{news} CCSU paper interview with Thornton

[Green Party-CT]

                      Central Connecticut State University 
                

  October 4, 2006
  Interview with Cliff Thornton, Green Party Candidate for Conn. Governor
By Mark T. Rukowski
Copy Editor

Former businessman Cliff Thornton has spent the past 10 years working to change America’s drug laws. He is the founder of Efficacy, a Hartford-based non-profit organization that advocates for drug policy reform. Prior to this, he was a middle-level manager with SNET. Thornton is running as a member of the Green Party and is the first African-American to be on the ballot for governor in Connecticut history.   Mark Rutkowski: Why are you running for Governor? Cliff Thornton: I am running for governor because no one is really bringing up the issues that most affect the people of Connecticut. First and foremost is higher education; it should be free. Another issue is the drug war. We’ve had 100 years of drug prohibition and spend millions of dollars every year to no avail. We still have drugs and crime on the streets.   MR: You are calling for free higher education. If elected, how would you intend to enact and finance such a policy? CT: I would use the lottery and gaming
 casino money that was originally set aside for education spending. That money is instead used for politicians’ own personal slush funds. My daughter is going for a master’s degree at Washington University in St. Louis. Tuition there is $52,000 per year. I don’t want to strap our students with debt. They should sign a contract where, after four years of free education, they then spend four years building up the state.   MR: You are an outspoken advocate for drug legalization. How have you come to take such a controversial position? CT: I have watched, decade after decade, Hartford going downhill. The drug war doesn’t work. What we do have are more drugs at cheaper prices than ever before. I have traveled the world and seen programs for drug maintenance that work.   MR: In February 2003, the Green Party published a position statement against the invasion of Iraq. It is now three and a half years later and no weapons of mass destruction or links to Al Qaeda have been found;
 2,705 Americans soldiers and more than 40,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. Why haven’t the Greens taken an official position calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops? CT: We want to bring the troops home. If elected govnoner I would not send any more troops, the state governors have that right. Our National Guard is for Connecticut; what happens if there is a disaster like Hurricane Katrina in Connecticut? We’re fucked.   MR: What is your position on rights for immigrant workers? CT: Immigration is a federal policy. However, I feel that once they’re here, working and paying taxes, immigrants deserve the same rights native-born Americans enjoy.   MR: Republican Governor Jodi Rell and Democratic Mayor John DeStefano have agreed to two closed debates. What points would you hope to make if the debates were open to minor-party candidates? CT: I would hope to discuss all the points I’ve already talked about: drugs, crime and education. In many respects being Green is
 like being Black, you’re excluded from most things in society; debates, polls, they won’t give us a break.


       
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