Napa Letter: "Vote for Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein"

In this election the American people have two options:  They can vote for more of the same by choosing Romney or Obama.  Or they can help build a political alternative by voting for the Green Party candidate.

Dr. Jill Stein is running for President of the United States on Green Party ticket. Her vice presidential running mate is anti-poverty advocate Cheri Honkala.

Jill Stein is a physician and has been a pioneering environmental-health advocate. She ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and debated Mitt Romney.

Cheri Honkala founded the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and has been a tireless advocate for the rights of the homeless and poor people.

The centerpiece of their platform is the Green New Deal, which is an emergency program modeled after the New Deal which brought America out of the Great Depression.

Jill Stein’s Green New Deal is based on four pillars:

1. A Green New Deal will establish an economic bill of rights to guarantee employment, living wages, tuition free education, and single payer health care.

2. A Green New Deal will transition America from an oil based economy to a green economy by investing in green businesses and cooperatives, prioritizing research into sustainable and renewable forms of energy, and creating 16 million jobs to build the infrastructure for a green economy.

3. A Green New Deal will reform the  financial system by forgiving homeowner and student debts, regulating all financial derivatives, and forming federal, state, and municipal public-owned banks.

4. A Green New Deal will restore our democracy by ending corporate personhood, instituting ranked choice voting and proportional representation, and allowing all qualified candidates equal access to the ballot and debates.

For more details on the specifics of the Green New Deal visit: http://www.jillstein.org/green_new_deal

Obama has continued many of George Bush’s policies.  He has further eroded our civil liberties through the Patriot Act and National Defense Authorization Act.  He has expanded imperialist conflicts overseas in countries like Libya and through drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.  Instead of pushing for immigration reform, he has deported more undocumented students and workers in his first four years than Bush did in total during his eight years in office.  And, instead of fighting for single payer health care, Obama ushered in a for-profit health care plan that forces people to purchase health care from insurance corporations.

Romney and Ryan would do all they can to dismantle and privatize all the social programs that Americans desperately need, including Medicare and Social Security.  They would engage in class warfare by extending Bush’s tax cuts on the rich.  And they would undermine crucial environmental regulations and allow the market to turn the environment into a commodity.

In the meantime, America is mired in an economic and environmental crisis.  Social and economic inequalities are at a tipping point with the top 1 percent of Americans controlling 43 percent of the wealth while the bottom 80 percent control only 7 percent of the wealth.   Basic human rights, such as education, housing, and health care, are being dismantled.  Climate change and global warming threatens our existence.  And, the corporate duopoly are not discussing these critical issues.

A vote for Jill Stein helps build a political alternative.  Jill Stein has qualified for federal matching funds and is the first Green Party candidate to do so.  If Jill Stein receives 5% of the vote, the Green Party itself will qualify for federal matching funds.  This would allow the Green Party to become an even more viable political alternative.

It also sends a message to the two corporate parties that enough is enough.  In a country of more than 310 million, the American people deserve more than two choices.  Let’s turn the White House into a Green house and vote for Jill Stein for president in this next election.

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