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Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
Mar. 06, 2005
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The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter is emailed on an irregular basis to
our 2,604 Subscribers (circulation figures as of 12/04).
Contents
1. State Party News – Update on the Balonek for Toledo City Council
Campaign, SPAN Organizing, Party Endorses People Power Petition, Notes
from February Coordinating Committee Meeting, Organizing Notices (Volunteer
Needs, Donation Details, Locals’ Meeting Schedule)
2. National Party News – Black Caucus Update, Social Security Reform
Information
3. Special News Items of Interest – Grant Lawrence announces suspension
of his column
4. Opinion: “I Love Toledo” – Mitch Balonek’s
stump speech
1. State Green Party News
A. Balonek for Toledo City Council
We have a great opportunity in Toledo to gain a foothold for the Greens
in Ohio. The power base in Toledo, the Democrats, are in disarray. They
are split into two "teams" that are competing against each other.
They currently have no leadership in Lucas County. The Dems chair person
quit, recently. The Republicans have no county leader either. The Greens
and Libertarians are the only parties with leadership.
Also, we are fortunate to have a long campaign season in Toledo. Our
primary election is in September. Our grassroots approach to politics
needs this time and human energy to make it work. This campaign has both.
I want to thank the Ohio Greens and GPO CC who have already contributed
to this campaign. However, in order to transform this campaign into a
Green election, the Balonek for City Council committee is going to need
help from across the state.
It pains me to ask for money, but I know that winning this election means
more than just winning for Toledo. As my good friend, advisor and campaign
mgr., Anita Rios, has reminded me many times, "It takes a village
to heal a nation." In other words, we have to fight for our turf,
our cities, then build a model for others to follow.
Currently over 1300 Greens have signed on in Ohio. If each can give one,
five or ten dollars, it would go along way to push our state one step
closer to the ideals set forth in the Green's ten key values. Please consider
making a contribution.
Make checks payable to:
"Balonek for City Council" and mail to:
PO Box 2641
Toledo, OH 43606
For more info on my campaign, check out our web site at:
nwohiogreens.org
Mitch Balonek
Co-Chair NW Ohio Green Party and
GPO endorsed candidate for
Toledo City Council
B. SPAN Organizing
The Green Party of Ohio has endorsed the SPAN campaign.
Supporters of Health Care for All Ohioans to Meet Saturday, April 2 in
Columbus
All Ohioans who believe that our state and nation should have a health
care system that guarantees comprehensive medical coverage for all residents
are urged to attend the statewide meeting being convened by the Single-Payer
Action Network Ohio (SPAN Ohio) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, April
2, 2005 in Columbus. The meeting will be held at the First Unitarian Universalist
Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Rd. (see directions below).
Keynote speakers will be Bill Burga, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, and
Johnathon Ross, M.D., former president of Physicians for a National Health
Program.
C. Party Endorses People Power Petition
The Green Party of Ohio Coordinating Committee endorsed the People Power
Petition Drive to Repeal the Ohio Legislatures 2004 House/Senate bill
1. As approved by the CC. All OH Green local parties are encouraged to
organize support for the petition and we will contact thru our Newsletter
all Ohio Greens encouraging them to circulate petitions.
Russ Buckbee has volunteered to coordinator this work for the Ohio GP,
and requests greens willing to collect signatures to contact Greg Colleridge
directly at AFSCOLE@aol.com for petitons.
Send names, street and email addresses of those willing to circulate
and he'll
send out petition packets and cc your email to Russ russbuckbee@adelphia.net
who can put you in touch with other local greens working on collecting
signatures.
More Info:
A statewide referendum petition drive, led by the Ohio AFL-CIO and sponsored
by AFSC, is underway to repeal this anti-democratic law. Help is needed
to circulate petitions, get others to circulate, and spread the word.
Organizational endorsers are also being sought. A growing statewide coalition
is coming together to repeal this scandalous law. Nearly 200,000 signatures
must be submitted by the end of March to get the issue on the November
ballot (Note: the very short time frame is due to a combination of state
law and a delay in the petition drive launch by rulings from Ohio Secretary
of State Kenneth Blackwell).
The public will be outraged when they realize that this law hands corporations
even more political power than they now possess and makes it easier for
wealthy political contributors to buy, rent, lease, or retain politicians
by increasing permitted political donations by 400%!
D. February Coordinating Committee Meeting – 2/19/05 Conference
Call
The following are informal notes from this meeting, official minutes
will be approved at the March meeting.
Russ Buckbee facilitator, Tim Kettler took notes.
In attendance: David Berenson. Russ Buckbee, Gwen Marshall, Dorsey Stebbins,
Josh Krekeler, Eric Wise, Tim Kettler, Nick Teti, Rich Stevenson. Kate
Curry, Tim Bruce. Logan Martinez. Josh attended as alt. for SWOH.
Old Business
Recount follow up proposal… approved on-line
Logo and letterhead design…..approved on line
March 19 UFPJ local actions…deferred, Jim Klosterman. not in attendance
People Power Petition Proposal…Russ Buckbee's proposal asks the
cc to support the effort to repeal House/ Senate Bill 1. The proposal
asks that all Ohio Green locals organize support and circulate petitions,
and through the newsletter, all Ohio Greens be encouraged to support and
participate in this campaign. Proposal approved, no dissent. Russ will
post details and instructions on-line. Eric Wise. will be Southwest contact,
Tim Kettler. will be East Central contact. Russ will coordinate statewide.
War Crimes proposal…Originally introduced at state convention but
died at National level for lack of support. Paul Dumouchelle has introduced
a proposal to join with others now interested in bringing this proposal
forth. The proposal reads; ”Resolved: That the United Nations should
establish special tribunals to investigate all alleged human rights violations,
war crimes and illegal acts committed by all armed forces, groups and
factions during the recent war in and occupation of Iraq, starting on
March 19, 2003 to the present time”. Approved with two friendly
amendments; That wording refer to the action as an invasion rather than
war (David B.) That the proposal ask that the inquiries be directed at
the events in Iraq, and that those charged be specifically named. (Paul
D.)
Electoral reform committee… Committee members, Anita Rios, Tim
Kettler., Nick Teti, Scott Wesseler., Russ Buckbee. Electoral reform forums
as supported by the recount follow-up proposal, to be organized in several
locations around the state. Tim K. has had discussion with greens in Portsmouth
and Athens about holding forums in those cities. The Portsmouth forum
is tentatively scheduled to be held at Shawnee State U. Date to be announced.
Candidates who have expressed willingness to participate in the various
forums are Mitch Balonek, Bob Fitrakis and Scott Wesseler.
Candidates committee. Logan asks locals to determine final filing deadlines
for local races.
E. March Coordinating Committee Meeting
The March meeting of the Green Party of Ohio Coordinating Committee will
be on 3/19.
F. Donations - Volunteer Needs – Locals’ Meetings
1) Donations to support our efforts and candidates can be made via Paypal
at www.ohiogreens.org or mailed to:
The Green Party of Ohio Political Action Fund
PO Box 754
New Albany, OH 43054
Include your name and address.
2) Regularly Scheduled Locals’ Meetings
Central Ohio Green Party (Columbus & Vicinity): First Tuesday of
every month, 7 PM at the meeting room of the Northside Branch of the Columbus
Public Library. 1423 N. High Street, Columbus, OH 43201 Library Phone:
614-645-2110
East Central Ohio Green Party: Last Thursday of every month, 6:30 PM,
Room 145 of the County Services Building on South 7th Street, Coshocton.
See www.3rivergreens.org
Northeast Ohio - Right now, there are not regularly-scheduled meetings
up
here in NOrtheast Ohio, but we will be meeting some time soon. For information,
contact David Berenson, dbberenson@yahoo.com
Summit Greens meet the First Tuesday of each month @ 7:00 PM (locations
TBA). Right now, it is through meetup.com, where it is known as the Akron
Green Party Meetup Group. For more details - green.meetup.com/31/
Southwest Ohio Green Party (Cincinnati & Vicinity): Second Tuesday
of every month, 7:30 PM (6:30 for dinner), 1417 Bercliff (in Northside).
www.swohgp.org for details.
West Virginia Green Party - I would like to invite anyone from the GPO
who lives near Wheeling to join us at the River City Ale Works at 1400
Main Street in Wheeling at 7:00 PM for our Bi-Monthly meeting. Any advice,
comments,
or help that anyone from another state Green Party has to offer us would
be greatly appreciated. Chad Edwards, GPWV State Coordinator, Pleasants
County, West Virginia 304-684-2452
2. National Green Party News
A. Black Caucus Update
This first year of activity as a fully accredited caucus has been a whirlwind
of activities as we continue to progress on a number of fronts.
We are proud of our terrific website, www.gpblackcaucus.us built by our
new webmaster Preston Holston (South Carolina). It is easy to navigate,
has many articles of interest, news of activities, chat service, email
and forums for members, and many other features. The Black Caucus continues
to navigate a number of challenges within its own ranks, while focusing
and moving forward in its goal of growing the Black Caucus and the Green
Party.
We responded to a call for help from Gullageecheeland University in Brunswick
Georgia, and Black Caucus Co-Chair Michele Tingling-Clemmons traveled
there to develop an outreach plan to build the Black Caucus in Georgia.
BC Co-Chair Tingling-Clemmons also spoke on DC statehood at the national
rally on the recount as did member Asa Gordon on his pro se suit against
Bush & Gore. Attention to Gordon's suit and campaign to enforce the
14th Amendment Section 2, continues to grow, with BC and Cobb-LaMarche
campaign support. It has also attracted Re-defeat Bush.org, which intends
to make it a center point of activity after its retooling period.
Consistent with one of our earliest priorities, the BC supported the
successful GPUS resolution in support of Haiti. BC co-chair Sundiata Xian
Tellem has joined the newly formed GPUS Haitian Task Force. For more info,
contact Logan Martinez at loganmartinez@hotmail.com.
In Washington, DC, as part of our national program to convene public
programs on educational issues to attract, introduce and recruit brothers
and sisters to the Green Party, our members locally are in the midst of
organizing a program in honor of Black History Month. Call Rick, 202.397.2277
for details
B. Stop President Bush's Social Security Heist!
Write a letter to the editor, article, or guest op-ed column submission
--
and show Green leadership on important issues!
Below is a list of talking points that can be adapted into a letter,
column,
or article. Use your own words, and omit the links, which we included
below
for your own reference.
Here's an excellent web page on Social Security and the Bush plan:
prorev.com/socsec.htm
TALKING POINTS / SAMPLE LETTER
(Use just a few of the talking points if you write a letter; use more
if you
write an op-ed column submission or article)
To the Editor,
==> Social Security has been one of the most successful programs in
history.
Before Social Security, tens of millions of working Americans faced poverty
in their senior years. This will happen again if President Bush's privatization
scheme destroys Social Security. We in the Green Party favor measures
to prevent future shortfalls, but we strongly oppose the Bush plan.
==> President Bush claims the current system will go broke by 2042.
In fact, the Congressional Budget Office predicts that, unless the economy
tanks, the current system will be able to pay 73% of benefits in 2042
and remain solvent until 2052. Social Security actuaries forecast that,
without any changes, the system will remain in the black and providing
full benefits through 2042. After 2042, its liabilities will amount to
less than 1% of the national income.
==> Some steps that could easily reverse a possible future shortfall:
lifting the current cap on Social Security, which right now only taxes
the first $90,000 of wages; means testing, according to which those who
have a retirement income above a certain level would not be eligible for
Social Security. Lowering payments to the rich is consistent with Social
Security's role as insurance for the elderly and other people in need.
==> In promoting his privatization plan, President Bush is deceiving
the American people about Social Security, just as his administration
deceived the American people with allegations about Iraqi WMDs, Saddam
Hussein's collusion with al-Qaeda, nuclear weapons materials, and an 'imminent
threat' to the US in order to justify invading Iraq.
==> President Bush claims that, under his plan, younger Americans
would be able to divert some of their Social Security payments into private
accounts "so you can build a nest egg for your own future" --
but doesn't mention that their Social Security benefit checks would thus
be smaller.
==> President Bush claims that investments in privatized retirement
accounts
are guaranteed to increase. But the stock market is a risk, and Wall Street
investments are neither guaranteed to increase nor insured against losses.
==> The Bush plan is a multi-billion-dollar gift to his financial
corporation supporters. It doesn't transfer 'ownership' from the US government
to private citizens, but to Wall Street -- to whichever brokerage the
citizen is investing through, with all the related fees and risks.
==> President Bush claims that African Americans are getting shafted
under the current Social Security system, because black men have a shorter
average life span and therefore receive fewer benefits. But the shorter
life span is a result of higher infant mortality rates and more death
in early years (an argument for national health insurance). In fact, African
Americans receive on average more from Social Security, and will face
greater economic hardship if the system is privatized. Accordiing to the
Social Security Administration, African Americans comprise 12% of the
population, while 17% of Americans who receive Social Security disability
benefits are African American.
==> The goal of privatization is not to fix Social Security but to
destroy it. Dismantling Social Security has been a Republican dream for
six decades <www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1394301,00.html>;
former House leader Dick Armey (R.-Tex.) recently endorsed ending the
program. Think tanks with clout in the White House, like the Heritage
Foundaction and Cato Institute, have published papers on why and how Social
Security should be abolished -- recommending privatization to achieve
this goal <www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj3n2/cj3n2-11.pdf#search='Achieving%20a%20Len\inist%20Strategy'>.
3. News Items of Interest
The regular column/information provided by Grant Lawrence is being suspended
until further notice as Grant is ceasing publication of his “Unmanaged
News” service. He has volunteered to help anyone else follow in
his footsteps. The Green Party of Ohio would be pleased to publicize appropriate
work, as we have done with Grant’s, through this newsletter.
If you’re interested, contact Grant Lawrence - grantlaw@buckeye-express.com
4. Opinion
“I Love Toledo” - Mitch Balonek Fundraiser Speech 2/26/05
(Mitch is a Green Party endorsed Candidate for Toledo City Council, see
more about his campaign at the top of this newsletter)
Do you all agree that Progressives are the conscience of America?
A good friend of mine who happens to be my campaign manager has said to
me more than once--and I admit I wasn’t listening very well until
I read it again this morning in an email she sent--that “it takes
a village to heal a nation.”
This statement appeals to my idealistic sense, in that, our job as progressives,
my job, is not to heal the nation, but to heal Toledo. We have to start
here, at home, in Toledo. This campaign is about the conscience of Toledo,
it’s about about morality, and about what’s right for Toledo,
Ohio, America and the world.
We have all been working diligently, some of us have devoted our lives
to progressive causes, but we are missing one thing in Toledo: an elected
political leader with the convictions and vision that each of us share
to be our voice in government. This is what my campaign is about.
We have much work to do. Given the current political climate, this campaign
is not going to be easy. We will win it, though, because we are going
to do something many politicians refuse to do and that is go to the people
themselves.
This campaign is about the majority of people who share our values but
have no voice for their ideas. We will be their voices. We will show them
that we can have a better city.
We can have a city that belongs to the people who live, raise families
and work here. We can have a city that doesn’t bow down to corporations
that put
profit over people, that threaten us and extort millions of dollars from
our community, dollars earmarked for education. Like any parent I wanted
the best education for my children. Most large corporations have no qualms
about stealing a child’s education to increase its bottom line.
Because corporations are not human. They have no consciences. All they
know is making more money. For Toledo to ever be free from this tyranny,
and to be a great place, we will have to challenge the corporate leviathan.
We have to challenge Corporate “personhood.”
My detractors will call us antibusiness. Progressives are not antibusiness.
We are anti-greed! We have no problem with people who share!
That is why Toledo needs a living wage law and a strong local economy!
By far, the largest employers in the city and country are small businesses.
Small business is the heart of our economy, not large corporations like
they want us to believe. As I said before, Toledo politicians spend millions
of our tax dollars paying tribute to large corporations begging them to
stay in Toledo, but they only spend pennies on supporting current owners
of small businesses or attracting
new ones. They do not seem to understand that Low Low Prices means Low
Low wages with No Benefits!
Progressives want small business to thrive because we know that if we
live here, work here, and buy here, this will keep our community strong.
There is no reason why a small business cannot financially support its
owners and their employees, IF the city supports them. As Councilman,
I will promote a living wage law across the board, AND I will promote
the idea that to build a better community we have to live here, work here,
buy here!
We can have a peaceful city.
As Michael Moore demonstrated in Bowling for Columbine, America is a
violent nation. What he failed to point out is that 90% of violent crimes
are committed by males. We can make our streets safer by examining the
causes of male violence
and domestic violence here at home. That’s why, as Councilman, I
will establish a Committee to examine violence in the city and find ways
to end violence. If we want a peaceful nation, we have to start in Toledo.
Last, I would like to say a few words about Grassroots democracy and
educating the people. I am an educator. I am running as a Green Party
candidate. I joined
the Green Party during the Nader campaign in 2000. As a committed progressive
and person of conscience, I found something in the Green Party that I
saw no where else in the political landscape, that is, the Green Party’s
Ten Key Values.
The ten key values are a set of ideals, goals, virtues or morals by which
to think, act and live politically. They are values that invite discourse
not domination. They are commitments to love, compassion, justice and
hope for a better
tomorrow. They are my values and they can guide us out of this dark period
in
American history.
I love Toledo. We can make Toledo a better place by ending materialism
and consumerism, We can make Toledo a better place by putting an end to
the politics of greed. Toledo is our terra firma; this is the soil we
have to till. With your help, my campaign will plant that first seed.
Publication Details
The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter is published by the Green Party of
Ohio. www.ohiogreens.org The Mission of the Newsletter is to aggressively
promote citizen involvement in making real the Green dream for Ohio and
America as stated in the GPOH Platform, the USGP Platform and those parties’
formal policy positions.
The Mission of the Green Party of Ohio is to focus the political power
of the people to:
1. preserve and restore viable ecosystems,
2. establish social justice and equity,
3. foster participatory democracy,
4. promote and practice nonviolence as a means of conflict resolution,
and
5. ensure the rights of a community-based economic system for all people.
Letters to the editor are accepted but please keep them brief and the
Editor reserves the right to publish or not publish any such letter and
edit them to fit the newsletter format. The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter
does not represent official GPOH policy unless specifically stated. The
Green Party of Ohio Newsletter operates under the guidance of the State
Coordinating Committee Media Committee, which can be contacted through
the State Party Website. Paid for by the Green Party of Ohio Political
Action Fund (OH1066) PO Box 754 New Albany, OH 43054
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