From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Thu Mar 11 11:53:09 2010 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:53:09 -0500 Subject: {news} Fw: USGP-INT Irish Greens in government Message-ID: <15F8C7E7F495443EA2BF9863DACBD931@JUSTINE> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6446805.ece From The Sunday Times June 7, 2009 Greens are left staring at oblivion Party faces wipeout as voters turn on Fianna Fail's coalition allies The Green party yesterday appeared to have paid a terrible price for joining the government: its local representation has been wiped out across the country, with early indications suggesting it would lose up to 13 of its 17 city and council seats. Patricia McKenna, the former Green MEP, said the party was in danger of going the same way as the Progressive Democrats. In Dublin, it faces losing all its seats in every council. Tallies showed all four sitting councillors in Dun-Laoghaire/Rathdown are likely to be unseated. In Fingal, at least two of the three sitting councillors were in serious trouble, with David Healy and Robbie Kelly badly affected by the newly merged Howth/Malahide ward. In Galway, former mayor Niall O Brolchain was in seventh place in the race for five seats. In South Dublin, sitting councillor Dorothy Corrigan was trailing in 10th place after the first count and seemed certain to lose her seat. The only council gain was in Louth, where Mark Daly won a seat. The party also took some comfort from the likelihood that it will retain the same number of town councillors, 13. As expected, the party did not feature in either of the by-elections, getting just 3.5% of the vote in Dublin South and 2.9% in Dublin Central. Yesterday, as the first news came in, Green TD Ciaran Cuffe said: ?I?m a bit rattled this morning. I think it is time to review \ programme for government and maybe look Fianna Fail in the eye on some of the issues that we did not get that we wanted two years ago.? Asked if the devastating loss was a message that Green supporters no longer wanted their party in coalition with Fianna Fail, Cuffe said: ?I think people want to give the government a good kicking and we?re a party in government. All in all it?s been a very disappointing day for the Green party.? McKenna said: ?It wasn?t their time to go into government but the party leadership wouldn?t listen. They have set the Green party back years, and it?s hard to know whether they will survive. ?Clearly they are in trouble. Their councillors are being wiped out across the country, so in the next general election they will have no base to work from. The hunger of being in power has ruined the party.? McKenna said even if it pulled out of government now, it might be too late. ?It can?t be for electoral success. It has to be for the good of the country, not the good of the party.? O Brolchain said he ?expected the worst? when voters told him they would vote for him only if he stood as an independent. Clearly despondent, he said the public had sent the Greens a clear message. ?A large section are unhappy with the Greens propping up Fianna Fail and they would like a general election,? he said. ?I actually think the opposite will happen now. We will hang on for dear life and try to turn things around. The parliamentary party now seems to outnumber the councillors. But if there was an election tomorrow they would be wiped out too and we would lose all our staff and close up. ?The only choice is to stay on for another three years and then face the electorate because if we pull out tomorrow we will get hammered.? O Brolchain said the Greens had to be more forceful with Fianna Fail in government over the next three years to ensure its environmental policies are implemented. ?We are fighting for our lives now. Our only choice is to give Fianna Fail a very hard time in government. It?s desperation stakes for us now. It won?t be pretty but it?s our only choice. ?If there was an election there is no question Labour and Fine Gael would come in and that would be a strong government. Whether they could turn things around is another question.? Eamon Ryan, the communications minister, rejected the suggestion that the Greens renegotiate the programme for government rather than pull out of government. ?One of the lessons we have from previous experience, looking at say the 1980s, we had a constant series of elections, then you could have a political system that wasn?t able to make such difficult calls. That didn?t serve the country?s interest. I think, while they have not necessarily been popular, I think the broad decisions have been the right ones,? said Ryan. _______________________________________________ usgp-int mailing list usgp-int at gp-us.org http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.339 / Virus Database: 270.12.54/2158 - Release Date: 06/06/09 05:53:00 From justinemccabe at earthlink.net Wed Mar 24 23:05:08 2010 From: justinemccabe at earthlink.net (Justine McCabe) Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:05:08 -0400 Subject: {news} GP RELEASE Greens: Now it's time to work for real healthreform -- Medicare For All Message-ID: <50EECC09D708484E9635790D66B0B91B@JUSTINE> GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES http://www.gp.org For Immediate Release: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 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 Now it's time to work for real health care reform -- Medicare For All, say Greens . The Democratic "insurance company enrichment" bill burdens millions of Americans and imposes mandates that enrich insurance companies . Green Party Speakers Bureau: Greens available to speak on health care reform: http://www.gp.org/speakers/speakers-health-care.php WASHINGTON, DC -- Green candidates and party leaders said today that the passage of the Democratic health care bill, with its increased financial burdens on millions of Americans, should not slow the movement for Medicare For All (single-payer national health care). The Democratic bill "falls short on many levels, and hurts many people more than it helps," as Jane Hamsher writes in "Fact Sheet: The Truth About the Health Care Bill" (http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/19/fact-sheet-the-truth-about-the-health-care-bill). Physicians for a National Health Program said in a statement on Monday, "Instead of eliminating the root of the problem -- the profit-driven, private health insurance industry -- this costly new legislation will enrich and further entrench these firms. The bill would require millions of Americans to buy private insurers' defective products, and turn over to them vast amounts of public money." (http://www.pnhp.org/news/2010/march/pro-single-payer-doctors-health-bill-leaves-23-million-uninsured) . Dennis Spisak, Green candidate for Governor of Ohio (http://www.votespisak.org/governor): "Now that this bill has passed, those of us who support real universal health care must keep up the demand for Medicare For All. Every American deserves the same high-quality guaranteed health coverage that Congress members enjoy. We will challenge those who insist that further health care reform is no longer on the table. The Democratic bill was mainly written to give the appearance of reform. It forces people to buy insurance or face a tax penalty. It works like a regressive tax, in which in the uninsured -- in the midst of a recession -- must pay for insurance they can't use due to the likely high co-pays and deductibles. Especially vicious is the amendment prohibiting states from enacting their own single-payer programs." . Jill Stein, physician and Green candidate for Governor of Massachusetts (http://www.jillstein.org): ""The position of most Democrats and Republicans on health care is that Americans have no right to medical treatment, but private insurance companies have every right to enrich themselves on our need for health care and to send hundreds of thousands of Americans financial ruin over medical costs. According to Physicians for a National Health Program's critique of the bill, about 23 milion Americans will remain uninsured after nine years, resulting in 'an estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths annually and an incalculable toll of suffering'. In the media coverage of health care reform, the angle was whether President Obama could prevail against the GOP and uncooperative Democrats. It was all about personalities and a horse-race competition. Whether the Democratic legislation -- or obstruction of reform by Republicans -- actually helps people became a side issue." . Rich Whitney, Green candidate for Governor of Illinois (http://www.whitneyforgov.org): "The real story of health care reform over the past year is how the insurance and other health lobbies sent millions of dollars in campaign checks to both Democrats and Republicans to make sure their interests came first. We'll get real health care reform when Americans get angry enough to stop voting for Democratic and Republican candidates who are addicted to corporate contributions, and elect Greens, who call health care a basic human right." (Visit the web site of the Center for Responsive Politics to learn how much these corporations donate to each Congress member: http://www.opensecrets.org) . Nancy Allen, farmer and long-time Green organizer from Maine: "Some of the Tea Partiers showed their true colors this past weekend, when crowds hurled racist and homophobic epithets at Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Barney Frank, and other Congress members. How much did Republican politicians, insurance companies, and other industries encourage such behavior? How did these corporations successfully convince so many Americans that their own medical care is less important than corporate profits and power?" . Rodger Jennings, Green candidate for US Congress in Illinois, District 12 (http://www.rodgerjennings.org): "The winners are the largest for-profit health insurance companies. Both Democrats and Republicans made the bottom lines of the insurance cartel the top priority, rather than every American's need for quality medical care. Private insurance adds cost to health care but provides no value -- physicians, nurses, and other professionals do the actual medical work. The administrative overhead, including CEO bonuses and salaries, of private insurance raises health care costs by up to 31%. The administrative overhead for Medicare is under 3%. By eliminating the corporate insurance middle-man, we'd reduce health care spending from over 15% to about 9% and cut the price of coverage and care dramatically, and every American would enjoy guaranteed, quality health care." MORE INFORMATION Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org 202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN . Green candidate database and 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 . Green Party Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus Single-Payer Now! Green Party page on health care reform http://www.gp.org/campaigns/health/single-payer Physicians for a National Health Program http://www.pnhp.org PNHP's Frequently Asked Questions page http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single-payer-faq Healthcare-Now http://www.healthcare-now.org Single Payer Action http://www.singlepayeraction.org "The Sober Reality of Health Care Reform" By Jane Hamsher, FireDogLake, March 22, 2010 http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/22/fdl-statement-on-the-passage-of-the-health-care-bill "Deaths Rising for Lack of Insurance, Study Finds" By Michelle Andrews, The New York Times (blog), February 26, 2010 http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/deaths-rising-due-to-lack-of-insurance-study-finds/#preview "NY Times Reporter Confirms Obama Made Deal to Kill Public Option" By Miles Mogulescu, Huffington Post, March 15, 2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miles-mogulescu/ny-times-reporter-confirm_b_500999.html Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States Winter 2010 issue now online http://gp.org/greenpages-blog ~ END ~ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: