Green
Party of Ohio Main Page
Newsletter Archive Index
--------------------------------------------------
Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
Vol. II, No. 2 -- January 19, 2002
(This newsletter distributed to 2,879)
--------------------------------------------------
***************************************************
F E A T U R E D I N T
H I S I S S U E
***************************************************
1)
2002 OHIO ELECTION CALENDAR
2) GREEN PARTY BEGINS LIVING WAGE BALLOT CAMPAIGN
3) GREEN PARTY STATEMENT ON ENDING TERRORISM
4) WTO RULES AGAINST U.S. CORPORATE
TAX BREAKS
5) CRASHING THE PARTY: RALPH NADER'S NEW BOOK
6) ENRON'S INFLUENCE
DEEP IN THE ADMINISTRATION
7) USA PATRIOT ACT REVEALED
8) RALPH NADER
IN PARMA ON JAN. 31
9) DEMOCRACY U SOCIAL JUSTICE VIDEO TAPES
10) PENNSYLVANIA
GREEN PROJECT BANK
11) WASHINGTON DISCUSSES MANDATORY HEALTH CARE
--------------------------------------------------
***************************************************
1) 2002 OHIO ELECTION CALENDAR
***************************************************
The 2002 Ohio Election Calendar is available on the
Secretary of State's Web
site at:
http://www.state.oh.us/sos/Election%20Calendar-2002-lettersize.pdf
***************************************************
2) GREEN PARTY BEGINS LIVING WAGE BALLOT CAMPAIGN
***************************************************
Jan. 14 (Columbus) - At its January meeting, the Coordi-
nating Committee
of the Central Ohio Green Party
(COGP-CC) committed to working on a campaign
to enact
a Living Wage ordinance in the City of Columbus. A
living wage
ordinance would require employers who re-
ceive city funds to pay their employees
more than mini-
mum wage, a wage that would more accurately reflect
living
costs and generally be tied to a percentage of
the poverty line for a family
of four.
Members
of The Green Party are alarmed by the growing
economic inequality in the community
and society. The
minimum wage, currently $5.15/hour, has not been raised
for over four years and falls far short of the $8.20/hour
required to raise
a family of four to the poverty line.
A Living Wage ordinance makes an important
statement
about the values of the community and takes the first step
towards
employees being fairly compensated to meet their
basic economic needs.
Marilyn
Welker, a member of the COGP-CC, will act as a
spokesperson for this effort.
"The Living Wage campaign
is an opportunity for citizens in Columbus
to create a
stronger social fabric. When public dollars serve the
common
good and when people can adequately support their
families, we are all winners."
Currently
60 communities, counties and governmental
entities have passed a living wage
ordinance, including
the cities of Toledo and Cleveland here in Ohio. Today,
more than 75 living wage campaigns are underway in cities,
counties, states
and college campuses across the country.
Taken collectively, these impressive
instances of local
grassroots organizing are now rightfully dubbed the
national living wage movement, which syndicated columnist
Robert Kuttner has
described as "the most interesting
(and underreported) grassroots enterprise
to emerge since
the civil rights movement ... signaling a resurgence of
local activism around pocketbook issues."
The
COGP-CC is seeking other community organizations
with whom to partner in this
effort. Organizations who
would like to join in this effort are encouraged
to
contact Paul Dumouchelle, also a member of the committee.
For
more information, contact:
Marilyn Welker (614-291-0834 or bwelker@iwaynet.net)
or
Paul Dumouchelle (614-766-4511 or pauld@columbus.rr.com)
For
more information on Living Wage Campaigns, see:
http://www.livingwagecampaign.org
***************************************************
3) GREEN PARTY STATEMENT ON ENDING TERRORISM
***************************************************
The Green Party of the United States issued a news
release 12/21/01 that details
the adoption of a
statement calling for the U.S. to adhere to inter-
national
law in dealing with terrorism and acts of
international violence and aggression.
The party's
Coordinating Committee, representing Green Parties
in a majority
of states, endorsed a statement that
balances the party's dedication to nonviolence
with
recognition of the need to bring international crimi-
nals to justice,
and of the need for accountability
and international cooperation from our
own government.
To
read the entire text of the statement and news
release, visit:
http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/pr_12_21_01.html
***************************************************
4) WTO RULES AGAINST U.S. CORPORATE TAX BREAKS
***************************************************
Three articles appeared in the UK's Guardian early
this week as the WTO slapped
$4 billion in sanctions
on the U.S. for the practice of multi-billion dollar
tax breaks (i.e., corporate welfare) that equals il-
legal export subsidies
under WTO rules. See the arti-
cles below for more details:
$4bn
US subsidies incur WTO's wrath (1/14/02):
Transatlantic trade relations will
take a step closer
full scale war today when the World Trade Organisation
is expected to confirm that a $4bn (£2.7bn) export sub-
sidy programme
for some of America's best known companies
violates global trade rules.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4334549,00.html
WTO
rules against US corporate tax breaks (1/14/02):
The EU today won a decisive
victory in a long-running
trade battle with America as the World Trade Organisation
ruled that multibillion tax breaks for firms like GE,
Boeing and Microsoft
amount to illegal export subsidies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4335274,00.html
$4bn
sanctions threat to US (1/15/02):
The threat of a $4bn (£2.7bn) package
of sanctions was
hanging over the United States last night after the
World
Trade Organisation said its controversial system
of tax breaks for multinational
exporters violated trade laws.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4335483,00.html
***************************************************
5) CRASHING THE PARTY: RALPH NADER'S NEW BOOK
***************************************************
Ralph Nader's new book, "Crashing the Party: Taking
on the Corporate
Government in an Age of Surrender,"
was released Thursday. The book details
the story
of his 50-state campaign.
For
more information, see:
http://www.crashingtheparty.org
***************************************************
6) ENRON'S INFLUENCE
DEEP IN THE ADMINISTRATION
***************************************************
"The cozy relationship -- in which a Bush campaign
adviser, being paid
by Enron, placed an Enron idea
on the candidate's agenda -- served as one
more re-
minder of the political influence and reach of the
once-giant
energy company. Its ties extend deep into
President Bush's staff, appointments,
Cabinet members,
friends, family -- and his own past.
"According
to financial records, 35 administration
officials have held Enron stock. A
few, such as top
Bush political adviser Karl Rove, had six-figure
holdings.
Several others -- Lindsey, U.S. Trade
Representative Robert B. Zoellick, Commerce
Depart-
ment general counsel Theodore W. Kassinger, Maritime
Administrator
William G. Schubert -- served as paid
Enron consultants."
To
read Friday's Washington Post article, see:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0118-01.htm
***************************************************
7) USA PATRIOT ACT REVEALED
***************************************************
Many who question the government are now called un-
patriotic. Attorney General
John Ashcroft has accused
those who question him of aiding the enemy and implies
that they are traitors if they question the "Uniting
and Strengthening
America by Providing Appropriate
Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism Act"
(or the acronym, USA PATRIOT Act, for short). Many in
Congress passed the act without reading it since copies
weren't supplied to
House members. The major media never
printed the details or offered a debate.
As the Oracle
Corporation quietly creates a huge database on all
U.S.
citizens, a national ID card, among other things,
may soon be the result.
For
one frightening explanation of The USA PATRIOT Act
and it's implications by
whistle-blower Al Martin, a
retired US Navy Lt. Commander and former officer
in
the Office of Naval Intelligence, see:
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/01/14/25486.html
To
read The USA PATRIOT Act in full, see:
<http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/20011025_hr3162_usa_patriot_bill.html>
***************************************************
8) RALPH NADER IN PARMA ON JAN. 31
***************************************************
Ralph Nader will speak on "Students as Consumers" on
Thurs., Jan.
31, 2002 at noon at the Western Campus
Theatre at Cuyahoga Community College
in Parma, Ohio.
For
more information, call the Western Campus Theatre
Box Office at 216-987-5536.
Box office hours are
Monday-Friday 11 AM - 4 PM.
For
directions to campus, see:
http://www.tri-c.cc.oh.us/maps/docs/mapw.htm
For
a map of campus, see:
http://www.tri-c.cc.oh.us/maps/docs/westcampus.htm
***************************************************
9) DEMOCRACY U SOCIAL JUSTICE VIDEO TAPES
***************************************************
For a monthly update of new videos on social justice
issues available for
a small minimum ($5) donation,
contact Ralph Cole at JusticeVision, 1425 W.
12th St.,
#262, Los Angeles CA 90015, 213-747-6345,
DemocracyU@aol.com.
The
last tape (Vol. 38) included Noam Chomsky ("The
New War on Terrorism"),
Michael Parenti ("Globalization
& Terrorism"), Howard Zinn ("The
Artist's Role in
Effecting Social Change") and Ralph Nader (the People
Have the Power Tour in San Francisco on Oct. 11) among
others.
After
signing up, you will receive ten tapes a year.
When you receive a tape, you
are requested to send
in $5 to cover the cost of producing and shipping
the tape.
You can
visit sites supporters have developed at:
http://www.justicevision.org
and
http://www.freevideos.org
***************************************************
10) PENNSYLVANIA GREEN PROJECT BANK
***************************************************
Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection
has launched a Web site
where organizations looking
for environmental projects to fund can meet organiza-
tions with environmental projects that need funding
and vice versa. There
are various ways to search for
a project including county, implementation
type, or
dollar amount. Search results include a brief listing
(project
type, media type, and amount requested) and
a detail page that includes contact
information and
the date the project was posted. Listing a project re-
quires registration, but Pennsylvanians also have the
option of updating a
project at any time.
To
visit the Pennsylvania Green Project Bank, see:
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/greenprojectbank/
***************************************************
11) WASHINGTON DISCUSSES MANDATORY HEALTH CARE
***************************************************
The Seattle Times reported earlier this week that
Washington state Insurance
Commissioner Mike Kreidler
(D) suggested that Washington state residents be
re-
quired to carry a minimum level of health insurance.
Under the proposal,
individuals would be required to
have coverage only for basic health care
and catas-
trophic care. In addition, the proposal would set
premium rates
for basic coverage based on a single,
large pool comprising all state residents.
To
read the Seattle Times article, see:
<http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=kreidler17m0&date=20020117&query=Kreidler+health>
Read
Kreidler's op-ed article at:
<http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=kreidop17&date=20020117&query=Kreidler+health>
***************************************************
The views expressed in this newsletter are those
of the author or organization
noted and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of the Green Party
of
Ohio.
***************************************************
Miss an issue
of our newsletter? You can now read
past newsletters of the Green Party of
Ohio by
visiting the newsletter archives at:
http://www.ohiogreens.org/newsletters/
***************************************************
We publish this newsletter
weekly (with some
exceptions) to keep you informed about events,
activities,
and news of interest to the Green Party
of Ohio -- http://www.ohiogreens.org.
We
invite you to review our party Web site
after you've read this newsletter.
We welcome your
comments or suggestions about our site or party.
Send
comments: secretary@ohiogreens.org.
We
value our relationship with you. If at any time
you wish to leave our mailing
list and not receive
future newsletter mailings, reply to this message
with "unsubscribe" in the subject field.
We
also encourage you to help us spread the word
about our newsletter and the
Green Party. Please
feel welcome to forward a copy of it to your friends.
They can be added to our mailing list by submitting
the form at: http://www.ohiogreens.org/newsletter/register.html.
Copyright
© 2001, Green Party of Ohio.
All rights reserved.
Paid for by the
Green Party of Ohio PAC (OH1066)
Gina Ficociello, Treasurer
1427 Northstar
Rd., Columbus OH 43212
Contributions to the Green Party of Ohio are not
deductible for federal tax purposes. This newsletter
is not authorized by
any candidate or candidate
authorized committee.
***************************************************
Green Party of Ohio
PO Box 851, Kent OH 44240
Email: secretary@ohiogreens.org
Web: http://www.ohiogreens.org