, barriers such as racism and class oppression, sexism and homophobia, ageism and disability, which act to deny fair treatment and equal justice under the law.

**3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM
**
Human societies must operate with the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from nature.
We must maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet. We support a sustainable society which utilizes resources in such a way that future generations will benefit and not suffer from the practices of our generation. To this end we must practice agriculture which replenishes the soil; move to an energy efficient economy; and live in ways that respect the integrity of natural systems.

**4. NON-VIOLENCE
**
It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society’s current patterns of violence. We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments.
We recognize the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in helpless situations. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace.

5. DECENTRALIZATION
**
Centralization of wealth and power contributes to social and economic injustice, environmental destruction, and militarization. Therefore, we support a restructuring of social, political and economic institutions away from a system which is controlled by and mostly benefits the powerful few, to a democratic, less bureaucratic system. Decision-making should, as much as possible, remain at the individual and local level, while assuring that civil rights are protected for all citizens.
**
6. COMMUNITY BASED ECONOMICS

Redesign our work structures to encourage employee ownership and workplace democracy. Develop new economic activities and institutions that will allow us to use our new technologies in ways that are humane, freeing, ecological and accountable, and responsive to communities.
Establish some form of basic economic security, open to all.
Move beyond the narrow “job ethic” to new definitions of “work,” jobs" and “income” that reflect the changing economy.
Restructure our patterns of income distribution to reflect the wealth created by those outside the formal monetary economy: those who take responsibility for parenting, housekeeping, home gardens, community volunteer work, etc.
Restrict the size and concentrated power of corporations without discouraging superior efficiency or technological innovation.

7. FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUITY

We have inherited a social system based on male domination of politics and economics. We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and control with more cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender. Human values such as equity between the sexes, interpersonal responsibility, and honesty must be developed with moral conscience. We should remember that the process that determines our decisions and actions is just as important as achieving the outcome we want.
**
8. RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY**

We believe it is important to value cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity, and to promote the development of respectful relationships across these lines.
We believe that the many diverse elements of society should be reflected in our organizations and decision-making bodies, and we support the leadership of people who have been traditionally closed out of leadership roles. We acknowledge and encourage respect for other life forms than our own and the preservation of biodiversity.

9. PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY

We encourage individuals to act to improve their personal well-being and, at the same time, to enhance ecological balance and social harmony. We seek to join with people and organizations around the world to foster peace, economic justice, and the health of the planet.

10. FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Our actions and policies should be motivated by long-term goals. We seek to protect valuable natural resources, safely disposing of or “unmaking” all waste we create, while developing a sustainable economics that does not depend on continual expansion for survival. We must counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions.
Make the quality of life, rather than open-ended economic growth, the focus of future thinking.

Hopefully you’ve heard of Cynthia McKinney. She’s been a bit of a lightning rod for the Democrats previously, having insisted that the government had specific pre-knowledge of the 9/11 attacks. She was involved in a well publicized [dust up with Capitol Hill security](http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/04/mckinney.scuffle. /index.html). She lost a runoff for re-election in her congressional district in 2006, has praised Hugo Chavez and more recently supported Cindy Sheehan over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Her running mate, Rosa Clemente, is not as well known, but has an interesting biographical blurb:

Rosa Alicia Clemente is a community organizer, journalist and Hip-Hop activist. Born and raised in the South Bronx she is a graduate of the University of Albany and Cornell University. A much sought after commentator, political activist, community organize and independent reporter, Rosa has been delivering workshops, presentations and commentary for over ten years.

We really do need more “Hip-Hop activists”, dawg.

Net, even though the Greens have made some strides in Europe and some points beyond, I don’t see them doing much here in the near term, especially without a parliamentary form of government where they could gain some actual power. They do seem to be doing their party with balancing out folks across the political spectrum like the Constitution Party.

[Frankenstein_Monster]

Socialist Workers Party? Boo! Fucking splitters! Petty bourgeois reactionaries!

Reject Obama and McCain! Support the socialist alternative in 2008! Build the Socialist Equality Party!

That’s who I would vote for if I lived in the U.S… uh… are they even on the ballot anywhere?

[Phlosphr]

Living in Connecticut, we will actually see quite a few people voting for Nader, whose from CT. Every vote for Nader will be one more McCain won’t get.

[BrainGlutton]

@ShibbOleth

Here is that section of their platform in toto:

Choose electors by congressional district instead of statewide winner-take-all? Yeah, I could get behind that, though scrapping the EC entirely would be much better.

[ShibbOleth]

Onward, to AIP - America’s Independent Party. This is the one featuring Alan Keyes, not to be confused with Chuck Baldwin’s Independent American Party (there’s a joke in there somewhere about the Judean People’s Liberation Front).

For some reason, whenever I see Alan Keyes’ name I get the song “Rock n Roll Radio” in my head, with the incorrect lyrics “Do you remember Alan Keyes?Murray the K, Alan Keyes and high energy?”. Anyway, on to the party platform, not that I can find much of it:

America’s Independent Party is being built by Reagan pro-life, pro-family, “Peace through Strength” conservatives who believe that the Republican Party, with the pending nomination of John McCain, has abandoned the principles of Ronald Reagan – particularly the Reagan pro-life platform plank that recognizes the personhood of the unborn and their protection by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

The party also opposes John McCain on many other important points, including his opposition to a federal amendment protecting traditional marriage and the natural family; his sponsorship of the McCain/Feingold legislation, which they view as a direct attack on their First Amendment rights to political free speech and grassroots citizen activism; his long-time support for so-called “comprehensive immigration reform,” which they consider to be amnesty; and his support for the global warming agenda, which they believe will destroy our economy and strip us of our national sovereignty if pursued as public policy.

Since the founders of AIP are primarily long-time Keyes supporters, their opposition to Barack Obama is simply an extension of the work against the presumptive Democrat nominee that they started four years ago during the Illinois Keyes/Obama U.S. Senate race.

How’d that whole Illinois thing work out for you, Mr. Keyes?

Constitution and Platform
Constitution
As free citizens of the United States and founders of America’s Independent Party, we stand in agreement with the founders of our American Republic. Following their example, we declare to the world that our first governmental premise is the self-evident truth that our rights to life, liberty and private property come from our Creator God and are therefore unalienable. With those patriots, we understand that just government can only exist by the consent of the governed.

Our pledge, individually and corporately, is to seek to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. We will diligently work to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, and thereby fulfill the stated purposes of the Constitution of the United States and this organization.

In recognition of the multitude of ways in which our nation’s leaders have departed from America’s founding principles, we hereby petition local, state and federal government for redress of such grievances, with the urgent imperative demand that each and every officer of government henceforth faithfully perform their sworn duty to defend innocent human life and constitutional republican governance.

Our work is dedicated to our God; to all the patriots who came before us in self-sacrifice for liberty; to all of those who now faithfully serve our country; and to the posterity that will enjoy the blessed fruit of all their labors.

Together, as Americans, let us find the principled grounds for cooperation that will allow us to fully restore moral government of, by and for the people.

E pluribus unum.

Platform
Preface
America’s Independent Party has as its goal the return of our nation to a set of foundational principles. We call them “America’s Principles.” The word “principle” comes from a Latin root that means “first things.” America’s Principles are the “first things” that our country should consider in all of our domestic and foreign policies.

America’s Independent Party recognizes that these “first things” are clearly defined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

However, we also believe that there is room for debate over prudential policy matters within certain parameters of fundamental American political thought and a framework of ordered liberty. We seek a return to an approach to government that facilitates that respectful and necessary debate, but that never compromises the moral premises that made this country great.

Our civic duties
Though in civic terms we call ourselves “Independent,” we fully acknowledge our utter dependence, as individuals and as a nation, on Almighty God and His divine Providence and Protection.

We also recognize, and seek to actively fulfill, our God-ordained obligations as individual citizens to the whole sovereign body of the people, as well as our responsibility to maintain standards of high moral character, both personally and in our public life.

Equal rights for our posterity
Because the stated ultimate purpose of the United States Constitution is “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” we recognize the personhood of all unborn children and their protection by the Fifth and the Fourteenth Amendments.

The right to life of all innocent persons, from fertilization to natural death, is God-given and unalienable. That is why we consider it to be a moral imperative to fully establish in law that Personhood is granted by our Creator to all human beings from the very beginning of their biological development.

For the principled man or woman, no compromise is possible concerning such a critical matter of life and death. We believe that violators of this supreme right, in words or actions, are unfit for any office of public trust, since any such violation constitutes the breaking of the oath of office and the ultimate destruction of the very basis of our liberty.

The “reason for being” of government, and of America’s Independent Party
The protection of the life, liberty, and private property of the people is the primary reason for the existence of human government, and more particularly, our precious American republican form of self-government. This is why we willingly accept no breach of the rights of the free exercise of religion, free speech, free press, free assembly, free association, and the right to petition government for the redress of grievances. We defend all of the enumerated rights listed in our Bill of Rights, and, in addition, all natural rights that are not enumerated, as per the Ninth Amendment.

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
The right of self-preservation and self-protection is inherent in all persons, communities and societies, which is why we fiercely defend the indispensable provisions of our Second Amendment. Liberty cannot be protected if the people have been stripped of the physical means of doing so.

Restoring limited government
We seek to restore the intended balance between the three separate branches of our government, and to strictly limit government to the Enumerated Powers granted and expressed by the will of the people of the United States in our Constitution.

All existing functions of the Executive branch that are outside of those Enumerated Powers must be eliminated.

All spending and regulation by the Legislative branch that lies outside the Enumerated Powers must cease.

Judges who attempt to legislate from the bench, or who abandon the clear principles of our Constitution, must be checked if liberty and justice are to prevail in our society once again.

We demand a return to adherence to the provisions of the Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Peace through Strength
We believe in a supremely strong, prepared, and well-equipped civilian-controlled United States military, and a bold, visionary and intelligent program of principled constructive engagement with the rest of the world. For us, “peace through strength” is not a mere slogan. It is the means of survival for our country in a very dangerous and often hostile world. Our friendship should be a sought-after possession of all men and women of good will everywhere in the world. Our enmity should be something that all rightfully fear.

As Ronald Reagan opposed and defeated the designs and desire of the Soviet Union to dominate the world and place it under the tyranny of their Evil Empire, we stand unalterably opposed to all who approve of, plan or commit terrorist acts. Since the first principle of America is the protection of innocent human life, any who would use acts of terrorism targeted at innocent civilians to forward their political, ideological or religious aims incur our effective and determined enmity.
**
Sovereignty**
We completely oppose any action that surrenders the moral, political or economic sovereignty of the United States and its people, and demand the immediate restoration of that sovereignty wherever it has been eroded.

We demand the immediate securing and continuous vigilant maintenance of our sovereign territory and borders. We oppose any private or governmental action that rewards illegal entry into the United States in any way, and demand speedy and full enforcement of our laws concerning all such activities.

Repeal of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments
We consider the federal income tax to be destructive of our liberty, privacy, and prosperity. Therefore, we are working to bring about its complete elimination and the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We recommend that the current system be replaced by an equitable, simple, noninvasive, visible, efficient tax, one that does not destroy or even infringe upon our economic privacy and liberty.

We also call for the repeal of the Seventeenth Amendment. Its enactment greatly reduced the power of our state legislatures and state governments – which are much closer to the people – and damaged our system of federalism.

Marriage and the natural family
We seek the passage of a Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and oppose all attempts everywhere to redefine marriage as being anything but what it has always been: the union of one man and one woman. Since the natural family is the basic God-given institution of our civilization, and the nursery of our future, it must be protected from all who would destroy it.

America’s Principles work
America’s Independent Party is a principled party, but it is also a practical party. We believe that America’s Principles work whenever the people diligently put them into practice.

A quick background on Keyes:
“Alan Lee Keyes (born August 7, 1950) is a conservative American political activist, author and former diplomat, and perennial candidate for public office. He ran for President of the United States in 1996, 2000, and 2008, and was a Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1988, 1992, and 2004. Keyes served in the U.S. Foreign Service, was appointed Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations under President Ronald Reagan, and served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987.” He’s lost to Dole, Bush and Obama thus far.

His running mate, Brian Rohrbough is a tragic figure: "Rohrbough is a small business owner in Colorado. His son, Daniel, was murdered in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, profoundly affecting his life. He led efforts to get to the bottom of why the shootings happened, ultimately concluding that America’s culture of death was the root cause. Since then he has become involved in the pro-life movement.

Today he is the president of American Right to Life, an organization that is dedicated to ending abortion, a position in which he serves without compensation. He has appeared on numerous local and national television programs across the country."

[Gangster_Octopus]

What about the YGFFYRT Party?

[mlees]

San Diego county only has 6 candidates running for PotUS:

Obama, McCain, Keyes, Nader, McKinney, Barr.

Thanks for the write-ups on the 3rd party platforms, ShibbOleth. Entertaining reading, on some of them.

[ShibbOleth]

Info on Nader, Moore and Jay to come tomorrow (or Friday at the latest).

[BrainGlutton]

You know, I really was expecting Pat Buchanan’s America First Party, formed as it was from the substantial populist-nativist fragment of the Reform Party, would be a bigger deal by now. But it’s not even nominating its own candidate for POTUS this year, it’s encouraging members to choose between Barr (Libertarian) and Baldwin (Constitution). I would think the Constitution Party, with its religious-right emphasis, would have slightly narrower appeal than America First with its emphasis on culture and economics. (Also, Constitution comes out of a definite white Evangelical Protestant tradition, while America First should be more acceptable to the numerous conservative Catholics and other white “ethnics”.) Apparently there’s not enough of a base to support both.

[FriarTed]

Anybody else miss Lyndon LaRouche? Who is going to cheer our mission to Mars and fushion energy program and warn us about how the Satanic racist degenerate Albert Pike rules America from the grave?

[BrainGlutton]

@FriarTed

Anybody else miss Lyndon LaRouche? Who is going to cheer our mission to Mars and fushion energy program and warn us about how the Satanic racist degenerate Albert Pike rules America from the grave?

Well, ever since his U.S. Labor Party folded, he always runs as a Democrat anyway. So we never hear about him in the general.

I kinda wish we still had Barry Commoner and the Citizens Party.

[Zsofia]

@FriarTed

Anybody else miss Lyndon LaRouche? Who is going to cheer our mission to Mars and fushion energy program and warn us about how the Satanic racist degenerate Albert Pike rules America from the grave?

I for one miss Eugene V. Debs.

All you need to know about Bob Barr is what my roomate said back in college when he was our representative. “That man just looks like a penis to me.”

[ShibbOleth]

Had some automotive troubles last week that prevented me from doing the follow ups for the last few parties. Then I just (finally) heard a radio ad on Sports Talk radio today for Nader. Interestingly, it didn’t mention which party he’s running under.

Without further ado, let’s now take a look at Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez.

While Nader is running as an independent, in some states he has ballot access with the Independent-Ecology Party, the Natural Law Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party.[3][4]

Above is from Wikipedia on the Nader campaign, which helps explain the lack of party affiliation with his radio commercial and his Campaign Website. In Florida he’s running as the Independent-Ecology Party (ECO)

The high level issues identified on Nader’s website are as follows:

• Adopt single payer national health insurance
• Cut the huge, bloated, wasteful military budget
• No to nuclear power, solar energy first
• Aggressive crackdown on corporate crime and corporate welfare
• Open up the Presidential debates
• Adopt a carbon pollution tax
• Reverse U.S. policy in the Middle East
• Impeach Bush/Cheney
• Repeal the Taft-Hartley anti-union law
• Adopt a Wall Street securities speculation tax
• Put an end to ballot access obstructionism
• Work to end corporate personhood
• Defend, Restore and Strengthen the Civil Justice System
• Adopt the National Initiative

According to their chart, these are all issues which Nader endorses or wants to examine, while Obama and McCain both have them “Off the table”. I’ve hyper-linked all of them so that you might read more if you wish. Some interesting ideas there, but I don’t agree with many of them. For example, although it might have been a good idea to impeach Bush/Cheney, or at least fun to imagine it, it’s not really practical at this point and not much of an Election platform.

I’m not going to bother going into detail about Nader – everyone knows or should know that he made his bones in Consumer protection, famously driving the Chevy Corvair off the market (not everyone thinks this was a good thing) – and then ran for President in 2000 and 2004, possibly changing the outcome of the 2000 election.

Matt Gonzalezis a Texan transplanted to San Francisco:

Matt Gonzalez was born in McAllen, Texas in 1965. He received a BA degree from Columbia College, Columbia University, 1987, and a JD from Stanford Law School in 1990. He worked as a deputy public defender in San Francisco from 1991-2000. In 2000 he was elected to the 11-member San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which supervises a city with a budget of $6 billion.

He is best known for having led the effort to implement Instant Run-off Voting, also known as Rank Choice Voting, in San Francisco, where it has been successfully implemented to obtain a majority outcome without the need for costly run-off elections. (It is often promoted as a solution to the “spoiler” claim.)

[IdahoMauleMan]

@ShibbOleth

Had some automotive troubles last week that prevented me from doing the follow ups for the last few parties. Then I just (finally) heard a radio ad on Sports Talk radio today for Nader. Interestingly, it didn’t mention which party he’s running under.

Without further ado, let’s now take a look at Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez.
this was a good thing) – and then ran for President in 2000 and 2004, possibly changing the outcome of the 2000 election.

…and many others

That was tremendously entertaining, Shibboleth. The whole thread. Very well done, indeed.

I’ve gone back a few times to re-read Gonzalez’ VP acceptance speech at the Green Party convention. The jaw always drops, and I am rendered speechless thus.

[ShibbOleth]

This next guy, Brian Moore, is practically a neighbor of mine… okay, he lives about 35 miles north of me in the sleepy town of Spring Hill, Florida. Even saw him on the Colbert Report a short while back. In Florida he’s running as the candidate for the Socialist Party of Florida, but the national standard seems to be the Socialist Party - USA, America’s Voice for Democratic Socialism. Colbert had Mr. Moore on after the Republicans started trying to label Obama as a Socialist, to ask if Obama were really a Socialist. Moore seemed no nuttier than most and was adamant that neither McCain nor Obama were Socialists. According to Moore, a true Socialist would have bailed out the people and not the corporations.

Here is their mission statement:

THE SOCIALIST PARTY strives to establish a radical democracy that places people’s lives under their own control – a non-racist, classless, feminist, socialist society in which people cooperate at work, at home, and in the community.

 Socialism is not mere government ownership, a welfare state, or a repressive bureaucracy. Socialism is a new social and economic order in which workers and consumers control production and community residents control their neighborhoods, homes, and schools. The production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few. Socialism produces a constantly renewed future by not plundering the resources of the earth.

Under capitalist and “Communist” states, people have little control over fundamental areas of their lives. The capitalist system forces workers to sell their abilities and skills to the few who own the workplaces, profit from these workers’ labor, and use the government to maintain their privileged position. Under “Communist” states, decisions are made by Communist Party officials, the bureaucracy and the military. The inevitable product of each system is a class society with gross inequality of privileges, a draining of the productive wealth and goods of the society into military purposes, environmental pollution, and war in which workers are compelled to fight other workers.

People across the world need to cast off the systems which oppress them, and build a new world fit for all humanity. Democratic revolutions are needed to dissolve the power now exercised by the few who control great wealth and the government. By revolution we mean a radical and fundamental change in the structure and quality of economic, political, and personal relations. The building of socialism requires widespread understanding and participation, and will not be achieved by an elite working “on behalf of” the people. The working class is in a key and central position to fight back against the ruling capitalist class and its power. The working class is the major force worldwide that can lead the way to a socialist future – to a real radical democracy from below.

Their platform is a bit long winded, so I’ll attempt to summarize:

International Policy - Close all military bases that train or support foreign military and withdraw troops, including Iraq and Afghanistan. End Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza and withdraw all foreign aid for Israel. Cutoff military aid to places like Colombia. Abolish the CIA and NSA. Unconditional disarmament. International treaty to abolish all WMDs, including depleted uranium equipped conventional weapons. Immediate 50% cut in military budget with eventual goal of 10% of today. Disband NATO and similar, and all overseas bases. End to US overseas arms sales. Pay off UN debt, withdraw from Security council and veto power in UN. Constitutional amendment to require popular vote for any issues of war or military involvement. Soldiers have the right to form unions.
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Labor** - Right to unionize without limit, public sector right to strike, recognize unions based on union cards signed. Democratic control of unions independent of employer domination and influence. Right of workers to collective action and self-representation regardless of union status. Support militant labor actions (long list of fun possibilities). Hold shop meetings on company premises. Repeal Hatch Act and Taft-Hartley Act., the “hot cargo” provision of the Landrum-Griffin Act, and all so-called “right to work” laws. Equal benefits for part-time and full-time workers. Increase Health and Safety regulations and powers of OSHA. Fund wages, health benefits and retraining costs in case jobs are lost due to environmental transition, down-sizing, corporate dismantlement or capital flight (editorial comment: why would any business person want to move their capital from such an idyllic environment?). Unions to stop using union funds to elect candidates from the Democratic and Republican parties.

Best part: 30 hour work week at current pay, with six weeks annual paid
vacation.

Economics - Withdraw from pretty much every major trade agreement. Worker and community ownership and control of corporations (Ayn Rand just rolled over in her grave). Minimum wage of $15/hour indexed to Cost of Living. Full employment policy with a provision of a livable guaranteed annual income. Social ownership of all financial and insurance institutions operated by a democratically controlled national banking authority, including credit unions, mutual insurance co-ops and co-op state banks. Until then re-regulate banking and insurance industries. Steeply graduated income and estate taxes with a maximum income no more than 10x the minimum (150 an hour, methinks?). Oppose regressive taxes such as payroll, sales and property taxes. Restore capital gains and luxury taxes on a progressive, graduated scale. Compensation to communities affected by plant and base closings. Oppose the IMF, World Bank and WTO as tools of capitalist oppression. Demand cancellation of third world debt. Add a National Pension authority. Increase and expand welfare and unemployment assistance at 100% of income or minimum wage, whichever is greater. Federal investment in urban and rural areas for infrastructure and economic development. Equal tax benefits for renters and home-owners. Eliminate subsidies and tax breaks for corporations (corporate welfare).
Civil Rights - Good: Free Speech, Free Press, Free Assembly, Privacy, Religious Choice via Separation of Church and State. Bad: War on Terrorism and Patriot Act. Homeland Security and sweeping police powers. FBI. Any measure or criminal code which prevents dissent (anti-terror related, etc). Legislative and institutional censorship.

Want to create a world with open borders, with lots of rights for immigrants that decrease the disparity between industrialized and less developed countries. Universal Human Rights. Full citizenship rights after 6 months residency.

Free and fair elections with public financing of candidates. Strict limits of personal funds for elections. Oppose representation based on anything besides population (implies changes to EC and Senate). Eliminate EC and support instant run off balloting (there it is). Equal media access for all candidates. Full representation for DC, Puerto Rico, Guam and all Native American reservations. Restore rights to the incarcerated. Mandatory paper trail for voting.

Abolish the death penalty. Decriminalize drugs - spend money on rehabilitation instead. Federal safety standards and licensing for arms. Buyout programs to reduce guns in the community. Replace police with community residents trained in conflict resolution. Prisoner rights to unionize to call for better living conditions. Increase prosecution of criminal activity of politicians, corporate managers, and other privileged individuals.

Break up large media companies – no one company owning multiple news outlets. Nationalize satellite and cable companies. Public funding of newspapers and magazines. Repeal copyright extension laws. Public ownership of at least 50% of total bandwidth of the internet.

Environment - Public ownership and democratic control of all natural resources in order to conserve and preserve wilderness and restore environmental quality. US return to participation in environmental international agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol and accept a major role in worldwide efforts to control global warming. Full financial responsibility of private companies to clean up their own waste and compensate workers and residents affected. Oppose policies that target minority communities for landfills, toxic waste disposal, incinerators. Enforce endangered species/habitat protections. Oppose new nuclear projects, phase out existing, and ban export of technology. Support recycling into public use projects. Shutdown incinerators and landfills. Oppose open pit mining. Support large scale environmental restoration.

Energy - Develop alternate energy sources such as solar, geothermal, wind, hydro, and biomass to end dependence on fossil fuels. Sliding scale index which favors low income people to ensure all have access to utilities. Ban all import of nuclear materials, vitrified or not.

Agriculture - Strong organic standards, reduce price supports for non-organic foods, and government incentives for conservation. Public ownership and worker control of corporate farms. Parity system that guarantees farmers a full return on production costs. Repudiation of current farm debts for working farmers. Return land to family farmers who lost land or equipment to foreclosure (same or equivalent). Ban genetically engineered crops. Encourage plant diversity and oppose creation, patenting and licensing of life forms. Oppose industrial meat production. Ban on irradiated foods. Right of farm workers to negotiate contracts with canneries. Country of origin labeling on agricultural products. Eliminate use of pesticides. Low cost loans, grants and technical help to farmers in order to shift production to from non-essentials to staple foods and fibers. Encourage re-introduction of hemp farming.

Animal Rights - Right of animals to live free from unnecessary pain and suffering. Support spay and neuter to prevent extermination due to overpopulation. Oppose entertainment that causes pain to animals. Ban fur trade. Extend inclusion and enforcement of Endangered Species Act. Ban on animal experimentation for product development; oversight board to examine and limit use of animals in scientific and medical research. Oppose factory farming processes.

Human Rights - Recognize human and civil rights without regard to sexual orientation. End all anti-gay, lesbian, bi-, and transgender restrictions in law and workplace, repeal all sodomy laws, legalize same-sex marriage. Call on schools to adopy policies and procedures to address and prevent student violence and band discrimination with regards GLBTQ people. Federal ban on all forms of sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination.

End institutional racism: Support affirmative action, civil right and anti-discrimination laws. Reparations for slave trade and Native American genocide. Support efforts of people of color to self defense, self-determination and organize independently for their liberation. Oppose English as an official language and call for an end to all language discrimination. Enforce Native American treaty rights, support tribal schools and colleges, living wages on reservations, democratize tribal wealth and power. Strict legal penalties for police practice of racial profiling and particularly condemn targeting of Arabs and Muslims since September 11th. Call for an end to police brutality and all forms of harassment against people of color and ethnic minorities.

Ratify UN Convention Rights of the Child. Lower voting age to 15. Children’s allowances. Free, quality education. Rights of minors to be freee of child abuse and neglect in all forms. Oppose measures that increase responsibilities and penalties on minor ostensibly to control crime. End to military draft registration and military recruiting in schools. Abolition parental consent required for reproductive health services. Comprehensive sex education including birth control methods, STD protection and GLBTQ info. Oppose age based curfews.

Oppose privatization of Social Security and use of SS trust funds for any other purpose. SS remains entirely public sector funded by taxes. Include all state and government workers in SS system. Right to retire at 55 with minimum annual income of $25K tax free and inflation protected. Cap SS benefits at 3x minimum. Increase in home service for seniors, including home meal delivery, personal aids and physical therapy to maintain quality of life. Jobs and training for seniors who do not wish to retire. Publicly funded and democratic senior centers that provide social and recreational activities and community involvement. Election of advocates and ombudspersons by seniors to ensure protections of senior rights. Hospice care and right to die with dignity in a manner of their choosing.

Full support for women’s right to choose when, if and how to have children, including right of free abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy. Repeal of Hyde Amendment. Ban all involuntary sterilizations. Local governments must place a priority on preventing violence on women - programs to educate, shelter and protect from abusers. Decriminalize prostitution and provide sex workers, and all women workers, with full range of health, social, legal services, and working conditions free from harassment, violence and exploitation. 16 months paid leave to be shared by new parents; expansion and full funding of child care facilities. Comprehensive education and training opportunities, comparable worth laws and affirmative action for women. Gender balance in the workplace.

Full enforcement of ADA so that all private and public building, facilities and modes of transportation are accessible and every effort made to employ persons with disabilities. Enforcement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Full funding for a support network for all people with mental, physical and developmental disabilities. Continuation of SS benefits for people able to work part-time and affirmative action quotas for hiring people at union wages. Oppose federal efforts to limit access to SSDI by restricting definitions of who is a person with a disability. Amend Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit credit denial based on disability. Full funding of education and training.

Human Needs - support Arts and Culture, including grants and guaranteed income for artists and performers. Full funding for community and school arts programs, libraries, museums, cultural centers and historic sites, open and accessible to all. Preservation of literature, art, music, culture, etc. Autonomy of artists of color, women and disabled artists in their work. Right of artists to join and form unions and collectives to protect their rights and advance common artistic visions.

Full and equal funding for public education; restoration of a comprehensive K-12 curriculum including arts, music, world languages and physical education. End funding of all private school. Free tuition and full time teachers with full benefits at post-secondary levels. Public child care from infancy, and public education starting age 3. Oppose merit pay for teachers, standardized tests, intra-district school competition, sale of on-campus advertising and dependence on corporate largesse in post-secondary schools. Call for egalitarian educational system that accommodate a large variety of teaching and learning styles and afford all students the means to obtain post-secondary eduction if they wish. Maximum of 15 students / teacher in K-12, 50 in post secondary. Aggressive affirmative action programs so that faculty and student body reflect community make up. Student, parent and teacher control of curriculum formation. Student representation on school boards, with boards fully accountable to students, parents, teachers and school workers. Opportunities for life-long education. Free and open access to information. Oppose school sponsored prayer or any other religious practice.

Socialized health care, accessible to all, focused on prevention. Reinstatement of funding for mental health services. Right to refuse medical treatment, right to die, right to assisted suicide.

Rent control and affordable housing for all. Right of tenants to organize. Formation of non-profit land trusts and socially owned, tenant controlled housing cooperatives. End to home home foreclosures. Housing rehabilitation program to renovate and remodel homes and bring them up to hosuign and safety codes.

Extensive public transportation in both urban and rural areas. Fully funded high speed national rail system with fares low enough to be a viable alternative to automobile travel. End expansion of interstate system and reduce reliance on internal combustion engine. Government subsidized programs to expand safe foot and bicycle paths. Pedestrian ways, excluding motorized traffic, accesible by mass transit, in downtown areas. Publicly funded development of renewable fuel sources. Federally funded auto insurance. Public ownership and worker control of the airline industry.

Finally

Free pie and ice cream for everyone.

Okay, I added that bit

Sounds doable, no?