2008 Woodie Awards
Third-Party View: For the People, By the People. . . Finally!
A government run by a different kind of Green
Corey Kempf and Justin Lyman
Issue date: 2/5/04 Section: Opinions
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In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln spoke of a great government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." There are still people speaking of this elusive goal. Why: that dream has yet to be realized.
Our current situation is almost as far away from this notion as imaginatively possible. Today, we live in a society that is more focused on "of the money, by the money, and for the money," and one of our only hopes for reform is the Green Party, or, as candidate David Cobb said it best: "The Green Party is the electoral arm of the movement for social justice in America. We the people are demanding control of our government. We are building a democratic movement that will take this country back from the corporate hooligans who have hijacked it from us."
As one of its universal platforms, the Green Party does not accept any corporate donations. Its only special interest is the people, unlike their Democratic and Republican counterparts, who received approximately $260 million and $379 million, respectively, last election.
The reason corporations contribute money is to sway the interests of the candidate. The Green Party does not accept any donations; therefore, the candidates for the Green Party will not be bias in any way. Obviously, if the government's best interest is supposed to for the people, then why in the world would the government let themselves be persuaded by corporations who have no concern with the people.
Another main point of the Green Party is a "living wage." This is a major point of debate for people of other parties. A living wage is not a minimum wage; it is also not a maximum wage. It would set the lowest possible wage a person could receive in order to afford the basic amenities that one needs to live prosperously, instead of getting by paycheck to paycheck.
The Green Party is also the only political party that actively opposes a less than debated topic for the other parties: the war in Iraq. The Green Party was quick to point out the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found, and it also quickly pointed out that Democratic candidates John Kerry and John Edwards approve of the war.
The cost of the war, as provided by costofwar.com, is nearing $100 billion dollars. This cost could just as well be used to send almost 10 million children to a community Head Start, or used to provide almost 30 million children with a year of health care, or used to hire nearly 2 million teachers in public schools for one year.
In addition, the Green Party is interested in national health insurance, which both Democrats and Republicans reject because it would cost too much. Greg Gerritt, secretary of the Green Party, said, "President Bush wants to fly to Mars, but he won't give Americans access to a doctor."
We believe that there should be no question about who the right candidate is for the Presidency. It should be the Green Party, without a doubt. For those who vote for a candidate just because that candidate is most likely going to win, do some research and vote for someone who is actually fit to make this government an actual democracy.
Our current situation is almost as far away from this notion as imaginatively possible. Today, we live in a society that is more focused on "of the money, by the money, and for the money," and one of our only hopes for reform is the Green Party, or, as candidate David Cobb said it best: "The Green Party is the electoral arm of the movement for social justice in America. We the people are demanding control of our government. We are building a democratic movement that will take this country back from the corporate hooligans who have hijacked it from us."
As one of its universal platforms, the Green Party does not accept any corporate donations. Its only special interest is the people, unlike their Democratic and Republican counterparts, who received approximately $260 million and $379 million, respectively, last election.
The reason corporations contribute money is to sway the interests of the candidate. The Green Party does not accept any donations; therefore, the candidates for the Green Party will not be bias in any way. Obviously, if the government's best interest is supposed to for the people, then why in the world would the government let themselves be persuaded by corporations who have no concern with the people.
Another main point of the Green Party is a "living wage." This is a major point of debate for people of other parties. A living wage is not a minimum wage; it is also not a maximum wage. It would set the lowest possible wage a person could receive in order to afford the basic amenities that one needs to live prosperously, instead of getting by paycheck to paycheck.
The Green Party is also the only political party that actively opposes a less than debated topic for the other parties: the war in Iraq. The Green Party was quick to point out the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found, and it also quickly pointed out that Democratic candidates John Kerry and John Edwards approve of the war.
The cost of the war, as provided by costofwar.com, is nearing $100 billion dollars. This cost could just as well be used to send almost 10 million children to a community Head Start, or used to provide almost 30 million children with a year of health care, or used to hire nearly 2 million teachers in public schools for one year.
In addition, the Green Party is interested in national health insurance, which both Democrats and Republicans reject because it would cost too much. Greg Gerritt, secretary of the Green Party, said, "President Bush wants to fly to Mars, but he won't give Americans access to a doctor."
We believe that there should be no question about who the right candidate is for the Presidency. It should be the Green Party, without a doubt. For those who vote for a candidate just because that candidate is most likely going to win, do some research and vote for someone who is actually fit to make this government an actual democracy.