West Side Greens

Noted journalist, author, & U.S. Senate Candidate LeAlan Jones will speak at the

2009 “Green Fling”

Join us for FREE food,

a FREE program

and the chance to get to know Green Candidates

(All Statewide and Cook Countywide Candidates have been invited)

      Sunday, September 20th

                1:00 PM 

               at

   Citizens Community Bank

         3322 S. Oak Park Ave.

                  Berwyn

1 block south of the Berwyn

    Metra stop & on the 307

            PACE bus line.

    (This is a family-friendly event)

Hello all,

Bruce had asked me to send an email a couple of weeks ago and I totally dropped the ball. I’m sorry about that.

Basically we have a table at Day in Our Village next weekend. It is a big festival in Scoville Park across from the main branch of the Oak Park Library.

#1. Who is available to help man the table? I can work a later shift and help with clean up. Is anyone else available?

#2. Is that a time this week we can meet to discuss This event and other upcoming activities?

Thanks,

Nathan

March 5, 2009. After careful consideration the West Side Greens are pleased to announce our endorsements for the April 2009 election in Oak Park. The following candidates have been endorsed:

Village Board President:

Gary Schwab

Village Trustee:

John Franklin

Kathryn Jonas

Julie Samuels

Oak Park Library Board:

Gary Johnson

Bruce Samuels

Oak Park Park District Board:

Naomi Hildner

District 200 School Board:

Vic Guarino

Rosa Higgs

The Winter 2009 issue of Green Pages is now available for on-line reading.

Our first electronic-only edition contains many improvements, including the use of video, color photos, one article available in English and Spanish. We’re now located directly on the gp.org server and feature a newly designed masthead. Unlike the previous print editions, you’ll be able to post comments directly into the blog.

This issue includes a feature article by Wendy Thompson, a long time Green and former UAW local president about a recent caravan of labor activists who drove from Detroit to DC to bring their message to a national audience.

In Elections you’ll find two important articles detailing the paths that state parties in Arkansas and Illinois have followed for growing the party.

The Opinion Section contains an article, in english and spanish, about statehood for Puerto Rico.

Finally, this issue brings what we hope will be the first of many articles by Young Greens.

The 4 page PDF is being finalized and will be uploaded over the weekend.

Read, Comment, Circulate.

The Green Pages Editorial Staff

Winter 2009

Table of Contents

http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/

Friends,

The West Side Greens will be holding a meeting to endorse candidates running in the local non-partisan elections in Oak Park this spring. The meeting will be held next Sunday March 1st at 1:30 at Blue Max Coffee in Forest Park and I would like to invite all Green Party members who have an interest in taking part in this important decision to attend this meeting and vote.

Currently, two candidates have returned our questionnaires, but I expect many more this coming week. Once all the questionnaires are in I will distribute the response to anyone who wishes to take part in the endorsement process. If you are interested in taking part please drop me an email to let me know.

Thanks!

–
Nathan Helsabeck
helsabeck.campaign@gmail.com
http://www.wsgreens.org
“If you’re not willing to vote based on real beliefs,
why should your representatives be expected to act on them?”
- J.R. Jones on the film An Unreasonable Man

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 12, 2009

Media Contact:
Mary Rinder: 708-524-9243
Nathan Helsabeck: 708-955-1120

February 12, 2009, yesterday the West Side Greens mailed questionnaires to every candidate running for Park, Library, and Village Board in Oak Park. The questionnaires are designed to survey the candidates’ priorities if elected to office and to also find out if the candidates share values of the Green Party.

All candidates who return questionnaires by the Feb 26th deadline will be reviewed by the membership of the West Side Greens at a public meeting on March 1st and secret ballots will be cast to decide if the West Side Greens should endorse any of the candidates. This meeting will be held at Blue Max Coffee House in Forest Park and is open to the public. In the interest of transparency, the media is encouraged to attend.

The West Side Greens are a coalition of local activists and Green Party members working to support the Illinois Green Party (ILGP) and to tackle local issues. Our members come from the west side of Chicago, as well as, near west suburbs. The group grew out of the Oak Park Greens and now works actively in Berwyn, La Grange, Forest Park and other communities.

Over the past few election cycles both the ILGP and the West Side Greens have grown in strength and organization. In an on going effort to help good candidates get elected, the West Side Greens hope to be able to lend support to the candidates who earn their endorsement.

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What: 5th Congressional District Green Party Candidate Forum

When: Wednesday, February 18th , 6-8pm

Where: DePaul Schmidt Academic Center “SAC” (2320 N. Kenmore Ave) – room 161.

Who: Deb Gordils, Matt Reichel Simon Ribeiro,
(Mark Fredrickson has prior obligations and will not be attending.)

Program In Review:

Introduction

Candidates Speak 25 min

Questions: Round 1 20-30 min

> Question 1: Foreign Policy

> Question 2: Energy Policy

> Question 3: Domestic/Economic Policy

Questions: Round 2 20-30 min

>Moderator will accept questions from the audience

Closing Remarks

The West Side Greens will resume monthly meeting the first sunday of each month. We will now hold these meetings at Blue Max Coffee in Forest Park, IL. These meetings are always open to the public. Please join us starting Jan 4th:

Here’s Blue Max’s info:
26 Lathrop Ave.
Forest Park, IL 60130
ph 708-366-9224
fax 708-366-9370
emailinfo@bluemaxcoffee.com

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org

Green presidential candidate McKinney is safe after the SS Dignity,
carrying relief to Gaza, is rammed by an Israeli gunboat in
international waters

Greens challenge Obama to press Israel to comply with international law
and end the illegal occupation of Gaza and other Palestinian lands

WASHINGTON, DC — The Green Party of the United States calls for an
immediate end to Israel’s bombing attacks on Gaza, which in the past
four days has already caused at least 364 deaths, including Palestinian
women and children, with hundreds more wounded.

“It’s clear that President Bush gave a green light for Israel’s massive
and disproportionate display of force. The Green Party demands that the
US seek a bilateral ceasefire, with immediate pressure on Israel to stop
the bombardment and end the occupation,” said Rosa Clemente, the Green
Party’s 2008 candidate for Vice President of the United States
(http://www.rosaclemente.com).

Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party’s 2008 presidential candidate, had
joined the Free Gaza Group (http://www.freegaza.org) on the SS Dignity,
which sailed from Cyprus to deliver three tons of medicine and
humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade. Ms.
McKinney was safe after Israeli gunboats attempted to intercept the
Dignity last night and one gunboat illegally rammed the vessel in
international waters, 90 miles off the Gaza coast
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/30/israel-gaza-aid-ship).
Despite damage sustained in the encounter, the Dignity has docked safely
in Lebanon and Ms. McKinney is on her way to Beirut.

In an interview on CNN
(http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/12/30/am.lebanon.aid.boat.mckinney.cnn),
Cynthia McKinney said, “What we have gone through pales in comparison to
what the people of the Gaza Strip are suffering.” Ms. McKinney is
challenging President-elect Barack Obama to condemn Israel’s attacks on
Gaza.

Greens noted that Hamas, the target of Israel’s aerial bombardment, was
democratically elected in 2006, and that Israel and the US have been
trying to remove Hamas from power, especially by attempting to spark a
civil war between Hamas and Fatah.

Since its election, Hamas has repeatedly offered to talk with Israel,
but Israel has rejected all such overtures. Hamas had observed a
five-month truce that was broken on November 4 when Israeli Defense
Forces killed five Palestinians. In retaliation, Hamas responded with
missiles which over the last month have injured one Israeli and caused
property damage. The Green Party categorically condemns all violence
visited on unarmed civilians.

“Palestinians are living under an occupation that has continued despite
numerous UN directives ordering Israel to withdraw. Israel’s latest
lethal assault will only intensify the crisis and inflict further
suffering on the Palestinian people. Two thirds of Gazans are refugees
– some doubly so, from 1948 and 1967 — and all Gaza residents are
living in conditions comparable to a medieval siege. Israel must comply
with international law and ends its illegal military occupation of the
West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, dismantle the illegal separation
wall, make restitution to Palestinians whose lands have been seized, and
recognize the Palestinian right of return. If President Obama wants to
make history by resolving the Middle East conflict, he must press Israel
to take these steps,” said Hajja Romi Elnagar, Louisiana Green and
member of the Green Party’s International Committee
(http://www.gp.org/committees/intl).

“The current assumption in the US media that this is a symmetrical
conflict between equals is as absurd as the claim that Israel’s bombs
are not threatening women and children. Israel is the world’s fourth
most powerful military nation, a nuclear power that enjoys support from
the US, while Palestinians are impoverished, with many living without
electricity, water, food, and medicine for weeks,” said Ms. Elnagar.

As a result of the Israeli blockade, 80% of Gazans live on less than two
dollars a day. Unemployment hovers at 50-60% in Gaza, with only 195
factories, reduced from 3,900 in 2005. Israel has barred the delivery of
UN relief to Gazans.

The Green Party has called for an end to US military aid to Israel and
supports the movement for international boycott, divestment, and
sanctions against Israel until Israel ends the occupation, obeys
international law (including Geneva Conventions and the UN’s Universal
Declaration of Human Rights), and guarantees full human rights for
Palestinians. The party supports efforts by Palestinian and Israeli
peace groups towards a nonviolent negotiated resolution to the conflict.

The Green Party also endorses complete regional (and, ultimately,
global) nuclear disarmament to remove the threat of a nuclear exchange
in the Middle East and Asia. Greens have expressed concern that Barack
Obama will bow to demands from AIPAC and other pro-Israel lobbies and
maintain the Clinton and Bush administrations’ uncritical support for
Israel’s military objectives and human rights violations.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
Green candidate database for 2008 and other 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

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, December 18, 2008

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org

-Single-payer plan would remove the expensive burden of employer-based health coverage

-Greens see danger that progressive groups, unions will acquiesce to the Obama’s ‘life-support for insurance industry’ plan

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders urged Americans to take up President-elect Barack Obama’s call for discussion on health care and demand a single-payer national health care program, also called Medicare For All.

Greens said that the current financial crisis is an ideal time to introduce single-payer.

“Businesses have been burdened for decades with the high expense and administrative burden of employer-based health care benefits. Single-payer will alleviate the burden and stimulate the economy. It will also cost working people far less than they now pay for private coverage. Businesses large and small, unions, and all middle- and low-income working Americans will benefit from single-payer,” said Sanda Everette, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.

Greens have taken the lead on single-payer in many states. Party leaders Gloria Mattera and Peter LaVenia are co-sponsors of Single Payer New York, Mark Dunlea is one of the organizers, and gp.org webmaster David Doonan manages the group’s site (http://singlepayernewyork.org).

“Mr. Obama asks Americans to send their ideas to him about how to fix health care. Now is the time for organizations and Americans who support single-payer to tell the President-elect that single-payer is the only acceptable solution,” said Carl Romanelli, former Green candidate for the US Senate and Northeastern Pennsylvania coordinator for the PA single payer movement (http://www.healthcare4allpa.org).

“The greatest danger is that the sense of exhilaration and relief that greeted Mr. Obama’s election will turn into acquiescence to his mandate plan for health care reform,” added John Battista, MD, Green Party member and Coordinator of the Connecticut Coalition for Universal Health Care. “That’s what happened in 1993 after Bill Clinton was elected, setting back the chance for single-payer for more than a decade. Like Mr. Clinton and every Democratic presidential nominee for the past two decades, Mr. Obama would leave the private insurance industry in control of our health care.”

“Will Barack Obama stand with the American people and make quality health care a right for all by saying no to for-profit health insurance?” asked Mr. Dunlea, who attended a recent Healthcare Now national gathering in Chicago and proposed placing 20,000 single payer signs at the inauguration. “Or will he allow health insurance companies to continue to make profits by denying consumers access to coverage? Doctors say yes to single-payer, nurses say yes to single-payer, and the American public says yes to single-payer in every poll despite the denials from politicians and the media. Will Mr. Obama say, Yes we can?”

Green Party leaders urged progressive and consumer groups and unions not to repeat mistakes made during the first Clinton term, when many of them dropped their demand for single-payer and endorsed the Clinton ‘managed care’ plan, which would have herded Americans into coverage under a handful of the largest private insurance companies. President Clinton rejected single-payer, and support for national health insurance was deleted from the Democratic Party platform during the Clinton Administration. As a result, health care reform languished while the number of uncovered Americans grew and even those with coverage have been increasingly denied treatment.

The Obama plan includes similar mandates and attempts to compensate insurance firms and HMOs for heavy regulation by giving them huge subsidies.

“The Obama plan is a scheme to sustain insurance companies and HMOs with our tax dollars. It reciprocates the hundreds of thousands of dollars that these corporations contribute to Democratic candidates every election cycle. Insurance companies and HMOs have a financial interest in excluding ‘high risk’ people — the old, the poor, those with prior medical conditions — and limiting treatment for those who have coverage in order to maximize profits. Why should we pay off insurance companies and HMOs to cover the excluded, when we can save hundreds of billions annually by covering everyone with a single-payer plan?” said Green Party co-chair Jill Bussiere.

Single-payer/Medicare For All would cover all Americans regardless of income, employment, residence, age, or prior medical condition, while allowing choice of health care provider. In 2003, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article estimating that Single-Payer could cut health care costs by $350 billion annually (http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf).

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