{news} Fw: GP RELEASE Greens offer six steps for economic recovery

[Justine McCabe]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org


Greens offer six big steps for economic recovery

• Greens support workers occupying a factory in Chicago after layoff:
bailout money isn't being used to help working Americans


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders said today that the incoming
Obama Administration and Congress should take six major steps to
reverse the financial meltdown and restore financial security for
Americans.

The steps include a Green public works program, aid for state and
muncipal governments, expansion of mass transit, Single-Payer health
care, a peace dividend gained by ending the occupations of Iraq and
Afghanistan, and an end to the wasteful war on drugs.

Green Party candidates running for local, state, and national office
in 2008 promoted many of these ideas even before the crisis
precipitated.  In September, Cynthia McKinney published a ten-point
list of solutions and reforms in response to the Wall Street meltdown,
titled "Seize the Time"
(http://votetruth08.com/index.php/learn/mckinney-messages).

Greens expressed support for United Electrical Workers union members
occupying a Republic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago after the
plant was shut down and they were laid off with three days' notice and
told they had no assurance of receiving severance and unused vacation
pay.  The company's creditor, Bank of America, received $25 billion
from the government's financial bailout package.  Greens said that the
bank's actions, including refusal to allow Republic to give workers 60
days notice (as required by law), demonstrates how bailout money isn't
being used to assist working Americans facing financial hardship.

Six Green steps for economic recovery:

(1) Enact a massive Green public works program, creating new
living-wage jobs in conservation (including weatherization and energy
retro-fitting); clean and safe energy technologies to replace fossil
fuel and nuclear sources and create a carbon-free economy; repair and
improvement of America's deteriorating infrastructure (especially
water and sewer systems); and improvement of public schools and Green
job training programs.

"The collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis in 2007 was a result
of the neglect and starvation of funds for maintaining infrastructure
that was built decades ago.  The ideology of privatization and
hostility to 'big government' is no longer tenable during the
financial crisis -- the current White House and Congress conceded as
much when they began pushing for bailouts.  Public works programs
built America, and public works, with hundreds of thousands of new
Green jobs, is what America needs now for economic recovery," said
Rosa Clemente, the Green Party's 2008 candidate for Vice President
(http://www.rosaclemente.com).

"We're encouraged that President-elect Obama intends to launch a
public works program along these basic lines, but we hope Congress and
his own administration don't undermine and dilute such a program out
of traditional Democratic and Republican loyalty to corporate
interests and fear of being labeled liberal or socialist.  It's time
to follow the lead of the Green Jobs For All movement," Ms. Clemente
added.

(2) Bail out financially ailing towns, cities, and states before
bailing out private corporations: millions of public sector and
contractor jobs depend on the fiscal security of municipal and state
governments.

Greens noted that municipalities and states are businesses that drive
state and local economies throughout the US.  They also provide the
social safety net that millions of working people need during the
current crisis.

(3) Jumpstart our country's mass transit system, giving people an
alternative to cars while saving them money and providing jobs.

"Making autos more efficient will only get us part way toward solving
our energy and climate challenges.  We need to get people out of their
cars altogether.  Communities need the ability to provide local
solutions for mass transprotation: new trains, subways, light rail
wherever they fit," said Wes Rolley, co-chair of the Green Party's
EcoAction Committee.

(4) Enact a Single-Payer/Medicare For All national health plan,
providing every American with coverage and removing the burden of
health care from small and large private businesses.

"The skyrocketing cost of health care under our private health care
system has created much of the economic instability as businesses
struggle to provide workers health benefits.  If President Obama and
Congress have the political will to resist the power of the insurance,
HMO, and pharmaceutical industries that siphon their profits off
America's need for health care, the relief that Single-Payer will be a
huge economic boost," said Sanda Everette, co-chair of the Green Party
of the United States.

Single-Payer would cover all Americans regardless of income,
employment, residence, age, or prior medical condition, allowing
choice of health care provider, and costing working people far less
than they now pay for private coverage.  In 2003, the New England
Journal of Medicine published an article estimating that Single-Payer
could cut health care costs by $350 billion annually
(http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf).  Greens sharply
criticized Barack Obama during the election season for rejecting
Single-Payer out of concern for health insurance companies.

(5) End the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The staggering expense of the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions and
occupations haven't only cost American, Iraqi, and Afghan lives.  It
also ate up trillions of dollars away that could have been spent on
human and environmental needs.  If we call home our troops right now,
we can divert the money needed for military occupations to Green
public works and other programs to jumpstart the economy -- a new
peace dividend," said Starlene Rankin, co-chair of the Lavender Green
Caucus.

The Green Party opposed both wars from the beginning and has
criticized Mr. Obama's plans for delayed and partial troop withdrawal
from Iraq and for sending more troops to Afghanistan.

(6) End the war on drugs, which wastes billions annually, hasn't
curbed drug use, and ruins lives by incarcerating nonviolent offenders
(mostly young, African American, Latino, and poor white) at further
government expense.

"The war on drugs is America's longest and costliest war.  With
Afghanistan providing the world's biggest poppy crop, it's one of the
main reasons the US is fighting a war there," said Cliff Thornton,
co-chair of the Green Party and co-founder of Efficacy, Inc.
(http://www.efficacy-online.org), which promotes major reforms in drug
policy.

Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron has estimated that legalizing cannabis
would save federal, state, and local governments $44 billion a year in
enforcement costs (http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html).
Governments could collect another $33 billion in revenues by taxing
cannabis as heavily as alcohol and tobacco.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
• Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

"The financial meltdown requires far-reaching Green solutions, say
Green Party leaders"
Green Party press release, September 23, 2008
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=107

"The Auto Bailout Shows the Failure of Corporate-Government More than
the Failure of Detroit: And Solving it Presents Opportunities for a
New Economy"
By Kevin Zeese, OpEdNews.com, November 21, 2008
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Auto-Bailout-Shows-the-by-Kevin-Zeese-08112\1-683.html


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